Note 40 — XVI. THE PRAIRIE CITY.

At eleven o’clock last evening Mr. Emery A. Storrs gave a supper in honor of Mr. Henry Irving, at the Leland Hotel, and pleasantly entertained thirty-five well-known gentlemen. The guests assembled about ten o’clock, in room twenty, and shortly afterward adjourned to Mr. Storrs’ suite of parlors on the Michigan-avenue front of the hotel. Mr. Irving and Mr. Hatton arrived soon after eleven o’clock, and, after a few minutes’ social chat, the party proceeded to the small dining-hall. The arrangements were elaborate and perfect, and the decorations were very handsome. Lines of flags of all nations extended from the four corners of the room, crossing one another just under the dome in the centre. Hanging by an invisible wire from the electric light in the dome was a double-faced floral circle, edged with smilax, through the centre of which was a floral bar. On one side of this was the name “Irving,” and on the other side “Terry,” in red carnations upon a white ground. The walls were hung with the English and American colors, and directly behind the guest’s seat was a bust of Shakespeare, over which was looped the English flag, caught up by a shield, bearing the arms of Great Britain and Ireland. Above this was a banner bearing the following inscription: “‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin’—Irving and Booth.” At the opposite end of the room, just above the door, was a similar banner, inscribed as follows: “‘To hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature’—Ellen Terry and Mary Anderson.” Immediately opposite the entrance to the room was the inscription, “Greeting and Welcome,” and over the entrance was inscribed, “Not that we think us worthy such a guest, but that your worth will dignify our feast.” To the left of this was a banner, bearing the following: “Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with the special observation that you overstep not the modesty of Nature.” And to the right was a banner, inscribed as follows: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances.” The table was arranged in the shape of a “T,” with the host, the guest of the evening, and a few of the more favored sitting at the cross of the “T.” Immediately in front of the seats of Mr. Irving and Mr. Storrs was an immense basket of flowers,—which was sent later in the evening to Miss Terry, with Mr. Storrs’ compliments,—and to the right and left of this was a floral bell, suggesting the actor’s favorite play, “The Bells.” In the body of the “T” was a huge épergne of fruit and flowers, and trails of smilax were laid the length of the cloth. In front of each one of the thirty-five plates was a fragrant boutonnière, and a satin-covered card bearing the name of the guest diagonally across a marine scene. Delicate-tinted glasses to the right of each plate suggested liquid enjoyment to follow. The following is a list of the guests as they sat at table:—Emery A. Storrs, Henry Irving, Joseph Hatton, General Schofield, Professor Swing, Perry H. Smith, Professor Fraser, William Balcom, F. B. Wilkie, F. H. Winston, J. D. Harvey, M. E. Stone, Alfred Cowles, D. B. Shipman, W. C. D. Grannis, W. P. Nixon, W. S. Walker, Dr. Jackson, Mr. Phinney, Leonard Hodges, Canon Knowles, A. F. Seeberger, Louis Wahl, S. D. Kimbark, C. P. Kimball, J. L. High, Mr. Clement, Washington Hesing, J. M. Dandy, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Griswold, Mr. Harper, Mr. Dewey, Mr. Thayer, Mr. Hord, Mr. Bacon. After supper Mr. Storrs, in a witty prelude, explaining that there were to be no speeches, proposed the health of Mr. Irving. The famous actor having responded, Joseph Hatton, who, by his works and in his own person, is well known in Chicago, was toasted. Miss Terry was not forgotten during the unstudied and informal eloquence of the evening. A magnificent basket of flowers was sent to her, with the respectful compliments of the host and his friends.—Tribune and other newspaper reports.