London at the End of the Century:A Book of Gossip
a Beckett, Arthur William
1900
EVANS'S THE EXCELLENT SUBSTITUTE.
And when I write of the Garrick I am naturally reminded of that excellent substitute for a --unconventional and yet select--that used to flourish within a stone's throw of its handsome and massive portals. I refer once more to Evans's in the days of Green-when Lionel Lawson and Henry Lennox, Ballantyne and Mayhew used to congregate near the fireplace in the . There never was a better club-house-without entrance fee and without subscription-than Go when you would you found There was only one rival meeting-place, and that was the long smoking room of the Raleigh, when that of warriors and ex-warriors used to under the old Gallery of Illustration in Regent Street. But the company of the club was limited, and the habitues of the Supper Rooms numberless. Green had been an old actor. He had played the Charlie in the theatrical adaptation of when the piece was produced at the Old Adelphi. He was consequently full of anecdotes of Yates, Keeley, and Power. Hanging to the walls of the | |
90 | part of the building were any number of theatrical portraits. Some of them were of considerable merit, others sad daubs. I wonder what became of them. They were sold by auction when Evans's lost its licence. Who were the purchasers? I fancy that my accomplished friend, Sir Henry Irving, got some of them, but of this I am not sure. But with or without pictures, Evans's was a pleasant and interesting place, and never so popular as when regular clubland was disorganised by |