The Billboard 1902-12-06: Vol 14 Iss 49 (1902-12-06)

— eo Fee er seoongie ‘ ge ert Deion " can eapettcedinet lin reiting THE BILLBOARD > PIQUANT PARAGRAPHS. Campbell, Robert C.; born young and kept so every since. Has dabbled in circuses, politics, bill posting and other things. Has made an enormous success of them all. Has a voice and knows how to use it in a fight for rights. Now located between the Chicago River, and Lake Michigan, and ready to attend to business any hour of the day or night. Bostock, Frank; was born in England, but that was not his fault. Now a great believer in the “land of the free and home of the brave.’ Is a “fair” man, and believes in them, especially the street kind. Is known as the “Animal King,” and has Daniel beat to a standstill, as he sends people into lions’ dens every day in the week. Donaldson, William M.; has a good job in a little printing office that helps to keep bill posters busy. Located in Kentucky, and he occasionally indulges in a product of that State that cheers and makes people cheer. Is the original man that they first sprung “Hello. Bill,” on. Kramer, Harry; born in Danville, Pa., much to the credit of Danville. Since then Indiana has named a town after him. Is disliked by tramps as he is the originator of “working while you sleep.” Believes in mud, although he hopes his name will never be that. Takes Cascarets regular, and hopes you'll do the same, thank you. es Frohman, Charles; manager of a number of small troupes that play ‘“‘opery houses,” but not at “ten-twent-thirt.” Owns a few theaters and things and works more than three hours every day. Well known as the American producer of plays and producer of American plays, but never managed “Uncle Tom.” Cable address, London, New York and Hoboken. Fitch, Clyde; American dramatist and play writer. Ambidextrous, which means he can write a play with one hand, an other one with the other, and think out another with the place be wears his hat. Has more plays on the road than any other man and is proud of it. Prospective stars please write. Campbell, Maurice; manager of theatrical attractions. Has money and, therefore, don’t believe in “trust.” Opposed to syndicates. Is somewhat of a prestidigitateur, as he changed a “Crossman” into a “camel.” Now singing the “song of a sword.” Robison, Sanford H.; now a resident of the city of Brotherly Love, having deserted the white tents for a bus:ness that sticks. Also a believer in signs. Originally from Missouri, so you have to show him. Billboard, The; something that is getting “thar,” and fast at that. Devoted to bill posters, street fair men and theatrical people, and they are devoted to it. Prints news and lots of it. Published once a week, but read every day in the week. Don't take cord-wood, pumpkins or potatoes for subscriptions, but you don’t care. For sale by all newsdealers who understand their business. Sells, Willie; at one time was a_ principal rider in a circus, and known as Chesterfield. Now owns a show of his own, and has been gathering in shekels from the natives and giving them the real goods. When his show comes your way, drop in and see it, and you will be well repaid. Burec, Major John M.; the man that never had an expense account. Has been booming Buffalo Bill since the year after the big wind, and goes to Europe to carry on the good work. Wears a sombrero because Bill does, and because it is easy on the head. Hates to leave America, but then he has as many friends on ‘tother side as he has here. Gentry; four of ‘em, and all hustlers. Their initials are H. B., J. W., W. W. and F. H. I got them from a fake one of their agents gave me. Four brothers with four shows, and all good ones. They clean up a large section of the country every year. While they have little animals with their shows. dogs. ponies and “sich,” they are not little showmen by any manner of means. Bailey, James A.; king of showmen and showman for kings. He started on the bottom rung of the ladder, climbed. to the top, and then pulled the ladder up after him, so what chance has any one to catch him? Barnum used to have a big circus, but Bailey's Barnum and Bailey's Circus makes that look iike a deuce spot. Owns interests in a number of things and takes an interest in them all. Robinson, John; owner of the John Rob inson Circus. and it’s been a good one since the good old times of long ago. Is affectionately called “The Guv'nor” by his friends and employees, but if he sought a political life. that office should not be high enough for him. He ought to run for the Congress. but you see he’s honest. Son of the original John Robinson, and a worthy successor to a man who made circus business respectable. Cody, William F.; guess you will reeognize the big chief Buffalo Bill under that title. Has led a strenuous life for many years, and still keeps it up. Would rather ride on a horse's back than in a Pullman. Killed all the buffaloes in the West, and had to go into the show business for recreation. Owns a ranch or two as big as a small size State. Has to go to Europe because they are hungry for him, and is sorry that they are. Thousands of people on this side