The New York Clipper (July 1917)

Copyright, 1917, by the Clipper Corporation Founded by FRANK QUEEN, 1853 NEW YORK, JULY 4, 1917 VOLUME LXV—No. 22 Price, Ten Centi FAYE,SUEDBY WIFE, SUES ROCK WHITE-FA YE ROMANCE SHATTERED A sudden jar has hit the matrimonial serenity of Frances White, of Rook and White, and Frankie Faye, her vaudeville comedian husband, for Miss White has started an action against Faye, and Faye has started one against William Rock. Summons in both cases were served on Monday. Much mystery was thrown about the proceedings and their nature by the at- torneys representing the principals in the action. They also advised their clients to refrain from discussing the matter. It was learned, however, that Miss White had sued her husband for $2,500, ■which she is said to hare lent him or given to him for safe keeping. It is said that Miss White gave Faye this money since their marriage several months ago in sums of from $100 to $250, at a time. Part of this money is said to have been a direct loan, while a sum said to have been in excess of $1,000 was given to him for the purpose of either depositing it in a bank or placing it to his wife's credit. It was also said that some of this money was given Faye to help defray the expenses he underwent during the first week of his married life. A great many other allegations, it is said, will be made in the complaint of Miss White, when it Is served by House, Grossman and Vorhaus, her attorneys, upon Faye's attorney, Sam Golding. Until that time, it is hardly likely that all of the details of the action will become known. The action instituted by Faye against Rock is for alienation of affections, and $50,000 is sought. The summons in the action was served on Rock last Friday. The cause of the suit was not specified. Rock turned the summons over to House, Grossman and Vorhaus, who will file, a notice of appearance on his behalf. Faye, when seen at the Fifth Avenue Theatre Monday evening, stated, with ref- erence to his wife's suit: "I do not know what her suit is for. It's all a Chinese puzzle to me. I have given the summons to my attorney, and he will tend to it for me. If my wife claims that she has loaned or given me any money for safe keeping, it will be up' to her to prove it. She has never given me a dollar at any time and, during the time we lived together, I did my share toward her support. When asked regarding a statement that he had spent in excess of $3,500 after their marriage, Fay retorted: "I don't care to discuss this matter. I don't know much about the law, but when my turn comes in court I can substanti- ate my end." With regard to the Buit he brought against Rock, Faye said: "I have a very good base for bringing this $50,000 suit against her partner, and I can assure you that my ground will stand the acid test, in court. Right after (Continued on page 4) LIGHTS TO HAVE BENEFIT TOUR The Lights, emulating the Lambs and the Friars, have the benefit bee in their bonnets and plan to give a series of per- formances beginning at Long Beach, L. I., and ending at the Astor Theatre. The other points touched will be Far Rock- away, Freeport, Bayshore and Patchoguc. They will travel in boats and their Cruise, as they term it, will start July 29. Those who have already announced their inten- tion of going on the trip are Frank Tinney, Eddie Foy, Houdini, Mclntyre and Heath, Victor Moore, James J. Cor- bett and Lew Kelly. ZWEIFEL DIVORCES WIFE Cincinnati, July 2.—Frederick Zwei- fel, traveling manager of the film, "The Birth of a Nation," has been granted a divorce from Gerald ine Zweifel, by Do- mestic Relations Judge C. W. Hoffman, Zweifel testified that the trouble began while he was managing the "Blue Moon" opera at the Ohio Valley Exposition in this city. He objected to his wife asso- ciating with certain actors and New York men. He said he had not seen ber since June, 1915, and did not know her present whereabouts. MRS. WILLIAM WINTER ILL Los Angeles, July 2.—Mrs. William Winter is seriously ill at her home at Mentone, near Redlands, and will not be able to attend the funeral of her husband, who died Saturday, in New York. Mrs. Winter has been living in California for the last twelve years, being unable to stand the cold Winters. She has been too ill for several months to make the trip East. PETROVA QUITS SCREEN DRAMA Mme. Olga Petrova announced last Mon- day that she has reached an agreement with the Famous Players-Lasky Corpora- tion by which she is released from the contract with that concern, and that she intends returning to the dramatic stage, heading her own company. She will ap- pear in plays especially written for her. MELNOTTES MAKE LUCKY STRIKE Tulsa, Okla., July 1.—The Musical Mel- nottes, who left the profession recently to enter a new business, that of digging for oil and gas in Southern Kansas, have struck a seven-million-foot gas well. Claude Melnotte, who is maintaining offices here, is receiving the congratulations of his pro- fessional friends. MAX ANDERSON LEFT $196,763 Cincinnati, . July 2.