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hiu.iert.-d ace- .ruing to Act of* micresß, in J unc, IP.- by J. 17. Bueee & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United Bit tea Ur (ho So, District of Georgia
Vgl, III— No, 44.
OHTJKSS SHADOWS
rr
Is' aJS . - ’ J . . .*
' ' N the winter time .t is uitneuit
twibTA pass through any of the
large thoroughfares of London
after nightfaii without seeing a
crowd admiring the popular fantoeini
farces of the 11 Broken Bridge,’' ox
4 4 Billy Button s and although those
dramatic exhibitions are not always tree
from vulgarity, they are re
ceived witl 1 iferous ap
plause Ly at least t|xo younger
noriicn of the audience.
The apparatus for the ex
hibition of the fiantoeini is
generai iy v ery ollap Is. ihs
screen on which they are
shewn is genei'diy made of
calico rendered seiru-trans
parent with copal varnish,
and the figures are cut out or
card- oon* " r r. m so con
■ tabling landscapes una scenes
ct different hinds are also
provided, which are cut out
in the same material, due
drain ai ls personae are gener
orally made with moveable
limbs, which they throw about
in the most unanatomical
manner, and the showman is
often endowed with ventrilo
cjuial' talents of no‘mean or
der.
This amusement is to be found v r.ii
parts of the world, Tom the Strand ar.d
Tottenham Court Hoad, London, to die
streets of Algiers and Java. A grapnic
writer in tho JUlsff-'i-s.it, i\doi cvquc gn.
a pleasant description of the fantccin..,
as exhibited at the Arnos inealrs in
the Mohammedan quarter of the city of
Algiers. It was on the occasion of the
feast of Bairam, which immediately fol
lows the termination of the Kamadan,
or Mohammedan Lent. The theatre,
which was the only one frequented ,oy
the Arab population, consisted simpiy
of a long vaulted hall, without seats,
boxes, or galleries; but the audience,
who had already been there some time,
did not seem-to regard the omission as
of any consequence, but had seated
themselves on the ground with great
coolness, chatting in whispers, and
waiting patiently until the director
.A on lei consider the place full enough
to begin tho performance. Half an
hour elapsed, and the spectators still
chatted on quite unconcernedly: an
hour, and yet there was no hissing or
! stamping of feet from the grave and pa-
I tient spectators. At last they reached
fin- .Lap' f:'.~ • vAI- yAj
”7 ;,p £ li&gj§gg9fai»;;
Fia. 61.—Effect of cut paper-work,
the maximum, and a boy came forward
and blew-out the few lamps with which
the theatre was lighted, leaving them
to smoulder away with a perfume that
was certainly not Oriental in its char
acter.
First came the legend of the Seven
Sleepers • than Scheherazade relating
her bewitching stories to the Sultan.
These were followed by Aladdin and the
Wonderful Lamp, a story that is as
popular in Algiers as it is in Lone on or
Paris ; the whole culminating in o. kind
of burlesque, in which a great deal oi
gross fun was mixed up with a number
of rebellious allusions. The devil, for
instance, who is of course one of the
members of the troupe, is portrayed as
lACGN, GEORGIA, APRIL 30, 1870.
a French soldier, bearing a cross on
his breast like an ancient Crusader.
1 After him came Carhageuse, who Is the
buffoon of the Eastern stage, and who
makes violent but unsuccessful love to
a charming young Jewess. Thc-re wa3
a poor barber who was raised to the
dignity of grand vizier, his successor’s
head being cut off by the yataghan of
the Oriental Jack Ketch, to tho great
delight of the people. The” v wretched
Jew receives the bastinado, amidst vo
ciferous applause, whi.h increases still
higher when the cars of an unhappy
Giaour are cut off and thrown to the
dogs. Throughout the piece, it is of
course the Mussulman who always tri
umphs, like the French guards at the
Cirque Imperiale , or the British grena
diers at old Astley's.
The performance concluded with a
grand naval battle between the Moorish
and Spanish fleet j. The dramas usual
served for cannon, there was a greuo
deal*of smoke and confusion, and the.
Christian fleet gradually sank under the
continuous ' roof the Mussulmans
amidst the } I.audits and bravos of the
crowd.
Whole No. 148.
In Java, tho subjects of the f&ntocfhi
are generally taken from the native my
thology. Theyieroen on which the sha
dows are exhibited is tan or twelve feat
long, and five -he. high, ar.d the figures
are cut of thick leather, their limbs be
ing moved by thin pieces of a early
transparent horn.
In the picture we see another kind of
Chinese shadows, in which the lights of
' the figure are cut era. These pictures |
«.u ; erfeetly unrecognisable
as being evonjhe basest imi
tation of any known form ;
but when their shadows are
thrown on the wall, the cut
out portions show usHlghts,
whilst those that have been
left tom the shadows.
On the Boulevard des Ca*
pucines. at Paris, there used
to be a man who managed to
pick in a good living by sell
ing these candle shadow's,
Os course he used to carry on
his trade of an evening, and
with a strong lamp he wmld
threw the shadows of his
figures or. the white walls of
the houses, or tho bi nd of a
shop-window, or even on the
pavement. With a little earo
and ingenuity a number of
these amusing cards may bo
easily designed. In knowing
them, cars must be taken to
choose He Jess distances between the
light and the paper, ar.d between this
latter and the wall. If tho card be
placed too close to the wall, the result
ing shadows will bo too dark and the
outlines too sharp; if, on the contrary,
the light is placed too far off, the out
lines become confused, and the proper
effect is lost.
TVonders of Optics.
, . .
Idlaness.
A ship’s sails or rigging wear out
more in a calm than in a gale. So the
mind wears out faster in indolence
or inglorious rest than in a well-braced
nervous activity and productiveness.