* * * * A WARNING TO AUDIENCES.
During the applause which concluded a performance recently given in London by a distinguished foreign dancer, a member of the audience—an elderly man, sitting in a box— attracted some attention by throwing on to the stage a large grey felt hat. The incident recalled, to more than one of the journalists present, the distant days of chivalry ; and it was hailed as a delightful piece of gallantry. It is our painful duty to disabuse those of our readers who accepted this tacit assumption that the man threw his own hat. His action, we firmly believe, marks a recrudescence of the ugly spirit which did so much to mar the Portuguese Opera Season of 1894. There sprang up at that time among the young men of fashion a secret society pledged to a code at once so frivolous and so anti-social that, to tell the truth, we hesitated before deciding to publish its import in these columns. But the menace, it seems, is with us again, and it is in the public interest to make the revelation, cost us what it may. The members of this secret society took an oath, whenever they were present at the close of a theatrical performance, to throw other people's hats on to the stage—as many as they could lay their hands on ! Naturally, instant redress was seldom possible, and this hideous impropriety raged for a time unchecked. We sincerely hope that its manifestations will be allowed to disfigure the current season no further. To have his hat taken away from him and thrown at the feet of a performer (however accomplished) is one of the most painful experiences which can befall an English gentleman.
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