... . PAST PRIMK DONNE. SIR,--Your contributor, The Lounger, in his very interesting paper, under the above heading, mentioned Madame Haigh Corri. He had evidently inadvertently mingled the names of Madame Haigh Dyer and Madamo Ida Gillies Corri, as his description applies faithfully to the latter lady. The former lady, who, as the wife? of Henry Haigh, tho celebrated operatic tenor, commenced ...

... . IR May I, through the medium of your columns, make an appeal on l>elialf of an old actor, James Cumberland? The modern school, probably, does not know him, but surely he has numbers of acquaint ances still living who do. He is in most distressing circumstances. He has had thirty-five years on tho stage, and has played with most of the best people of his day. His wife has been a helpless ...

... CHRISTMAS AND THE POOR. Sir, The Corporation has again granted the use of the Guildhall for the annual ban quet of the Ragged School children of London, and the Prince of Wales has once more ont me a donation to, if 1 may quote tho words of His Royal Highness, the excellent fund which you are again kindly raising for providing dinners and hampers for tho poor and crippled children of tho ...

... . Wo have received the following letter from Mr. Charles Lyall, the late treasurer of tho Covent Garden Fund: To the Editor of Tht; Stagh. Sir, It is most surprising to read in your pnppr that the chief parties concerned in the attack upon our Thrift Society (which ca'.;sr>d the. c-onflfcn l ion of our pronerty with out trli> i) have nothing to do with, or any knowledge of, the di vision of ...

... Since this date, however, several papers in America, Australia, on tho Contineut, and in tho English provinces have lent their support to tho utterly unfounded rumour that tho novel Quo Vad s was responsible for the idea of the play The Sign of the Cross. To sot tho matter at rest once and for all, I communicated with M. Jasicnski, of Warsaw, in Russian Poland, anel from him I learned that M. ...

... BUSINESS IN THE PROVINCES. SIR,--Mr. Ben Greet assumes that in the provinces no bad actors, but only bad plays, exist. Casen, however, occur almost daily in which the cffcct of a continual thinning of provincial audiences is found to bo duo not to the quality of the play itseif, but to the quality of the acting of those engaged in it. The reason for this is not far. to seek. A proprietor oi ...

... . THE SHOEMAKER TO HIS LAST. SIR,--I write to you in the interests ol my own cherished convictions. I had perused Mr. Hall Caine's work, The Christian, with a certain amount of enjoyment, mingled witli a modicum of criticism which, so ambitious an effort in bound to arouse, and had found a special corner in my heart for his heroine. What ever blemishes there may bo in the 3tor> judging Glory ...

... 11 THE BELLE OP NEW YORK. Sir, Your Elephant critic takes excep tion to the Yankee twangs of my Belle of New York Company. Would it surprise him to know that they are as correot as United Staters can make them When he next honours us with a few more minutes of his suburban rounds we'll endeavour to lay on a little Bishopsgate foi his especial benefit. But, seriously, he is out in his ...

... . SIR,--The paragraph in your issue of Thursday last is much commented upon, as it reveals a state of things that has come as a surprise to some of the old members of the society. They thank you sincerely for having thrown a little light upon this subject, and sincerely hope it will not be lost sight of until a thorough and exhaustive inquiry nas been instituted into the true conditions of ...

... . SMOKING BEHIND THE SCENES. Sir,--The cause of the outbreak is unknown, but the loss is covered by insurance. This stereotyped paragraph coucluding an announcement that so-and-so theatre was entirely destroyed by fire last night. Most of the fires are caused by the pernicious habit of smoking in dressing rooms. Of what use are such notices as Smoking atrictly prohibited exhibited at ...

... . Silt, The death of the above talented actress reminds me of my first theatrical speculation in 1857 at the old Theatre Royal, Bradford, when the late Miss Johnstone was an important member of the company. It was about the first, and ono of the best, companies organised in London for touring the provinces, and was known ns the Allied Metropolitan Dramatic Company, and in cluded among its ...

... COVENT GARDEN FUND. Str, Thanks are duo to Mr. O. Han- clinge for his letter, published in your lasl issue, respecting the Covent Garden Fund. The question requires thorough recon sideration altogether, and, if need be, a fresh committee appointed. The thing is easily enough dona Select tho societies (and there are not oo manv) that come under the denomination of theatrical and dramatic, and ...