The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 570
675 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
others were thoroughly disgusted." He added, "Financially [the] lecture
was a success, and intellectually it was a treat for those of refined minds
... and there was much said worthy of serious consideration."44
The speaker-poet and aspiring playwright left San Antonio on Thurs-
day, June 22, on the 6:30 train bound for Houston, 197 miles away. He
traveled on the Texas and New Orleans which had been extended from
Houston to San Antonio in 1877. Advance tickets for his Friday night lec-
ture at Gray's Hall could be obtained for one dollar at Sweeney &
Coombs's Jewelry Store. On his arrival the visiting lecturer registered at
the elegant Hutchins' House, which was opened in 1867 by William J.
Hutchins, a prominent Houston businessman and railroad builder. The
hotel was located on the corner of Franklin and Travis streets on the site
of the old City Hotel. It featured a Turco-Russian bath, two regular plain
bathrooms on every floor (one for men and one for women), and an ar-
tificial ice machine. An impressive parlor on the second floor was fur-
nished with red velvet drapes, a red carpet, and a white marble fireplace
over which hung a large oval mirror in a gilt frame.5
The Irishman's reception in Houston was less friendly than it had been
in San Antonio. Although Wilde's visit had been well advertised-tickets
could be purchased in advance or at the box office-the audience was
somewhat disappointing. The lecture was held at Gray's Hall located on
Fannin Street across from the courthouse. The building had been exten-
sively remodeled, seated eight hundred people, and was a worthy rival to
Pilot's Opera House, Houston's other entertainment center. The lecturer
wore his customary black velvet suit with knee-breeches, and, without any
introduction, spoke for three-quarters of an hour on decorative art. 6
A reporter for the Houston Daily Post agreed that the subject matter was
good but, like other critics, found the monotone method of delivery un-
attractive and verbose. Yet, he praised Wilde's diction and found other
qualities of his rhetoric "very acceptable." Even so, he summarized his
overall impression: "did he occupy his hands other than by playing with
his gloves, handkerchief and watch charms, he would be more favorably
received by audiences in this section." The critic joined the majority of
those present in disapproving the noisy disturbances in the gallery, noting
44 Ibid. (1st quotation), San Antonio Daily Express,June 22, 1882 (2nd-5th quotations); WacoDe-
mocratEnterpnse,June 22, 1882, San AntonzoEveningL ght,June 22, 1882 (6th and 7th quotations).
For another report on the speech see New Orleans Tsmes-Democrat,June 22, 1882.
45 William C. Pool, A Hstorcal Atlas of Texas (Austin. Encmo Press, 1975), 164; Houston Daily
Post,June 17, 1882; Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton, Bernie M. Scardino, Sadie Gwmn Blackburn,
and Katherine S. Howe, Houston's Forgotten Heritage: Landscape, Houses, Intenors, 1824-1914 (Hous-
ton. Rice University Press, 1991), 293, David G. McComb, Houston: A Hstory (Austin: University of
Texas Press, 1969), 24, 27-28, 33
46 See Sue Dauphin, Houston By Stages- A Hzstory of the Theatre in Houston (Burnet, Tex.: Eakin
Press, 1981), 169.April
570
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/648/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.