—With the an- nouncement to-day of the appraisal, under the transfer inheritance tax law, of the estate of the late Max C Anderson, it be- came known that the deceased manager left property valued at $196,783. His widow, a brother and two sisters are the beneficiaries. JOHNSON RETURNS FROM TRIP Ligon Johnson, secretary of the United Theatrical Managers Protective Associa- tion, will return to his desk to-morrow after a two-weeks' trip to the Coast, during which he stopped off at Seattle and Portland. Ore. LABOR LEADERS ASSAILED AT R ATS ANN UAL MEETING Fitzpatrick Charges They Did Not Support Actors in Recent Strike; Mount ford Reads Financial Statement and Report on Struggle with Managers TO REVIVE "THE BEAUTY SHOP" "The Beauty Shop," an old Raymond Hitchcock success, is to be revived next Fall by Herman H. Moss and Barney Reich, who have secured the road rights. The sixteenth annual meeting of the White Rats Actors' Union and Associated Actresses of America was held last Thurs- day afternoon. More than one hundred members of the organization attended the gathering, which was held in the Sunday School room of the Ascension Memorial Church at 251 West Forty-third Street, as the White Rats have had no quarters since the loss of their club bouse last April. William J. Fitzpatrick, International president of the organization, came on from his home in Waterbury, Conn., to preside. Other officers and directors pres- ent were Harry Mountford, Junie McCree, Frank Delmore, Eddie Clark, Ernest Carr, William Conoly and Otto Steinert, presi- dent of the German branch of the organ- ization. The first matter submitted, was the re- port of a firm of auditors, who offered a certified statement of the financial condi- tion of the organization. Other reports received were those of the International Board and the legal department. A re- port on the income and expenditures dur- ing the time of the strike, with explana- tions by Fitzpatrick and Mountford, was also made. From the trend of Mountford's speech flume present were at first inclined to be- lieve that this meeting marked the end of their organization. However, toward the end of the meeting, one of the mem- tiers stated that he and several other mem- tars would like to pay their dues. He in- quired if they would be acceptable. Mountford informed him that they would and instructed that they be sent direct to him. He stated that the strike had cost the organization $23,015 from Dec. 9 until April 14. Of this sum, $12,298 was pro- cured through the 5 per cent. levy on salaries of working members; $5,892 was taken from the general fund of the organ- ization, and $4,825 was given by an anony- mous donor, he said. He said The Player had published the levy, however, as totaling around $25,000, which was only done as part of the game. He said that during the strike, it would not have been feasible to show their true financial condition. . Fitzpatrick, in a long speech, told of the disloyalty of the actors. He said that they were a lot of weak-spined jelly fish and that, as long as they had made their bed they should lie in it. He said none of them had real blood in their bodies. "The only blood they have is money," he said, "and that will be gradually taken away from them. Then they will prob- ably crawl back to us and request us to give them assistance." He made a rather scurrillous attack on a well-known representative of a Western vaudeville circuit, stating that, during the strike in New York, he had reviled women pickets and called them the filthiest names imaginable. He then turned his attack on Chas. Shay, international president of the Stage Hands and Motion Picture Operators, and Joseph Weber, international president of the Musicians' Union. With respect to them he said: "The men have violated their obligation to trade unionism and have proved to be the tools of the bosses. They are a dis- grace to organized labor and it is a shame that any decent person in labor circles is compelled to associate with them." He said that Shay and Weber sent their men back into bouses where strikes had been called by the White Rats, even though their men had no existing con- tracts with the theatres. He stated that they simply used the strike of his organization to further their own ends, concluding his speech by stat- ing that he was not through fighting the cause of the actor. A man named William Berry, an actor, also made a long speech attacking the members who had been disloyal to the organization and saying that they would get their just rewards when the unionized actor came into his own. Joseph J. Myers, who has been the at- torney for the organization since last January, made his legal report and took up the Pemberton case. He said it was simply an attempt of the managers to get hold of the levy list. He said he had knowledge of the fact that the attorneys representing Goldic Pemberton were em- ployed by interests representing the op- ponents of the organization. He said that the Pemberton matter would probably be disposed of by September. He stated that there was nothing to hide regarding the financial conditions of the club, as the auditors' report showed how the money had been expended. The auditors' report read at the meeting showed that the gross receipts of the organization from June 1, 1916, to June 1. 1917, were $80,000. Of this sum $68,883 was received as dues and from other sources, including the ball and benefit per- formances; $12,208 W as received from the levy and $4,825 from an unknown donor it stated. It showed that the ball held in the New Amsterdam Opera House last March brought returns of $2,978. Among the expenditures from this amount was $23,015 for the strike, $4,403 for the Oklahoma strike; $11,111 for salaries at the New York offices of the Rats, exclusive of money due Mountford; $9,929.17 for salaries and expenses in branch offices; $1,547 for advertising. Then it was shown that loans to the extent of $2,064 were repaid to members and outstanding notes to the extent of $900 satisfied. During the year, $4,033 was lent to members. Ttie organization expenses amounted to $1,906, which paid for membership in various trade organiza- tions, per capita tax in the A. F. of L., and the rent of halls for the holding of meetings. According to the report, only $447.66 was expended in railroad fares by Mount- ford, Fitzpatrick and the other organizers during the strike period. For court bonds $841 was paid, and $520 was charged as for running expenses of the ball. Another item on this statement showed that