The following are some of the prices paid for "applause" by French actors and actresses : Ordinary applause, it appears, stands at 5f; prolonged applause, 10f; prolonged and noisy applause, 20f; three rounds of applause, 25f; simple recall, 25f; unlimited recalls, 50f; for appearing horror-struck, 5f; murmurs of affright, as if the power to applaud were lost, 15f; a moan, followed by applause at the end of a scene of murder, 12 1/2f; ordinary laughter, 5f; bursts of laughter, 10f; exclamations - "Oh, how droll!" etc., 15f; superlative exclamations - "It is simply magnificent!" "It is unequalled!" 20f. The sifflet a succes, or "the friendly hiss," is not, we learn, supplied under 20f. The item which strikes our fancy most is the "moan followed by applause at the end" of a murder scene, for which the groanist gets 10s. 5d. "a go." The profession of actor is often a lucrative one; of a playwright who hits the popular taste, a brilliantly paid one; but the man who could get continuous orders for "moans followed by applause" at the rate of half-a-guinea a sigh would do better business than either.
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AN INTERESTING ELECTIVE.