Variety (Aug 1932)

Tuesday, Xagii8t 30, 1932 urn o o R s VARIETY 55 O BIT U A KY . JOHNCRAIQ. . John OralETi 64» died ot a heart attack at his home, Woodmere, L, I., Aug. 23.. His wife had driven, him to. the station where he was.to take train for New-Toirk when he com- plained of feeling HI. -They returned home and he died a fe^ minutes after reaching there, : He lis perhaps best remembered through his management of the , Boston Castle Sqyare company for many years. Peggy Wood, Alfred liunt, Irving Plchel, .Charles Blck-' fpijd . and Warren \'Wllllam were among the young players, to. whopi he . ' gave . . encour9.gement.: In. his eajrUer. days he was with Augustln Daly's, stock company, and . at one timie was a leading man for Mrs. Flslce. He was the donor of ah anntial prize of .$1,000 . for the best play by a. pupU of Prof. Bakex's. drama workshop. He was a charter: mem- ber of the Players and belonged to other theatrical clubs. . Survived ■ by his wldijw, Mary "Ydiing,' a sbh 'and;' a' daugiiter-Jri- . JAM^S,'H!.'R,be,,';.: ':■ .Janies^H; Roe,: proprietor of -Turn; Hall theatre, Syracuse, for 24 years, and: Identified with :pictutesi-In Syra- cuse, died In the: •Hospital .of Good Shephei-jd, Syracuse,; on Aug; >26, fol- lowing a'six weeks' illness. In addition to the Turn Hall the- ater, he had operated at various tfines the'^^'QIob'e 'arid' Arcadia and receritly^B'ad been associated. In the Mahagemeht at the Palkcei He' wsis at the time of his death piresldent of the flyracuse ' Exhibitors Board of Trade. Twenty-flve theatre owners arid managers were honorary bearers at the funeral services, Aug.: 27. In- terment was in Auburn. His wife, tw6 sons, two brotKers aind tWo sis- ters survive. ^ . ■ WILLIAM BLACK William Black, 74, for many years Advance agent for:: minstrel shows and a theatrical manager, died re- cently (Aug. 21) at Albany County'fl IN COMMEMORATION OF My Beloved Friend and Theatri- cal Mentor \ "' PAUL ARMSTRONG Who Passed on August 30, 1915 Ben J* Pmzza Ann Lee Home In Colonle, N. T. Deceased handled the advance for .Thacher's, Primrose and West's, and Al. O. Fields' Minstrels. He also was associated with Luna Park dur- ing the Thompson-Iiundy regime and was assistant manager ofHar- manus Bleecker Hall, Albany, under the Shuberts. VAN METER LEWIS Van Meter Lewis, actor, in pri- Tate life Charles C. Lewis,, died Aug. 22 after a long illness, at the home of Mrs. Grace Boettner, 187 C6mell road, Audubon, N. J< Not Icnowh whether any relatives surr SrlVe. ■ ■ ;■ Lewis was buried from the mor- tuary of Frank Foster & Son, Col- lingswoocl, N. J. MRS. FRANK DANIELS , i Mrs. syanic Daniels, 65, died Aug. 3!B; at her home in New York after a brief illness. Befpre her marriage to the musical comedy star she was known as Bessie Sanson and under that name enjoyed a score of years' success on the^tage as a come- dienne. Survived only by her hus- band. Richard H. Gardner, 40, radio editor of the '^iscohsin .'News,' died in Milwaukee last week of pneu- monia. Was well known to advance men because of his connection with "various Milwaukee newspapers. Survived by his widow, a son, his mother and several brothers arid Bisters. Interment at Altoona, Kahs. Giovanni L. Grosso, 63, bandmas^ ter of the U. S. Navy Band at the Brooklyn Navy Tard, died Aug; 22, following a four weeTts' illness. Sur- vived by four sons, one of whom, Irving, Is an actor. The other sons are radio broadcasters. Louis J. Stella, circus freak, died Aug. 22 of injuries received jiily 6 near- Elwood City, Pa., when, the truck on which he was riding fan down a iilll. Survived by his widow, who was also Iri the acclderit but who is recovering. Interment at Marion, O; Frank Thornton . Corbett,. 32, American composer; died Aug. 26 in the Am6rrcan hospital, Paris, of pneumprilia. ' He hfid apent' severai years In Paris. . Siirvlvied 'by his widow and hhs mtither; ' Alphonse.W. Starbirdi, ,60, died .in Minneapolis last week iafter a, long Illness. . He was a specialist In;stage liglitin^ efj^ects. and for 15 years in the' employ of Finkelstein & Rubeii. A widow and two sons survive. BiUy Black, formerly of Ward and Black, died Aug:'26 at his hpme',,^64.