The Billboard 1915-05-29: Vol 27 Iss 22 (1915-05-29)

MAY 29, 1915. The Billboard 19 ree tn tte Cloning of Elsa Ryan's ones ea re OF a e Or * Pal ease : school ia on eS. T ~*~ will oneal late advance representative ef the Downle & Wheeler Shows, has settled bieswelf comfortably down in Des Moines, Ia., with bie family, and is putting in bis waking hours im the interest of The American Press Association. We are indebted to Mr. Green for a most interesting letter, in which he sets forth highly enthusiastic views of the theater eityation in bis city, and, incidentally, encloses s word of praise for the managers of Des Moines as well as the artists who are fortunate enough to appear there. Best wishes, Green, and remember to drop a line once in a while. Charles MeClintock was seen recently in Toledo, O. doing bis usual excellent work ahead of the big show, Barnum & Bailey. We certainly do envy seme people. Especially so do we envy those who can fill a rusty can with worms and ble themselves off to the lakes and cast for a few of the finny tribe. Since being the recipient of a@ letter from Wolfe Lake. Mieh., written by Jack Reilly while he was dividing bis time between hauling them tn on bis Mme and keeping one optic on the look out fer the game warden, we have almost con tracted the fever ourself, and all we need to complete the trip is a lake, a reel and line, . a cance and a round-trip ticket. Harry Mac, who was ahead of September Morn during the regular season, was chaperon for Jack Reilly's fishing excursion, and, although some woukl not believe it, it was rumored that the pleasure-bent couriers had other dishes of appetizing proportions to devour in addition to the “‘catch."’ With the latter item subtracted we would more readily vouch he veracity of the rumor. Frank W. Green, Peg o' My Heart shows, is in Chicago and will as<ist Mr. Frawley, who bas charge of the 7 birds” at the Grand. and also the “Peg company which comes into the Cort for a sum mer ub We bave it on good authority that the most er ible feature of the Exposition in Cali fornia, as far as Walter S. Duggan fs con cerned, is the surf at Santa Monica. What one can find enjoyable about standing waist doep in the ocean and waiting patiently wunutil a buge wave comes along aud takes exception to the particular peaceful expression on one’s face, and then proceeds te go down etairs via one’s open mouth, we fail to grasp. But, the lifesavers must live and the sea must be pushed back from the shores occasionally to keep it from irrigating the main thoroughfares, and, as & capable epecimen of the aforeanentioned “pusher” we respectfully nominate Walter Duggan. To get back now to the point where we left the article of Fletcher Smith we will necessarily make an explanation in order to connect the chain, When we left the agent in the last article be was left ip a town with a depleted purse, and unable to raise any coin. He still has one resort left, according to Mr. Smith, and there we will begin: REFLECINONS By Fletcher Smith If the agent was abead of a repertoire company he stayed in town several days. He could touch the advance sale, giving an order on the show. If he was abead of a one-night stand show, and the attraction failed to show up in some town down the line and he could get no worn from the boss, he would oftentimes touch the landlord or leave his bill trunk with the local manager and thus t money for his fare back to Boston. Then down to The Job Print and out egain ahead of some other trick of the same eort. In course of thne the landlord and managers got to know him and called tie agent by his firet name—and sometimes other names, rticularly if be bed on a previous visit unoaded a show on the manager or landiord that failed “to take."" No show was booked abead except in rare instances. The agent would make one town, bill it, and go on to another, taking chances on being able to eecure the hall on the date desired. f the date was filled he would go and dig up another, and thus it was not long before his mileage was exhausted. Once in @ while it was necessary for the agent to return to the ehow to replenish bis ‘‘exchequer,"’ and his return was the occasion of a commot ones the members of the company. Wort was quickly circulated that the show was going to close and it was up to the agent to calm their fears and jolly the folk along with tales of forthcoming big business. or of a certain big opening at the next Monday's stand. The manager always appropriated the agent's time as soon as he hove in sight and kept bim closeted most of the time in hie room. I remember once going back to a little repertoire show which I was piloting through Maine in hopes of reaching New Brunswick. I needed a Palr of shoes and was out of tobacco: also was ail out of money. It was a case of MUST with me and it was either ‘‘dough"’ or a new agent on the job. The manager walked me up tewn to a little show estore on a side street, bought me a cheap pair of shoes and a paper of tobaceo Then we took a stroll down on the beach for what purpose I could not imagine. ‘Wade in and get your shoes wet,"’ sald the manager, and added, “rub some sand on them so they will hot look new. LL! the rest of the bunch see that you have a new pair of shoes they will all want a pair.’ The tebaces he poured lose In my coat pocket. Now, thie same manager kept this show out for nearly a vear, hung up land lords, and never had «9 salary day from the time he left Roston. His people stood for it and received an occasional dollar, shoes, hats or laundry money. Fortunately, for bim. he managed to get the shew so far away from Roston that his people, fearful that they would never see Howard street again, stuck to him in hopes of some time getting enough money to ret back. Another time, ahead of a wagon show playing Uncle Tom's Cabin, the manager, Mke a €reat many others, tmagined that the agent could make money whenever he needed it, and consequently paid no attention to a request to have “the needful” meet him in a certain town, I bad a bill wagon, a pair of horses and a check book full of orders. Late on Saturday night I drove up to a hotel fn @ small New only five years old, 40x100 ft.: covers best location: furnished; opera of airs, steam heated, electric light Seals 610; capacity 760; ground floor Good $14,000.00. Net profits of oer 100% in the past ten years, and still increasing. good will and estabiished business for $16,000.00. to suit purchaser to be guaranteed by cash deposit in our bank. O. L. MITCHELL, Mogr., Lyric Theatre, lyric Theatre, Crisfield, Md., fully equipped, moving pictures, vaude comer lot on Main Street. plant only two paying business for each year, average for the past five years over 306% om a $16,000.00 investment per year The city records show an increase in the value of rea) estate in this locality to % Will sell building, lot, electric plant, full equipment, One-third cash; balance secured by mortgage; easy terms Or will lease for five years at $2,500.00 per year; rent payable monthly im advance; lease Crisfield is a booming town on Chesapeake Bay. @ house upon request. Owner and manager inexperienced and poor healtb. lle and road productions. Building Population 10,000. Modern years old Two Power's Machines; established business for five years. Annual! sales, Photograph . ° . CRISFIELD, MD. THE “A World Wide Circulation” THE OLDEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL THEATRICAL AND VAUDEVILLE JOURNAL ERA ESTABLISHED 1837. Published every WEDNESDAY AT 5 TAVISTOCK §T., Strand, London, W. C. 2,000 Advertisements Appear Every Week in “The Era.” Professional Advertisements, £15 per Page, £3 per Column, 4s per Inch, Single Column. American Artists visiting England use THE ERA Offices as their permanent London adkiress. ‘The Era”’ is sold at Brentano’s, 5th Ave. and 27th St. NEW YORK CITY. Single Coples, by mall, 7 cents. Subscription Rate, with Postage, $3.20 a year. Phone, Central 6292. Manufacturers of Wigs. DELIVERIES For All Theatrical Merchandise QU C K Costumes Made To Order. the AAS natal Largest and Most Complete Merchandise and Costume Catalogue, 10¢ for mailing—TIGHTS. CHICAGO COSTUME WORKS 143 N. Dearborn St., CHICAGO, U. S. A. tion. of references. AT LIBERTY June 3. Manager Press Agent Contest Promoter Who can produce, promote and compel business. z Have experience at Circus, Carnival, Feature Films and Road Shows. Write me. R. J. BRANIGAN, care Billboard, Cincinna i, 0. Will consider any live proposi3est Premier A D Wanted for Al.G. Field Greater Minstrels Clarinet, band, to double viola, orchestra; dancers to double altos and clarinets in band; bass drummer who can read music. Address AL. G. FIELD, 50 Broad St., Columbus, O. AT LIBERTY Comedy PRESENTING LY A STRON All must be experienced and reliable, Athletes. BROTHERS ., cor. 55th St. and Hariem, CLEVELAND, OHIO. ~ FT. WAYNE THE Temple Theatre. Most popular and centrally located. First-class in every respect. Will rent to responsible parties for term of years. bination, Stock or Pictures. W. W. ROCKHILL, Ft. Wayne, Indiana. ATRE FOR RENT Suitable for Vaudeville, Com Hampshire town where I had been with another show the year before. The landlord knew me and met me with a smile. Luckily, for me, the last show to stop with bim had paid up in full, and he a@iso knew the manager of the show I represented, and for once I put in a Sunday with my mind at rest. (To be continued.) Now that the weather is waxing warm we would appreciate a line or two from the various couriers throughout the country. An agent