IN AND ABOUT THE CITY. 
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COCOANUT PALMS IN COLON PARK. 
Theatre, Teatro Nacional, formerly called the Tacon, facing Central Park, 
seats an audience of 3,000, being the third largest theatre in the world. 
It is in the Italian style, with five horse-shoe tiers of boxes, rising one 
above the other around the pit, and separated by gilded lattice work of 
light and graceful design; and the large stage permits putting on operas 
properly mounted. French and Italian operas are the favorites. To 
rehearse the names of those who have sung in the Tacon would be to 
call the roll of the great singers—Grisi, Mario, Alboni, Tedesco, Patti, 
Nilsson, Nevada and Guerrabella; while among actors have been 
Ristori, Salvini, Coquelin, Duse and Bernhardt. A Tacon audience is 
most lavish in its expression of approval, a favorite mode being the 
presentation of money and jewels cunningly concealed in flowers, or 
borne by a snow-white dove trained to fly directly to the stage, carry¬ 
ing the gifts attached to it with white satin ribbons. The Tacon was 
built in 1837 at a cost of $500,000 by Marti, who had secured from Gov¬ 
ernor Tacon a contract that for twenty years no competing theatre 
should be permitted. 
Other theatres are the Payret on the Prado, near Central Park; the 
