Variety (September 1907)

VARIETY SUMMER PARKS GIRGUS NEWS When George C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Park, Coney Island, which was destroyed by fire this Summer, opens its doors next year a new idea in Summer park con- struction will be disclosed. The work of reconstructing the resort will continue during the Fall and Winter. Mr. Tilyou's idea is to have the entire park enclosure under a shed-like cover with glass sides. In figuring out the annual profits the per- centage of rainy days frequently throws the balance of the whole season from a profit to a loss. The uncertainty of the park business from this cause has deter- mined Mr. Tilyou to make the experiment. With the park covered, the condition of the weather would make little difference to the visitors, and the promoter believes that with his new scheme in opera- tion and well advertised he will have no worry over "off days." The plan has never been tried before and will be closely followed by park men in general. There is a prospect that the park and fair agents will not have such an easy time bringing European acts over here under "play or pay" contracts next year. B. Obermeyer, the foreign agent, brought a number of features across the water last year and innocently delivered them to certain agents. Since then he has learned a lot about the prevailing meth- ods of handling this branch of the book- ing business. The result of his awak- ened knowledge was a long letter this week to the International Artisten Loge of Germany, in which Mr. Obermeyer made the German society executives ac- quainted with the facts and suggested that hereafter no foreign act come to this country for park and fair work without first securing signed contracts direct from the managers of the resorts to be played. A number of artists who journeyed to this side under "play or pay" contracts found that the instrument did not work to their undivided profit. When they were laid off they did not always receive sal- aries, and this happened frequently. The I. A. L. will probably act upon Mr. Ober- nieyer's suggestion at its next meeting. The White Rats of America also recently declared themselves for strict regulation of the park and fair booking agents. F. If, Barnes, of the Barnes West- ern Theatrical Exchange, arrived in New York Tuesday, meeting here by appoint- ment Thomas J. L. Brown, president of the Florida State Fair Associaton. Mr. Barnc signed contracts to supply the vaudeville features for the fair, the trans- action involving $20,000 in salaries. It will run the entire month of February. The bill will be changed the middle of the month, each show running two weeks. The directors of the Consolidated Rail- road Company, a "dummy" corporation, controlled by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, for the purpose of holding the chain of trolley lines be- tween Boston and New York, met in New Haven this week. Among the items of business that went through at the meet- ing was the closing of a deal for the pur- chase of further electric lines in New England. A number of these added roads control summer parks at their terminals or along their lines, and next year the Consolidated will have a circuit of per- haps 30 parks playing vaudeville and semi- durlesque attractions. The extent of the circuit and the shortness of the summer reason will make it necessary to split this time up into two or three wheels. The h/iost profitable, and those playing the aigher priced attractions, will form one circuit, while a second chain of parks will be formed of the remainder. In this way all the parks in each chain will be about of an equal grade and can so be formed into a sort of "wheel" modelled after that of the burlesque circuits. At the same meeting Walter Plimmer, of the Empire Circuit Company, was reappoint- ed booking agent for a second season. Acts working on the bill furnished the county fair at Worcester, Mass., last week, were prevented by the weather from going on five out of the seven performances. The last day the gates were thrown open and the admission fee dispensed with. At the fair in Lewiston, Me., no show was given until Friday for the same reason. In both cases the attendance were practically nil. Wheeling, W. Va., Sept. 20. Thousands of people thronged the streets of the city for the big State Fair and Ex- position last week. This is the 27th an- nual Fair and the most successful ever held here, in point of attendance and profit to everybody concerned. Eugene Godet had a very narrow escape on his first ascension Monday in his air-ship "Godet." His assistants had considerable difficulty getting the gas engine started while preparing for the ascension. Finally when everything seemed to be working satisfactorily, Godet mounted the V- shaped frame, gave the customary signal and the big gas bag began its flight. As it arose it was caught by a strong wind and blown against a corner of the roof of the grand stand, which jammed the rud- der and bent the connecting rod. This caused the airship to shoot suddenly up- ward, until it was fully 800 feet above the earth. G'odet finally succeeded in get- ting it started downward, landing on the opposite side of the river in an old grave yard. "Luna" Park at Schenectady, N. Y., has closed after a successful season under the management of Arthur M. Hopkins. "Vanity Fair" at Providence has closed. There is some rumor of trouble following an unsatisfactory season. The Toronto Exposition is expected to pay a dividend of 10 per cent, on the fair ending last week. Last season the amount of profit allowed of 30 percent, was turned over to the stockholders, but this year it became necessary to place in the sinking fund the amount required to rebuild the destroyed grand stand of last season, which burned just after the fair was ended. The new grand stand on the grounds seats 20,000 people, and four other new build- ings have also been erected. Next year Dr. J. O. Orr will book all the amusement features of the Exposition, the bookings