once said to us, “A press representative or courier whose business it is to secure publicity for others should not permit his name or picture to appear in print."" He was entirely on another track, and his argument carried no logical meaning. An agent is as much in the profession as the actor whom he represents. ne Rillboard is for showfolk, right or wrong, and if an agent is not a showman he is sadly misplaced ahead of a show. You can keep in touch with friends, and they can keep tab on you, through the Press & Advance Agents’ column, and it can not be called ‘‘press agenting”’ one’s self, as the worthy agent informed us. He was merely mistaken—and we might add, tco modest. Admiral H. B. (Punch) Wheeler it fs now. He is threading a tortuous way down the Ohio on a submarine. He will endeavor to locate his real estate at the bottom of the river at Fvansville when he reaches there. Forty city lots it was, and he never was able to sell any of them becanse the river never fell low enough to stake them ont. The nominating committee of the Friars’ Club, which will hold its annual election on June 4, has submitted the following ticket: For abbot. George M. Cohan: dean, Ralph Trier; corresponding secretary, John J. Gleason; recording secretary, Rennold Wolf: treasurer, Richard J. Hatzel; governors, Jerome Siegel, Irving Berlin, Channing Polock, Fred Block leo Frank, D. Frank Dodge. Members of the Troard of Governore holding over are Sam H. Harris, John W. Rumsey, George 8S. Dougherty, Michael Selwyn. Mr, Cohan {s renominated for the office of abbot. WALTER DUGGAN’S NOTES To farewell the feathers at sunrise and fitney along the ocean front to attend the antics qf Shorty Hamilton in the New York mo tion picture camp at Inceville, portion of Santa Monica, christened by that alert Kenneth O'Hara, press representative par excellence fur aforesaid camp, furnishes the visitor with a good insight of historical points of Bunker iif). Reader may be troubled in reckoning where Bunker Hill has any legitimate connection with a moving picture camp, but ah, that’s for these who don’t know how to discover f themselves. Hailing from New England, the home of Buirker Hill, as all us historica) stnudents well know, we have always thought our knowledge of said historical monument was completed. Shorty brought us to the Sunset library, where, lo, and behold, we maue discoveries that proved our shortcomings in estimating the number of steps that lead to the top of Bunker Hill. If you desire to improve your country’s history ave Shorty Hamilton chaperon you up the Bunker Hill steps at Santa Monica. The whole picture world knows Shorty Hamilten via the film. e's no bigger than a peanut, but he’s a Hercules in ideas that make his stay around the picture camp wortn wutie. Was discussing the death of John Bunny—bdigger heart there never existed in the snow world, and we had ample opportunity to discover it last fall—with a crowd of movie men. and the interesting question arose of ‘‘Who’ll be John Bunny's legitimate successor?’ Imitation of established characters never satisfy. no matter how clever, but our way of thinking brings the thought that Shorty Hamilton will be the nearest approacn to John Bunny's funny screen characters of any that will be attempted. Shorty Meeting the Milkman is going to give the pride of Santa Monica his first chance in this respect. Best of all, Kenneth O'Hara will be right at Shorty’s heels, to see that he doesn’t lose that famous laugh. Our jitney ride along the ocean front also showed us that Truly Shattuck is not only an early riser. but is also exceedingly enthusilastic over her moving picture debut. She jumped into our jitney, accompanied by some five dozen new bonnets and a disposition that always makes it pleasant fer advance agents who have been in advance of her shows. The tale of the sea shells at Venice beach involves the whereabouts of one Hank Smith, who lingered hereabouts last summer while waiting for the opening of Nat Goodwin's season. Now that we have seen an afternoon crowd at Venice beach, we don't worry any longer as to where Hank gets his color schemes. One more announcement, Hank, and you'll have a Ty Cobb batting average In the matrimonial league. tus season is a matter the boys are all anxious & hear. Tom Henry, Toronto's censors com mittee of advance agents’ lives, sends word that Tom should christen his school “The Martin.”