Billboard advertising (Sept 1910)

'T5g Billboard- AMERICAS IBAJ)ING AMUSEMENT WEEKIY Cincinnati rrro^) o ^ - 7^ >i ^ >¥ t-t* to Voltune XXn. No. 39. cmciinrATi--^REw tork—Chicago September 24, 1910. On Amusement Life Verily, Gus Frohman Is a. hero: not of the type we see In productions owned by his iUustrioua self, his celebrated brothers. Charles and Daniel, et al, or the kind that matinee Rlrls are wont to rave over, but a real, live, fuU-Sedged hero. His reward? Not much. But Qus, beins a modest and retiring fellow, bas not yet made requi* sitlon for a Camesle :medal, as recom- pense for his brave deed, although his friends are planning to present the case' before the tribunal of Car- negie medal distributois,v in the bope that their comrade's cpmrnendable efforts in enacting the hero role may not fail to receive from the multitude the plaudits it deserves. The incident which gave Gus the opportunity to be classified in the hero column occurred in a Middle West city, where Mr. Frohman's attraction had been playing a week's engagement. One evening, during his stay, he was compelled to remain at the theatre a little later^than usual aiid^ as a consequence, it was near midnight before he i^wended-iJiiar steps* toward his hostelry. Arriving at his destination, he noticed sheets of flame projecting from one of the hotel windows. Rushing Into the building, he hurriedly Informed the clerk on duty of the flre and then proceeded to the scene of the blaze which, finally, with the assistance of several of the hotel employes, he succeeded in extinguishing before the fire department arrived. Of course, Frohman was complimented right and left upon his prompt- ness of action, but right here a group of his friends contrived to carry things a little farther and ask the mayor to present him wtth a medal for his bravery. The mayor refused to enter Into the arrangement, bat Informed his callers that he had an additional fireman's uniform which he would turn oyer to them to present to their comrade. The suggestion was accepted, and the uniform delivered. At the proper time: ZVohman . was confronted by his fHehds and a group of firemen and presented Trith the outfit in appre- ciation of his noble efforts, to which Frohman replied In such a manner that, before he had concluded his speech of acceptance, the room was vacated by his friends. ■ When the AI. G. Field minstrel band stopped in front of the Neil House, in Columbus, a few days ago, and played a concert, a bet of over a year's standing between AL G. vFleld and Ben Harmon, manager of the hotel, was pald^ • * The bet was made in a hotel in Hot Springs, Ark., when Harmon and Field met there by chance. If was in the summer and the weather was as dry as a bone; The farmers near Hot Springs were being burned out, and all of theiB:i>;were hanging around the hotels In the little town, cussing fate and the weather. , "I never saw It fail,'* said Mr. Field, "that when one August was bad. thajt' the one following wasn't great. ■ Next August, if we had a dry month In Coltihibus, this yeur will be a wet one." ■ °. B.en Harmon took exception to the statement, and the two men got hold of Section Director Alciotore in Lilttle Rock, Ark., and found that the precii>itation for August. 1909. in Columbus was 2.&3 inches. Mr. Field imme- diately bet Harmon that the following August would see at least four inches of rainfall here. He bet a public concert to twenty tickets to his minstrel- show;, ,: , On September 1. as soon as Field arose, he tialephoned to'the newspapers to find out how matters stood In the rainfall department. "It's been the dn'est August in thirty-two years." he was told. "Holy smokel" shouted Mr. Field. "Is that on the level?" ."Pretty near," said the -reporter. "There was a fall of only forty-two- hundredths of an inch." "Gosh." said Mr. Field ."Come on down and listen to a concert in front of the Neil House, Maybe:there'll be something following It, too. 'caude- It certainly has been powerful dry around' here.*' It was a'cold July day, and W. H. Truehart and some of his state col- leagues came up from Flood's Park, down at Curtis Bay, Md., to spend an afternoon In the city. In the merry party were May Morris, Rose I<ewis, Frank J. lAmbert, John Burke and Truehart. Frank Lambert was granted a leave: of absence to visit his family at Cape May, where they were summering. The temperature being soniewhat low, the ladies took along their wraps for protection. In case the breeses proved uncomfortable. As the car sped along, the breeses made Xiambert drowsy, and he fell into a doze, and was dreaming of his prospective visit to his family and the pleasant reception that awaited him. The motorman gave his controller an extra twitch, which Increased the speed Of the car and the cool air seemed to chill Miss Morris and she turned to her escort, John Burke, aihd reauested her wrap. Burke politely responded to her request and. In so doing, remarked: "Here's your cape. May*' The car gave a Jolt and aroused Liambert from his slumber and he over- heard the latter remark and, being absorbed in his dream, he sleepily ex- claimed:"Cape Mayl Cape May! Here's where r get off." As he became conscious, he remarked: "Curses! It's only a dream." A friend of Ous Frohman's, speaking of the manager's eccentricities, tells a story which sheds a side light on the man's personality: "Frohman," says the friend, "occasionally did queer things. Often he would disappear from view entirely and when found would have exceed- ingly laughable excuses for his ab- sence. I remember an incident last season, when Frohman was accom- panying one of the Frohman shows on its tour.: his sudden disappearance was noted. Our party had been at the hotel after the show and Frohman was seemingly in excellent spirits. Suddenly he vanished. A search about the hotel was made, but it failed to bring to the foreground the missing Frohman. The search was continued Into the street, where members of the searching party found Frohman sitting on the curb and weeping bitterly. He was approached and asked the reason for his sorrow. 'Uh, uh,' he replied. 'I wish my daughter had been a boy.*" Here is a good one on Charles Kuehle, of the booking firm of Williams. Kuehle & Co., of Mobile: : The other day he took dinner at the home of The Billboard's Mobile representative and, while there, was playing with a: little dog belonging to his host's children. The dog finally Jumped upon Charlie's lap and cud- dled down for a nap, whereupon Mary, the five-year-old daughter of the house, said, wamingly: "Tou'd better not hold that dog on your lap, Mr. Kuehle. She's got more fleas now than she used to havft," . Al. Phillips' Company, playing small time in Oklahoma while putting In a couple of weeks of open time, forwarded his Sunday night; prop, .list to the manager of the airdome in the town that they were -Iraolced. to play that week. - . ' ~ . The company arrived, the property man hunted up the-nufbftger and inquired as to the whereabouts of the properties-on the list sent him -that were very, very essential in putting on the bill Of In the Fter West. "Two tepees" were on the list, and the manager said he had everything but them. When asked why they were not forthcoming, he said that he had tried for two days to find some, but couldn't. He said he had been to all the grocery stores and that they hi^ an unllnUted amount-of green peas, dried peas and goober peas, but that' there' wasn't' a groceryman in town that had even so much as heard of a 'tepee," . ' The property man quickly thrust a handkerchief in his mouth and made a run for the back door. Up in front of the hotel he found the entire company. He quickly sprung the Joke, and over that sedate little village loud roars of laughter bounded to the northward, bounced sigainst the hills far distant, and came sailing back again. "Tepees" Is a word that Is dangerous'to say around the said "Opery Hall" at present. Some people can't see a Joke.: The other day In New Tork an actor met a pal of his in the profession and noticed that he was wearing a band of mourning around his arm. "It's for my father," the actor explained. "I've Just come from his funeral." The actor expressed his symp>athy. The other's grief was obviously'verjr real and great. "I attended to all the funeral arrangements." he said. "We had eTerythlnc Just as father would have liked It." ' "Were there many there?" "Many there!" cried the actor, with pride. "Why, my boy, yn toraed •em away!"