Show World (May 1909)

26 THE SHOW WORLD May 15, 1909. AMUSEMENT EVENTS IN ST. LOUIS Summer Plans at the Gem. Manager Frank Talbot, the mana¬ ger and proprietor of the Gem the¬ ater, has just secured a device which ensures a successful summer season for him. He has had installed in the Gem, five Vogel Air Coolers and Air Purifiers. By means of this device every ounce of air is purified and cooled to the required temperature. So it will be possible during the hot summer months to sit in the Gem and believe that it is a cool spring day. The air is first passed through a mineral wool, coated with acid, this frees the air from all particles of dust and also renders it germ proof. Then by means of a powerful suction fan the air is forced through a freezing mixture and is pumped into the room, but so distributed that it causes no direct draught. An additional feature will be that every afternoon during the baseball season the scores ob¬ tained through a leased wire will be shown on an especially illuminated The Harmonious Four are now in their thirtieth week at the Gem, and still continue to sing themselves into the good graces of the public. The other singing feature this week is the Partenope Italian Popular Vocalists. These singers have just arrived from Europe and are scoring an immense hit from the very start. A New Film Exchange. The new. Independent film exchange which John D. Tippett has opened is going along in full swing. The Park Film Exchange, as Tippett styles it, has its main office in the Gem The¬ ater building, and has branch offices in Memphis, Kansas City, Birming¬ ham and Louisville. Mr. Tippett, as manager of a big circuit of parks, is able to use his own film to a very large extent, and in this way starts his exchange under exceptionally fa¬ vorable auspices. While Mr. Tippett personally superintends all the main business of the exchange the detail end of the work is left in the hands of A. E. Bryant, who has been asso¬ ciated with Mr. Tippett for some time at the Chippewa theater. The city end and the park distribution is being taken care of by A. Coombs, who has previously been associated with most of the large exchanges in this city. Strangers in the City. Last Thursday George Middleton of Chicago, was seen in company with Frank R. Tate and Fred Koehln, wandering around the center streets of this city gazing at all the vacant lots. Is Mr. Middleton going to make a descent on St. Louis in the shape of another first-class theater, or are Managers Tate and Koelhn trying to persuade him to break into the mov¬ ing picture field here? Manager Rose of the Majestic the¬ ater, Fort Smith, Aik., was in town this week looking for new devices s that he can overcome the competition he is being threatened with in Fort Smith. Finally he decided to take s quartet back with him, and also in¬ stall four Vogel Air Coolers. The Majestic theater is one of the finest picture theaters in the country, it seating over nine hundred on ( floor, and is built in a perfectly n fireproof building. Manager MacFarland of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was also in town looking for talking picture? to run as an ad¬ ditional attraction through the sum- Signor Menillo came to St. Louis to make arrangements for the great Italian tragedian, Antonio Maiori. He secured the Grand Opera house for three nights, and Sgr. Maiori will ap¬ pear in Othello, Hamlet and Fran¬ cesca, all in Italian. Manager R. M. Gulich of the Bijou theater, Pittsburg, was in the city the other day, but he failed to disclose his business. Manager in Railroad Wreck. John D. Tippett, the general mana¬ ger of the Park Circuit and Realty Company, which controls parks in St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis and Louisville, was in the railroad wreck on the Frisco the other day, but luckily escaped without any injury. About five years ago Mr. Tippett was in another wreck, but was not so lucky, for he was seriously injured that time. _ Nearly Lost His Head. Sam Murphy, the business agent for Local No. 5 of the Billposters, ap¬ peared the other day resplendent in an entire new outfit, the outcome, so he states, of a hard season’s work. After a strenuous day spent in ex¬ hibiting his new glories he finally fell asleep on a chair outside his hotel. An hour or two after, he awoke to find the top of his nearly bald head getting colder and c.older. At first he thought that he must have lost his head in the shuffle, but at last found out that someone had simply bor¬ rowed his new Dunlap hat and gone on their way rejoicing. Murphy is now wearing his last season’s dip, and is absolutely opposed to all open air treatments. Basil Webb. St. Louis is the fourth largest city in