The sudden and cruel fate of CLARA WEBSTER, wrapt in
flames before the eyes of the audience of Drury Lane in the midst of a gay ballet, casts a gloom on theatrical matters this week. Although so young, and surrounded by foreign rivals, she had attained celebrity as a dancer. CLARA was a great favourite at this house, for her unaffected cheer- fulness and modest deportment, no less than for a graceful and easy style of art, which, if it rarely astonished, never failed to please. The charm of her performance was a natural gayety and simplicity of man- ner : it seemed as if she took delight in the exercise of her talents; and her own enjoyment heightened that of the spectators. The fate of this young lady, like other accidents that have recently occurred, suggests the question whether such disasters are unavoidable? Stage-performers are subjected to discomforts from draughts of wind, rude accommodation, and other things, of which the audience whom they amuse have little conception. Clumsy machinery and hazardous arrangements of light for "effects" cause real danger ; and shocking or fatal accidents are too common to excite astonishment, though it seems wonderful that they are so rare. Could not the lights be " boxed off" somehow, as dangerous machinery is in factories; trap-doors be better guarded; angel-flights be better sustained ? It appears to us that, with some ingenuity devoted to the matter, these things might be amended, both with regard to safety and effect.
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