^6 yirie .strfe'et, Phfla., followlrig.'a liej^rt attack.' -• ■ ''' y\ . His'wife iind two diaug:hters,.8ur- vive. ''^''.' ■'' ■;■ ". ■ ■- ■' '.' .Percy *S,cotty' Pen.to.n»;.48, 'qellist, di^d in 1+90, A^gelesi. Aug.' i6,.'Cajne' ,fr<>'m . dalgaryV ; Canada, . and , w^3, A riiember of Local 47,", ,M]4siciajn&'. union. Dale ,Littiefielci Speer^ '35, died at his horiie in.Xon^^Seajch,: Calit,' )re-. cently. Was a driimriier and m'<Sm- ber of tJos Angeles'local. Musicians' union. Sigmund Herzbg, .64, .well known musician, dled_.in New "Torjjf .Aug. 28. Active; .'in the Music'laris' Foundatio.n. arid for riiariy yeaiis with Q. Schririer, live. Osmond Emery, 75, promoter and manager - of the Bar Harbor, Me.,: Casino, Community Hall and The-' atre, . died Aug. 22.. ^ .' i l*eter Scatzo, 21, head usher oJC.the Palace, theatre, Danbury, Conn., di^d; there of a heart attack whjle s^imi- .mirig Aug. 20.' Mother, 68, of Frances GoldWater, Hollywood writer "arid artists' • mian-' ager, died in Los Angeles, Aug. 20 Father, 47, of Joseph Ra1>lno\|rich, screen w'|:lter, was killed in an auto accident near Castaic, Cal., Aug. 23. Father, 80, of C.- Gardner Sullivan, scenarist, died Aug. 24, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Gustay. Suzin-Chorjan, opera tenor, died In Warsaw, Poland, after a short illness. Stanislaw Halama, 60, the father of three dancing Halamas, died in Warsaw. Piotr Hryriiewiecz, 58, Polish ac- tor, died iri Warsaw. Josephine C Prochatka, 36, 'cell- ist, died in Los Angeles Aug. 9. Janios A, Ford»89, writer and edu- cator, died Aug. 23, in Los Angeles. Carnivals (For current week Aug. 29-Sept. 3) Darker, !<. J. (Fair), California. Beckmann & Gerety ' (State Fair, Des Moines, Bernarai Greater, Ecsex Junction, Vt. Blooms Gold Medal, Watseka, III. . Bruce, Ballstoh Spa, N. T.. Coleman Bros., Rhinebeck, N. T. Curl, W. S., "Wilmington. Empire City, LaFlotte, Tenn. Endy. Egff Harbor City,- N, J. Florida Expo., (until Sept. 1); . Gibson. Blue Ribbon, FalrmouDt. Click, Wm., Sherbrooke, Que; Grcenburg, Ammer, Bearer City. Hemes, Bill, GalnsvlUe. Happyland, Alpena. Krauso Greater, l/aFIotte, Tenn. Landes.- J. I/., lola.' Land's Dee, Marcellne. Leeettc, C. it., Bolivar. ' Metropolitan, Jacksonville, Fla. (anlll Sept. 10). Moilol tihows of Am., Tbtonto. I'ear.soh. C. E., Mt. Carmel.' .Pollle, Scottsburg. Itubin & Cherry, Owatonna, Minn. Sol's Liberty. Crown Paint. Speronl, V. J.i Elmwood. TIdwell, T. J., Olrard. Valley Shows, Ploasahton. Weer, J, C, Allegan. West Bros., St. Joseph, III. .West, W. B., Franklin. Work, n. H., Huntingdon. . Zleger, C. F. .Sidney; ■ indiaiK Out of Red Tama,. la., Aug. 29. Pay day for 176 members of the Megiileke Indian tribe who staged a po\r-wow and ceremonial here be- fore more than 6,000 visitors. Pay checks to the braves, squaws and papooses are for. (6.80, repre- senting profits, over expenses of putting on the event/.never in the red thus far. Net with small surplus retained for the 1933 event; amounted to $1,180. 3 KIUED IN RUNAWAY XRUCK OF SHOW TRAIN i Duluth, Minn-,- Aug, 29. Three persons were killed and ,flye were Injured when two trucks be- longing to the Johp Francis shows, eriroute. from Hlbblng, Minn,, to New Ulm, Minn., > raced down Duluth hillside streets. The first truck entering the city at i: 30 a.m. got put of control' in coming down Sixth avenue, eastj and the second an hoUr later. ,; ' The dead are: Terxa^^ Stv Paul,;Mlnn.; Paul Sikorsky, Ar-^ cadla,.Karis.; and Albert Beairdsley, Ghlcajgo.'-The injured- are; Mr. 'arid Mi-d. Perry Mathews," Ficher, Okla.; R. H, Hargrove, Te.rrlll,.Tex.; Ajnos Melto.h, .Galnsville, Fla.; iand Thomas MarI^,'Marlin,. Tex. •. ., , > . The three killed were en the l^iin- away truck and'trailer that raced idvrh Sixth' 'averiue at *70 miles . an hour, crashed through an iron.jguard rail, arid catapulted' ..agalrist an apartment building. Most of the oo- ciiparits of the trucks were asleep.' Editorial Showmen (Continued from page 1) ' promoters and the do-nothing ways of .the theatro itself is vivid. . Five Events : •The .newspaper events have been: Chlcagoldcnd Music- Festival which; lUled the 110,000 iseajts .at.Soldiers Field at 26c each. 