being made through Al Sutherland, as formerly. No definite announcement has come either from the Barnum & Bailey or the Ringling people this week as to the trans- fer of Mrs. Bailey's interest in the Buffalo Bill properties to the Wisconsin showmen. It is pretty generally believed, however, that they will have something to say by the beginning of next week. An authen- tic statement comes from the Barnum & Bailey side that the Ringlings were in possession of an option on Mrs. Bailey's holdings in both shows. This option is understood to have expired this week. By this time the deal has either fallen through or been closed, and nothing re- mains but the public announcement. The Barnum & Bailey and Buffalo Bill agents are awaiting this with a good deal of anxiety, for they fear should the shows change hands there will be a general lop- ping off of heads in the old management. The Ringling option was secured over a month ago, just after Al. Stewart re- turned from a European trip, on which he picked up all available stock in the big corporation. Since then it is supposed the Ringlings have been busy interesting capital in the venture. John W. Gates was approached, but his decision is not known. The Barnum & Bailey corpora- tion is capitalized at $3,000,000 and the Buffalo Bill show is valued at probably less than half that sum, although it is not formally ineorj>orated. It would take close upon $2,000,000 to swing the deal, but circus folk believe that the task of getting this amount together is easily within the resources of the Ringlings. The opinion that the merger has been ac- complished is strengthened by the fact that Alf. T. Ringling, the executive power of the family, was with the Forepaugh- Sells Show, a Ringling possession, last week and engaged a number of people for next season. It is significant that he re- fused to state in any instance with what show the people engaged would be used. It is curious that with all surface indica- tions pointing to the amalgamation of the three big shows Joseph McCadden (Mrs. Bailey's brother) is quoted as declaring about two weeks ago that there was no truth in the reports that a merger was in prospect. London, Sept. 11. English shareholders in Barnum & Bailey, Ltd., have received a, pretty straight tip from J. T. McCaddon, chair- man of the company, that there will be no dividend this year. Backward Spring weather, violent storms and financial de- pression are blamed. Up to August 3 re- ceipts were .$00,000 less than for the cor- responding period last year, though by rigorous economy the net losses from this unsatisfactory business only reached $28,650. As the best of the season was gone by August 3, it, was not considered likely that the loss would be recouped and I dividend made possible during the ten weeks remaining. How Ringling Brothers fared under like conditions has not been told, but there is a growing suspicion that they are now the "real people" in the circus business. That James A. Bailey was also a great deal of a showman is in- creasingly evident here. Barnum $5 shares are now down to three shillings, nine pence (93 cents). This is rough, but the show has paid no dividend since the 7 1 /, per cent, distribution of '04-05. However, the phenomenal Summer has wrecked the beach business here and that end of the Barnum plaint is understood. The "Fi- nancial Times" very frankly says: "The weather has undoubtedly been against the show business this year, and for vicissitudes of this nature the directors cannot be blamed. Whilst on tour expenses go on just the same, no matter what sort of audiences can be drawn together. Factors like this must be taken into consideration in estimating the prospects of a venture like Barnum & Bailey, and, anyhow, for the time being, criticism must obviously be withheld pending the publication of the annual report and accounts." It is reported that the Hagenbeck-W r al- lace show will be somewhat reduced next season, and that it will send out a No. 2 show of thirty-eight cars. Upon the con- solidation of the two circuses last spring the pick of the equipment was taken for the present show. It is said that there remains in the winter quarters in Peru, Ind., enough material to make up the pro- posed second organization. This stuff is composed, according to the story, of band wagons, animal cages and other parade material. Lee Williams and Frank Tate, who are interested in the Hagenbeck-Wal- lace property, will go to Hamburg, Ger- many, within a week or two to buy ani- mals for the new show. The rest of the material will be secured in this country. A showman to whom the report was told voiced the opinion that the formation of a No. 2 company indicated a plan to re- duce the size of the No. 1 outfit. "The original Hagenbeck-Wallace show," he said, "was purely and simply an animal exhibition. It was costing from $2,000 to $2,200 a day to run and the receipts averaged two and three hundred more than that. This showed a neat profit on the season. But the people were not sat- isfied with this showing. An aerial act or so was added. Then followed a couple of riding features, and so by degrees the cost mounted to $2,500, and at one time last season the daily outlay to my knowl- edge was upward of $3,500. W 7 ith the cost growing higher and higher continually there was no proportionate increase in the receipts, and where a reasonable profit had been taken before the show got to be a heavy loser. This No. 2 outfit, then, seems to foreshadow a return to a lower schedule of operating costs." The John Robinson shows played in Covington, Ky., Saturday, just across the river from its home city, Cincinnati, where the Robinson family lives. Since leaving Cincinnati the last week in April the show has travelled 13,000 miles in the Eait, Middle West and Northwest, meet- ing opposition pretty much evcrywhert in this territory. From Covington the Rob- inson outfit bended South for a fall sea- son. It will not return to winter quar- ters in Terrace Park until alnnit Christ- mas.