of the big drink are also sorry he is going. Wallace, B. E.; lives part of the year in Peru, but not the Peru where a p4&lmleaf fan, a necklace and a winning smile are considered full dress. His Peru is in Indiana, and that’s where he keeps his circus. Called Ben by his friends, and hope he will pardon us for doing the same. Makes a nice amount of money every year, and few begrudge it to him. Salisbury, Nate; he used to be an actor and a fairly good one, but he reformed, and now he helps Buffalo Bill spend half of the profits the Wild West makes. Has dabbled in every branch of the show business, but no more coons in his if You please. Hamilton, Tody; has been. hobnobbing with royalty for the past few years, but was too much of an American to “toady” to any of them. Renowned for originating newspaper ‘stories for circuses that the papers are glad to get. Gets the kind of material in the press that brings a press of people to the show he is booming. Would rather get up a newspaper story than eat. Has a life sentence with James A. Bailey. Semon, Si; acted as contracting agent for Noah when that gentleman ran the biggest menagerie ever known. Has been at it ever since and still will continue. Won't tell his age to any one but his grandchildren, and then swears them to secrecy. Cooke, Louis E.; general manager of cireuses, and has been in the business for a few years. Runs a hotel in Newark, N. J., not because he needs the money, but because Newark needs the hotel. Well, a Cooke ought to knew how to feed boarders right. Gardner, William H.; general agent for James A. Bailey, and you can bet he works more than two hours a day. Has directed tours of big shows for many years and hopes he will for many more. So do we. Can tell the population of all towns, and how many feet of effective billing you can get up. Is called Bill by his friends, and don’t get mad at it. That is always a sign of greatness. McCaddon, Joseph T.; back among the old folks once again, anu says a President is good enough for him, even if he don't wear coronation robes. Has been showing Europe how to handle a big circus, and Europe isn’t through gasping yet. Will now wake up America with a tour of the great and only Barnum & Bailey Circus. Ball, Dick ; never called Richard since his birth was recorded in the family Bible. He is glad of it too. Has been a contracting agent for years, and his nightly dreams are about “lots and licenses.’ On the jump from March to November, and rests up the rest of the time. Manages to tell a few stories of circus life in his idle months. Day, Charles H.; used to go out with circuses, but has now reformed, and lives a peaceful, quiet life under the elms in New Haven. Still slings the pen in a masterly style, and can dig up big words without much exertion of the gray matter. If you are down his way stop in, get a smoke, and hear some good stories of circus life when it was the real thing. Davis, Charles A.; formerly well known in circus life, but now resting in Tucson, Ariz. Still stutters as badly as ever, but there is more sense in one sentence of his stuttering talk than there is in a day's conversation from a good many other peo ple. Sends his kind regards to old friends, and only wishes he were able to get on the road again. So do we. Sells, Lewis: from Columbus, and winters there yet. Knows a center pole from a ring bale, and is a handy man to have around the big top. Part owner of one of America’s biggest amusement enterprises, and he deserves it. Used to travel with the red wagons before they ever put them on the “choo-choo” cars, and is not a bit more stuck up now than he was then, even if he has a tittle bigger balance in bank. Sells, Peter; had the same father and mother as Lewis, and consequently is his brother. Always greets you with a hearty hand shake and a genial smile, unless you are trying a shake down. Is of a sunny disposition and likes sunny weather during the circus season. Pawnee Bill; was christened William Lillie, but it's been so long since he heard it that he forgets it. Has a Wild West show on the road during the summer, and breaks bronchos in the winter. Got enough coin of the realm to make it a hard matter for any one to break him. Glad, we are. Has a good future before him, as people like the show he gives and he likes them to like it. Sautelle, Sig.; suppose he has a front name, but all we know is Sig., so let it go at that. Has had a circus on the road for many, many moons, and still keeps moving. Goes to Cuba this winter, but, wind and weather permitting, will be back when the bine birds sing to cheer the hearts of the countrymen who flock to his great and only. Bleistein, George; lives in a town on a lake where the wind never blows listlessly. Runs the Courier Printing Company, and they print a few Couriers every year. Buffalo would sadly miss him if he ever moved, but he is not a good checker player, so he won't. Prints lithographs and other things of that nature Is well known to lots of show men, and there are a lot more that would like to know him. Main, Walter L.; owner of the circus that bears his name, Has had a few hard knocks in his