The Murder of Essad Pasha From Our Own Correspondent Paris, June 13.
The peculiar methods of Balkan politics have been suddenly thrust upon our notice by the murder of Essad Pasha, the former ruler of Albania, in the heart of Paris, Ussad left the Hotel Continental by the front door this afternoon with a lady, and was about to enter his car when a man emerged from behind one of the pillars of the arcade and shot him twice with a dig revolver. The hotel porter, who was opening the door of the car, seized the assailant, but Essad was mortally wounded and died in few seconds without having ered a word, Tt was not an inappropriate ending to such @ career as Essad's though he may not have expected it in Paris, however natural it would have been in Albania. Essad waiting in Paris until the Italians could be induced to let him return to Albania, where he hoped, no doubt, to resume the old game of playing off one party Against another and getting the best possible price for his services.
The person who so abruptly upset his plans was 2 young Albanian student, who. when arrested after undergoing rough handling by the crowd which had witnessed the crime, said he was waiting outside the hotel for Essad's secretary, one of his (the student's) friends,' that had no previous intention to kill Fesad, but that, seeing him come out of the hotel' and knowing how frequently Essad had betrayed those who trusted him, he lost control of himself and "executed" Fssad then and there. As to the big pistol, he explained that he al. ways carried it, such being the custom of his own country, where Life is held a good deal more cheap than it is in Paris. There is not much sympathy here for men of the Fesad type, and. if he can support the "avenger" will probably escape his theory of non-premeditation, with a light sentence.
Duutyess ar THE, Tueatre.
The theatrical season, now fast drawing to a close, has not been very brilliant. Perhaps intellectual France has not yet recovered from the upheavals of war. The leading dramatists, such as Bernstein and Bataille, are not in creative vein, snd as for M. Maurice Donnay and M. Alfred Capus they seem to have made up their minds long ago to vest on their laurels. Only Mf Sacha Guitry shows real produc. tiveness, and he has devoted the Best part of the season to London instead of to Paris. No new talent has shown itself. and, if any such talent. exists, little short of a miracle will be needed to enable it to find expression. Faced as they are by stage labour unions and the immense cost of costumes and accessories, to say nothing of increased taxation, managers are less inclined than ever to take any risks.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.