17, De Vere
Gardens, Kensington, W. 8.

* * * * *

THE GREAT RESOLVE.

["When _Chu Chin Chow_ reaches its 2,000th representation on
the 29th, it will have run for 1,582 days, 26 days longer than
the War." _Sunday Times._]

Behind its pendent curtain folds
We know not what the future holds;
We only know that worlds have gone
Since _Chu Chin Chow_ was first put on.

Mid all our stress and strife and change
This strikes me as extremely strange;
I think when plays go on like this
There ought to be an artistice.

But, when we have another war
After the peace we've toiled so for,
And empires break and thrones are bust
And nations tumble in the dust,

And culture, rising from the East,
On tottering Europe is released,
And Chinamen at last shall rule
In Dublin, Warsaw and Stamboul,

Soon as the roar of cannon ends
And all men once again are friends,
I must fulfil my ancient vow
And go and visit _Chu Chin Chow_.

* * * * *

ST. CECILIA OF CREMONA.

_Punch_ has no desire to plunge into the controversy which has arisen
over the employment of women in professional orchestras, especially as
the cause has already been practically won, and here, at any rate, the
saying, "What Lancashire thinks to-day England will think to-morrow,"
has failed to justify itself. The example of Manchester is not being
followed in London, and what is deemed advisable for the Free Trade
Hall in one city is not to dominate the policy of the Queen's Hall in
the other.

But without going into the arguable points of this latest duel of the
sexes, Mr. Punch, already in the last year which completes his
fourth score, may be allowed to indulge in an old man's privilege
of retrospect and incidentally to congratulate the ladies on the
wonderful and triumphant progress they have made in instrumental art
since the roaring 'forties. For in the 'forties women, though still
supreme on the lyric stage, had hardly begun to assert themselves as
executants, save on the pianoforte. _Punch_ well remembers LISZT--with
the spelling of whose name he had considerable difficulty--in his
meteoric pianofortitude. But the young WILMA NERUDA, who visited
London in 1849, escaped his benevolent notice. She was then only ten.
It was not until twenty years later that, as Madame NORMAN-NERUDA, she
revisited London, proved that consummate skill could