time, but he always comes up smiling. On Easy street now, and the sunny side at that, and we hope it never does rain. Will send out his trick bigger and better than ever next season. Is now resting and would not talk. business if you could show him how he could make a thousand. Welsh Brothers; these gentlemen are Welsh, but they did not come from Wales, and they were never known to. Welch in their lives. Have a smart circus on the road in the summer time, and get so used to travelling that they keep moving in winter with a minstrel show. Have gradually increased the size of the spread of canvas from a little thing about as big as a candy top until now it takes head work to get all of their paraphernalia on an average size lot. ‘Their success has been gained by hard work and they are going to keep it up. . Ringling Brothers; five of them and it's a shame to bunch them all together, but as they have always been together we would not dare separate them. Winter in Baraboo, and, while we don’t like the name of the town, the inhabitants of that place are glad that the Ringling’s do. So would you, if you were a tax-payer there and saw the amount they spend there every winter. Have a great big show on the road every year, and it keeps on growing. “How pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity.” That's Scripture and that’s what these five boys do. They work together like a good “pull-up” team, and success crowns their efforts. Here's a bumper to the Big Five, and they can fill it with whatever they please. Bailey, Mollie; in the Lone .Star State known as Texas, for nine months of the year there travels a circus controlled by genial Mollie Bailey. As the only female manager of a tented show, she deserves credit, but, as she has enough te pay spot eash, she don’t need it. Bryan, Charles F.; president of the Associated Bill Posters, and a resident of Cleveland. Conducts the bill posting business there, and sees that everything is in apple pie order. Has done much for the good of the cause, and will keep on doing it. Wears his honors lightly, but his du ties as president keep him up late many a night. And the other fellows who bene fit by the thought he gives to it, can rest easy on a bed of down or blow the froth off a stein in a cosy rathskellar. He would rather be right than be President, but he happens to be both Bryan, Al; ex-president of the same Association as his brother is now president of. He made such a good one that they cencluded to keep it ia the family. Never misses a convention, and is a hard worker. Thinks Cleveland is a good place to live in. or Mark Hanna would have left there years ago. so he will remain there till it is all out and all over. Fay, William F.; not a giant in height, but they do compress a lot of goodness into some human beings. Will go a long ways to help a friend, and his friends know it. Mixed up in so many bill posting plants that it is hard to keep cases on them, but he manages to do so. Stays in Brooklyn for Brooklyn's good, but likes to spend a short vacation occasionally in Philadelphia. Had a lengthy experience in the show business before be engaged in promotion ef publicity, but those days are past and gone. Link, Barney. They trotted him from Brooklyn to Chicage. but any old place .where he hangs his hat. is home, sweet home. If we told of all his good qualities, his manliness and squareness, his answer would be, “You don’t say so.” It was ai shame to separate the three men that were pulling so nicely together in Brooklyn, but we must all spread out and he did the spread ing. Murphy, Thowas. You wouldn't think he was born in France by his name, and he wasn't. Is also in with Fay and Link on a good niany deals, but they are all square deals at that. Bill posting got a good man when he went in the business. O’Mealia, James T. There's a town In Jersey that has more passenger trains come in it in one hour than New York City has in a week. That town is Jersey City, and on the bill boards there, you will find the name of this gentleman. He has a good plant in a good town, even if bum comedi ans in New York theaters do make merry with it at times. : Pratt, Sam.; controls plants in Newark, a lot of other towns, and, oh, we almost forgot that place they call New York. Gets up every morning before breakfast, and can scent a contract for national work like a good dog can a bird. Gude, O. J.; is not superstitions, but believes in signs and good signs at that. Though there ts a J in his name, he is far from being that. Will take contracts for the Desert of Sahara or mountain peaks of Africa if they have the peaks there. Houghtaling, C. A. A busy man, so the best you can get from his friends is Hote A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and even if his name was as short as his nickname. he would be as big a hustler. Is known as the millionaire sign painter, and if he ain't he ought to be. Donnelly, Bo The hub of the universe is Boston, and that is where Eddie keeps house. If you “advertise his way" you will be alright, and if ‘he talks to you a little while, you will think his way is the right way. Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed any better than Eddie usually is, and if stocks keep up he will be happy till Gabriel sounds his trump. Philbrick, Phil.; lives up near Niagara Falls, but sees that bills are carefully posted. in Buffalo, N. Y. Affectionately dubbed Little Phil, but he has a heart as big as an ox. Loves life, but no more expositions in his if you please. Stahibrodt, Eddie; used to be a solicitor, but lets the other fellows do the hustling after national contracts now, while he enjoys a siesta in the tall grass. Has a good plant in a swell town in New York State, and we wish he had a dozen. Curran, James. Donver knows a good thing when it sees if, so that is why this man is allowed to keep the bill posting plant in that town in such good shape. Iie believes in air, but not “hot air,” but the glorious climate of Colorado. The latch string is ever cn the outside at the shop and home of Curran of Denver. Gunning, R. J.; and he is always “gunning” after business. a sign, but he does believe in steel signs and every other kind. You have heard of men who have had a system for breaking the bank and other things, but the “Gunning System” is the real thing, as it gets money for all who indulge in it. No extra charge for saying nice things, and we mean them too. Cole, W. W.; has been connected with circuses for many years. Made a fortune out of one and pulled out of the business, but that smell of nice clean saw-dust makes a man hanker for the white tents, and now he is back in the business again, and is in it stronger than ever. He is the one circus man that never displayed his picture on a lithograph, or any other piece of printing and it is not because he has any reason to be ashamed of it either. Robbins, Burr; used to be a power in circus business, but got tired and quit. Now dabbles in bill posting plants and printing establishment for amusement, and cuts off cuopons the rest of the time. Mall address Chicago will always catch him. Wheeler, Punch; has been going through the country for a number of years filling the heads of poor country newspaper men with beautiful stories. Last season was press agent with the Robinson Circus, and a mighty good one at that. He knows how to write, how much to write and when to write, and hence he is always Welcome in the newspaper offices. . Whallen, Colonel; a true Kentucky Colonel with all the name implies, and he is proud of it. Is very fond of the “buck.” not the kind that black folks do, but the mint by that name he runs in Louisville, Has a good bill posting plant, because he appreciates the power of that kind of advertising, being in the theatrical business. Tyler, George C. The State that gave us. so many good Presidents also gave us this gentleman, for he opened his eyes on the light of day in Chillicothe, O. Liebler & Co. is him, and he's Liebler & Co. Now one of the biggest of the big gums in the theatri cal business. Has made a fortune in the past few years, and is after more, but while he is getting bis the public are get. ting the biggest and best kind of the the. atrical productions, lie is the greatest fighter that the Theatrical Syndicate has ever struck, and he will keep it up as jong as he remains in the business. He's a good fellow from the ground up. and if you gathered together all the men that he ever did an injury to. you would not have enongh to carry a twenty-five pound bag of flour. O'Donnell, Frank: was press agent Buffalo Bill ‘for the lest. few vense a made good. Goes with one of Bailey's attractions next season, but which one he “dassent” tell. Got his hewspaper ex perience on Philadelphia newspapers, and it must have been a good one, for he makes a hit wherever he goes. Robinson, Dan RB. Ile used to be an agent, but he saw the future of the carni val business, and now he is in it, and also in considerable from being in it. Has a big plant, and keeps moving along nicely, and making good with every one he signs a contract with. Keep your eye on the Rob inson Carnival Company, for it. is getting bigger and better every season, Fields, Al. G.; raised in the advance or a cireus and, therefore, knows a good thing when he sees it. Started ont a wee minstrel troupe, and the people came and saw it, liked it, and he had to make it bigger and bigger until now it is one of the real things Is known as the great American “joiner.” as he belongs to a aoe + Bioad societies, and .de said soctetios should be proud of it as he — I as he is a jolly good Watt, Bob; the fellow that grinds out stuff for the vaudeville actors. Has been at it so long that he is gray headed, but as he never had very much beauty this don’t worry him. He is the man that is respon. sible for these -piquant points, so if you have any kick’ coming tell it to him. Vlense tell me what a theatrical angel is. Manile We are glad to enlighten you, Mambe. Angels are supposed to fly, but a theatrical ancel Ix not stiipposed te be fly.” He gener: ally will fly away, however, after a couple of weeks’ bad business, THe is sometimes called a backer because he has a bad habit of Iueking out of financial obligations when most needed, He would not steal (Wr