the United States, but, strangely enough, until the present time, it has failed to receive adequate notice from the dramatic papers. THE SHOW WORLD intends to give St. Louis a chance to bask in the sunlight of notoriety and for this purpose has engaged Basil Webb as its correspondent in that city. Mr. Webb has established a branch office at 201 Gem Theater building, where all modern conveniences will be found for the use of professionals, such as telephones, stationery, etc. Mr. Webb has been identified with the profession of entertainment for a number of years, and is recognized as a man of sterling worth,—a keen judge of amusement affairs and a writer of no mean ability,—as has been evidenced by the fact that his name frequently appears in the leading fiction magazines of the country. We bespeak for Mr. Webb the hearty co-operation of all members of the profession. He will at all times appreciate items of news from actors, artists, managers, billposters, stage mechanics, treasurers, moving picture men and others in the field. A feature of the St. Louis page each week will be the cartoons, re¬ flecting the amusement thought of the city for the current week. Mr. Damen has been engaged as cartoonist. It is hardly necessary to intro¬ duce him to St. Louis readers, as his pen pictures are too well known there to need further comment. T. M. A. Notes. St. Louis Lodge No. 5, T. M. A held a special meeting on Friday May 7, at their headquarters, 16 South Sixth street. The meeting was called to initiate some new members who are connected with Mrs. Fiske’s Sal¬ vation Nell company. There were several visiting members present who were very pleased with the ceremony. Each of the visiting members made a few remarks to the good and wel¬ fare of the order. The evening was spent very pleasantly. St. Louis- Lodge has open head¬ quarters at No. 16 South Sixth street, over the Gem theater, and all the vis¬ iting members have pronounced it fine. St. Louis Lodge extends to vis¬ iting members a cordial invitation to make the headquarters their home when in St. Louis. The lodge has comfortable club rooms, all the latest dramatic papers, stationery, etc. W. H. Borton is the recording secretary. Peter Pan at the Suburban. Sol Oppenheimer has just returned from a trip to Milwaukee, where he took his stage manager to see the production of Peter Pan at the David-. son theater. This production has just been bought outright by Sherman Brown and Mr. Oppenheimer desired to see if there was any possibility of using this immense production at his Suburban Garden theater this sum¬ mer. Mr. Mullen was of the opinion that although it would be a pretty big undertaking for a summer theater, that still it might be produced, so consequently Oppenheimer closed with Sherman Brown and this produc¬ tion will be used this summer. For the title role Oppenheimer has been exceedingly lucky in securing the services of Margaret Clark, who was connected with De Wolf Hopper last season. The Shuberts intend to star this young actress next year in a dra¬ matic production. Miss Clarfejwill ap¬ pear for three consecutive weeks at the Suburban theater. Summer Notes. / Dave Russell, the popular manager of the Imperial theater, is going to take over the management of the dra¬ matic theater at Delmar Garden. This theater has been newly builtTor this season and is the best constructed summer theater in St. Louis] Mana¬ ger Russell has engaged an exceeding¬ ly strong line of stars, and these, coupled with a thoroughly good dra¬ matic stock, will make the Bros. Op¬ penheimer hustle to still maintain the lead they have held in former years. Dan Fishell will temporarily vacate the Garrick and manage the comic opera theater at Delmar Garden. Fishell announces that the perform¬ ances will be more elaborate and the company far better than in preceding ■ The Bros. Oppenheimer will be kept exceedingly busy looking after their theaters at West End Heights ana Suburban Gardens. The Suburban opens next Sunday with Julie Herne in Salomy Jane. The West End Heights opens the same day with Rice and Kady in the Roger Brothers in Washington. A New Theatrical Exchange. A new theatrical exchange in St. Louis the other day under the name of the Mid West Theatrical Exchange. It announces that it j s booking time for vaudeville, dramatic and musical companies; for theaters, airdomes and parks. This exchange is under the personal .direction ot Nat. E'rber, who has been associated with the profession for the past ten years. Mr. Erber has always been noted for his square dealing and nas a host of friends in the profession, an there is no doubt that he will nil a long desired need in St. Louis, namely a first-class dramatic agency^^»