* Not hearing from Jimmy Grainger since he departed from Ft aige. fear he's gene te Urbana to spend the summer Johnnie Daly will confer a hig favor by writ ing us immediately as to what cise Hy Pennypacker has adopted mer mormnucgs now that he's net terms with the ice man of Mth street. Harry Rowe is already sly because he hasn't rup exer» sumon speaking wince uneasiness acToss ar t ove thus for this season. rey Brightly Dayton has called in all the fishes from the war zone. The Reckaway skipper has Gatotenee his new gren boat ‘The Expense John Wilstach claiws tie is very low, considering the mer at certain agents’ flats Bobbie Yost in Les Angeles asparagus market supply of last sum is deing the Morosco press work and js doing it very brilliantly. a Ping os 8 batting slump with the San Fran. cisco club is credited to F. FP. Shanley’s checked suit. The : nate Continental Hetel magnate threatens to have a terchligit parade for the famed outtit one of these niguts Jullian Eltinge’s visit to Lis Angeles this week had the theatrical werk! guessiag. Mr. Eltinge simply visited these parts to claperon his mother through tue EX position cisco. All sorts of mov Volvizg sensational off Mr. Eltinge, at San Franpleture stories, in for the services of , were printed. If atrigal star wore popular in > 4 Julian Eit.nge we'll kave to claim We smoked glasses, Eck Bunch, after ing service in New wear visiting the Automat dinYork, wished be was back in Everett. playing baseball AS an exponent of shirt tacking Shen Friedman is in a class by himself, so we are telq out here in Los Angeles Net having been informed of the number of weeks Walter Sidepocket Messenger bad this Season, we'll have to postpone the Messencer Serial anotier eighton is fully convin York Willie Wilkens muse ifire with nnead f Barnum One of spring season is ( ecards withont dueat Kill is still em for the political aspirants in Los Angeles sill’s great showing gave one of the candidates a capacity house. We're awfully glad to hear the advance agent world at last sheuting the praises of Rill Steege, manager of the Grand in Great Falls, Mont. It would do many one-night-stand managers much good to learn why the boys all unite in claiming Bill Steege is the best onenicht-stand manager in the euntry Ned Holmes and Bill Flack have from a painter named Kelly a painting of “Gross Receipts.” $965.00 in cold cash for it. the only other bidder. Will the maauma hold out for the summer? Why worry! The bathing at Venice is creat! Corp. Wallie Decker is at home in Chicago. Ed Baker is hemeless at Toronto. Princess Theater burned. Poor typewriter! THEATRICAL NOTES purchased beintiful oil They paid Dan Wright was Helen Rook, lately of the Winter Garden and the Palace Theater, has joined the cast of Experience. Olga Cook, daughter of Detective-Sergeant Edward Cook, made her debut May 14, in Nobody home, at the Princess Theater, Selwyn & Co. have engaged Robert Fraser to play the part of Jerry Belden in The Show Shop next season. The Montrose [Players closed the Orpheum Theater, in Zanesville. 0., for the season on May 22, when they ended a week's engagement in which tabloid musical comedies were staged. Miss Ethel Stoddard, who has been a popular member of The Juvenile Bostonians for several years, was recently married to D. P. Stowe, of Ronham, Tex. Mr. Stowe is organizing another big show this season in which his wife is to appear as one of the princ!pals. The Vrovinece of Ontario, Canda, has reduced the provincial license fee for theaters from $300 to $200 in cities with over 25.000 population; from $200 to $100 with a population more than 10,000 and less than 25,000 and from $100 to $50 in places with lese than 10,000 population, The Scace of Texas has come forward with the claim to the youngest actor in the United States. Master Norman Moxley is even such a young acter that he does not walk onto the Stage when he gets his ‘‘ene."' He is only two and one-half months old, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jobn H. Moxley, of Dallas, Texas. His father is property man at the Jefferson Theater, and it is at that playhouse where the infant son has been appearing in Tess of the Storm Country. For the benefit of the American Amulance Hospital in Paris the Garrick Players presented Interior, by Maurice Maeterlinck: The Maker of Dreams, by Oliphant Down, and The Post Office, by Tagore. en Monday afternoon, May 24, at the Booth Theater. S. A. Lynch, of Asheville, N. C.. bought Mrs. Schloss’ interest in the Schloss Cireu!t of North Carolina. Lynch will have practical i oly of all the best theaters in t Tar Heel State. The consideration was not rude } wn. Mark Harris, the comedian, was o ted on for a rupture by D R. J. MeClelan, at the Grace Hospital, Detroit, M Paul BR. Goss and his Twentieth Century Orchestra are ag on the read and are furnishing the music on the ex sion s Paul, of the Streckfus lines, plying the upper Mis¥: as follows: Russell Lowe, liank) Henry Sater, Bob Goss Collins and thank, threugh The ‘ond of America, the an Hospital in Chicago, where she was recently confined, and Dr. Max Thorek, who attended ber in her illness.