'Tribune' handled this o'rie. ■ , . Carnival, of Nations, a series of 20 racial pageants climaxed by one monster pageant under "Daily News' auspifles at 26-50-Jl. At the Indodr Stadlimi It attracted ^2,600 people. Ice Carnival, also 'Daily News' and at the Stadium, was scaled up to $3 and also went to capacity. Golden Glove Tournament, ama- teur boxing show between American and German, boys, accumuluated $44,000 at $l-$2-$3, the biggest gross ever registered for anoateur boxingl By the 'Tribunfe.' / A. Post-Olympic shoW scaled to $1.50 top which last Thursday (18) drew 34,000 spectators to Soldiers' Field under 'Dally News' showman- ship. Theatrea' Untouchables A c'leck on the type of people at- tracted to the big events and to ciany smaller, and In some cases free, events is obtained by compar- ing the ticket silling in Spauldings, Couthoui's, etc., to the newspapers' own service stations. In most cases the licwspapers outsell by three to one the conventional ticket chan- nels. Which Indicates that It's the home folks which show business can't seem to reach or. Interest. Both newspapers feel that a dis- tinctly different type of . patron plunks down his money for their attractions than for orthodox the- atrica,l shows. Show business might well ponder how to divert some of these untouchables. Newspapers turn over their net profits to charity, using the promo- tions for good will purposes only. As an example of wbat the net can be, the 'Daily News' cleared $40,000 from Its Carnival of AH Nations. BaOard^Bowers-Rin^ Deal For Lesser Circuses Reportd^ Pole Sitting Bad for Legs-r-And Head Too Atlantic City, Aug. 29. Mike Glllette,.Plttsburgh's gift to the art of pole sitting, has his laurels wrapped in bandages at the city hospital. He was pried loose by firemen from the top of the flag- pole at the Garden Pier. Gillette is suffering from 'adema' a swollen leg condition resulting from, a lack of exercise. He denied that the same ailment affected his head. He had passed the 54-day mark.- ; Gillette outlasted his manager's pier l^ase. The manager, Vincent Martlon, was dispossessed several weeks ago and recalled only yesterr day that the pole-'sitter might hold hirii liable for damages. He slg- riai'dd Gillette to - cbnie doy^n arid when the'latter refused called .on the Are department. BIG .5 Lios Angeles, Aug. 29. .Winding Up its most disastrous season in 20 -years, Al G. Barnes' circus folded last night In "Ventura, Calif., and. goes Into winter quar- ters here two months earlier than usual. :Total, mileage for outfit aggre- gated 13,829, lowest travel figures in years, as against usual ariftitai coverage of 26,000 miles. Rlngllng-Barnum-Bailey s h o w scheduled to close Sefit. ■ 6 at At- lanta, with Hagenback-Wallacie piit- flt to.ftack -aTfr'^y Us tents immiedi- ately following .Minnesota state .^afr^ next month. Seils^Fioto, combined for fiouthern dates with John Rbb- irison tsircus, also contemplates early; closing. - ' ' Pacific coast showmen identifle'd 'with circus arid cat-nival biz say' combined losses for. big tops this season wi^ run high, " LETTERS fVlien 8«ndliiB for Mall to VABIETV AddreM U«U CiMk. rOSTCARDS, AOVEBT18IKO or CIRODLAR LETTERS WILL NOT BE ADVERTISED LETTERS ADVERTISED IN ONE ISSUE ONLY Brent Betty Clarke Mystic Cross & Kramer Easter Fred Glaser Hy Muse Herman Paine Dorothy Rosenberg H A Warner Mra^^^Ua Winston Ifarold Wurzburger iiru. F BIGGER FAIR WELCHING SEEMS 1932 PROSPECT Chicago, Aug. 29.. Bigger and better -welching ap- pears in prospect for acts playing fairs this, season "on. the. basis of those already passed. One large fair booked a $6,000 show and after the engagement offered , $2,000 as settlement in full. Fairs being no-, torlously difficult to sue the offer was accepted. jSlap is generally taken by the acts as the agents and managers are in a more favorable position to protect the first person singular. Distress in the small towns and rural areas is reflected in meagre fair attendance and cautious spend- ing. Chicago, Aug. 29. Strongly reported, b\it u^con* firmed, it ' Is considered prdbablo that' Bert