There was a record attendance] at a Yea reception held at the Union Club of China on Wednesday afternoon in honour of Mr. Mei Lan-fang, "King of Chinese Actors" and the well-known female impersonator.
Mr, R. Calder-Marshall said that the great number present test fied to the warmth of the welcome accorded to Mr. Mei and to his great popularity. The high development of the dramatic art depended on the ability of the actor to portray emotion and character and, by the aid of motion and gesture, render intelligible to any audience, no matter whether or not they understood the play or the language. Mr. Mei had won for himself an inter-rational position by his perfect playing and his singing ability. (Hear! Hear!)
Mr, Mei asked to be excused from address as he was indisposed and was under doctor's orders. He expressed his heartfelt appreciation and thanks for the warm welcome given him and wished he could express his words more suitably. He extended his greeting to all and was sorry that he was unable to to sing a couple of songs as he had intended to or to give short displays of the gestures and motions which he used in his plays, He was overcome with emotion by the welcome. (Applause).
Mr, Calder-Marshall called on Mr. George Kin Leung, special Chinese dramatic critic to the "North-China Daily News," to speak. The articles which Mx, Leung had contributed to this paper were greatly appreciated by the public, who had evinced keen interest of late in Chinese plays and who had been helped to understand the plays to, his concise writings. Mr. Leung was born in Atlantic City, U.S.A. and he had returned to China for jonly a few years. When he came home, he not understand wonderful grasp of the Chinese drama had helped others more than he could say, motion in the Drama sty, Leung said: Before entering upon the discus Mr. Met hanctang'e art and fevers, there will be an especiaily|some of tuneful aria, in which the method sirable to point out, in a cursory of vocalization is "astonishing," as|manner, some of the outstanding the secretary informed me.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.