Bowers and Ed Ballard, surviving, niembers of the old Anaer- Icari Circus Corporation triumvirate, will take back from the Rlngllng family their three shows, iSells- Floto, Hagenbeck-Wallace,- and Joha Robinson. One reason for the recent Ring* ling Incorporation In the ea&t la thought to be the putting of things in shapei for a new line-up. , N'ego-t tiatioris are now on between ' the RIngilngs and Bowers-lSallirdi.' it Is understood. . Early Closings Tipoff . : In their best days Sells-Floto and Hagenbeck-Wallace were '30-car, shows ^ -with Robinson ru.nning ardurid .18 cars. Tlioy. havft been dnastlcaily reduced In, all depart-- ments In the last coMple of years. Ringllngs are generally regarded In the . circus, world as. havirig their hands amply full, with ■ their ?blg show. . , Their lesser , eriterprlsea •have' done; indifferently fdi' edrinio time.." An-early arid feu'dden closing of Hagenbeck-Wallace in'Mflwaukeo next week, ahead of Labor Day, '^peaks' tor itself. Rlri^lliig.-owned ,A1 (jiJ. Barries show ,on c'o^ist. also 'ffifdi^-'■■;';...." "..-v ■'"riv-U' . • Rlngllng 'family desire to get?rid of- the second fitrihg outfits arid ' the willingness of the fcirmer <o\^rifets io get back into the swim is good news t<f circusdom generdlly.' ■ Revival ojt competition is a p'ros'pept'that thel cii-cus employes all the. way from acrobats to wagonmen greet with satisfaction. • i Jones Cops Fair Phni From Rubio-Chenry m Fast Carney Skinnish Chicago, Aug. 29. Rubin .& Cherry carnival, ran into grief, pf an unusual nature between Chicago, ind Kankakee,: Poiltioal auspices of the Cook .County t>ar threatened therii with dire conse.* quences if tiie c€u>nlval. left ono minute before the fair; closed Sun- day night. Meanwhile the Kankakee Fair, finest in Illinois, Insisted that the carnival must be opened foi; business in Kankakee. Sdnday m<>m<« 'ing.-,. ^ .' ' ■.'■;''■ There!-was no choice. ..'Rubin &' Cherry stayed iri Chicago" and lost the prize l;>lum. Jphnny J. .Jones carnival, not unacquainted with'the peculiar clrcumsta.nces was by a remarkable colncideriice. ready to Jumii into the Kankakee: opening. And did. It was the first major carnival skirmish of .the season. Rublii & Cherry, forced to lay off, had to take comfort from the fact that they had an unusually good engagement at the Cook County Fair. Especially during the last few days. Whippets for Lynwpod Los Angeles, Aug. 29. Newly licensed dbg-raclriig track at Lynwood (suburb) has been taken over by John S. Berger, out- door showman, and three associates. They will Inaugurate season of whippet races iri September. TEAT 3-IETTEB ANIMAL Burlington, la., Aug. 29. With an. atteridant badly gored and with ribs fractured by an Afri- can gnu, protecting a two-day-old baby born in captivity, just before the afternoon show, the menagerie was the center of attraction at the Hagenback-Wallace show lot. Attack occurred while attendant was placing partition In gnu cage, Circuses (For current.week—Aug.29-Sept. 3) Sells-Floto wAutr. 20. Charlotte; 80, Salisbury; 31, Stateevllle; Sept: 1. Ashevllle; S'partana- btirg; 3; GreenvUIc, .Hagenbeck-Wallace A^xg. 20 to «ept. 2, Alllwaukec; 3, Wnu- kCKan; 0, T&lcOo, O. . .. .. Souvenir Menace Chicago, Aug. 29. Two riioth-eaten raccoon pelts, a bear coat, and a smoked ham liave disappeared by the sneak-thief route from the Fort- Dearborn re- plica at the World's Fair, grounds here. Articles were in the: fort 'store* arid: just, hung on the walls for realism. Giving an advance warning of one of the problems Iri management at the. forthcoming fair. Iowa Fair's High Mark Elkader, la., Aug. 29. . The four-day Elkader tdir brok«i attendance records, more than 20,« 000 passing box office gates. An all-time record was made with' the previous top being boosted by 184 , admissions, Day and night prograrii was a feature. NO CLEVELAND FAIE Bereao, Aug, 29, For the first time' In more than 50 years Cuyahoga count.y, in which Cleveland is the largest trading center, -will be without a fair this year. This was decided by dil ectors who voted to cancel thi.s year's county; fair to avoid a pcs.slbllity of fur- ther deficits, - I