Variety (November 1908)

8 VARIETY "PULLED OUT" ACTS. The stories about this week regarding an entertainment given last Saturday night at the New York Athletic Club, placed by Hurtig & Seamon, would indi- cate that the United Hooking Office mana- gers are not as "united" as the title implies. The story goes that Hurtig & Seamon, who have been booking the annual affair of the club for several seasons, discovered the club department of the big agency (the firm being a member of it) had ordered some of the acts not to appear, Violet Dale and Fred Zobedie having been mentioned as two of those notified. It is said that^the club department, pre- sided over by Frances Rockefeller King, had informed the Athletic Club Enter- tainment Committee a pleasing show could not be given without the club de- partment's direction, and in furtherance of a desire to verify this statement, the notice to absent themselves from the per- formance was given the artists. The af- fair caused any amount of discussion through the spectacle of the United ap- parently attempting to take business away from its own members, and using the ordi- nary methods of "opposition" to do so. Asked to comment on the N. Y. A. C. matter, Hardy Seamon, of Hurtig & Sea- mon, said: "This is a boycott, pure and simple. The association wants to corrall all the club business in New York, and its club department, whether with or without the consent of the United's head officials I do not know, is going to extremes to carry its point. "There is a clause in the United con- tract which establishes the principle that . an act under contract to that institution must not play elsewhere except with the specific consent of the booking office. "As a matter of fact the three acts which were subjected to intimidation to prevent their appearance Saturday night, were not under contract to the United. Fred Zobedie is playing out Klaw & Er- langer contracts entered into long ago, and neither Carita Day nor Violet Dale has a tingle week booked for Association time to my knowledge. Nevertheless, Miss Day, although she was in perfect health at noon, informed me before 6 o'clock that she was too ill to play Saturday evening and I received a note from Miss Dale that she likewise had been seised with sudden indisposition. "A telephone message to Zobedie in- formed him that if he played the club his United time would be cancelled. This message was a rather mysterious one. The person who gave it over the wire let it be understook either that he was E. F. Albee himself or spoke at the latter's direction. Zobedie replied that if it was . apparent his engagement at Keith's, Philadelphia, next week was to be can- celed, he might as well not report. The speaker immediately stepped down from his haughty position and told him that such was not the case. "This office has booked the N. Y. A. C. for seventeen years and has several times used acts for the entertainment which wer playing Keith houses in the city and never had any trouble about it. What we want to know is whether there are in- fluences working in the United which are unknown to the executives of the organ- ization and which seek to monopolize the club business. That's they way it looks to me." MANAGER DESERTS ARTIST*. Zanesville, O., Nor. t. Manager Ernest T. Ely, of ths Sehults Opera House, departed suddenly Saturday night, leaving the artists playing the house without salary. In the number were Brindamour, Walthour Troupe, Cath- erine Johnson, Collins and Jewell, Elite Musical Four and Les Leodorowitz Com- pany. The Walthour Troupe received the same treatment the week before at the Auditor- ium, Parkersburg, Va,, which is said to have a connection with Schultz. Will Davis, manager of the defunct Parkers- burg place, is in Zanesville. He will only say that he is here to take charge of Schultz's "while Ely is out of the city." When Ely left he paid his hotel bill to date, closed the box office at 8:30 Sat- urday evening and left at 9 o'clock with all his baggage. If he left the theatre in care of Davis, he might, the artists say, have also left him the keys to the house as well as enough money to pay salariec. The artists communicated the facta* of the sudden disappearance to the White Rats of America as well as to the New York booking agents, reported to be Keith & Elkeles. Schultz's started out several weeks ago under the best of auspices. The first Monday found capacity audiences in the house, although the bill was a poor one. Then patronage began to drop off and last week's show, a particularly good one, was offered in the hope of drawing it back. Schultz's was in opposition to the Or- pheum (Sun & Murray, mgrs.), which has been giving capital shows and drawing good business. The acts booked for this week did not report. The future of the house hangs in the balance. The White Rats has been in receipt of several complaints from the acts on each of the bills in Parkersburg and Zanes- ville. Harry Mountford, of the Rats, discovered one Sachs, of Sachs & Vogel, a mercantile firm in New York City, is responsible for the obligations. Mr. Mountford notified Sachs that a settlement would have to be received by Thursday. RECOVERED FOR CANCELLED DATE. At Carthage, N. Y., last week the "mind reading" act of Mme. Zella and Prof. Hague was given judgment in an action against the Mystic Theatre of that place, for which they had been booked and can- celled at short notice. According to the artists they received contracts to play the Carthage house from Verbcck & Farrell, Oil City, Pa. The en- gagement was to have commenced Oct. 6. On Saturday, Oct. 3, Manager LaFane, of theAarthage house, notified them the con- tract was cancelled and wired Verbeck &, Farrell to the same effect. TWO MORE SOHLKE PRODUCTIONS. Two more of Gus Sohlke's productions will soon be shown in vaudeville. The latest is "The Jersey Count," in which John W. Ransome will be featured. The cast will also have Henrietta Lee. The next Sohlke piece to be seen will be "Joyland" with Clara Belle Jerome and William Seymour. Eight girls will make up the company. "Western Life," the first of Mr. Sohlke's vaudeville output, plays Poll's, New Haven, next week. NEW INDEPENDENT CIRCUIT. Chicago, Nov. 6. A new vaudeville circuit has been formed by A. Arthur Caille, a Detroit capitalist, and J. H. Kunsky. The com- bination is known as the Casino Vaude- ville Circuit, and from six to twelve weeks are being offered better grade acts. The booking headquarters of the concern are located in Chicago, with Coney Holmes as general manager. Mr. Holmes was formerly resident manager of the Bar- rison Theatre, Waukegan, 111., and Ma- jestic, Sioux Falls, both under lease to Joseph E. Howard. All acts will be booked independently through the Chicago office. Among the theatres secured by the Casino company so far are the New Robinson, Cincinnati; Victoria, Dayton, Ohio; Fairbanks, Spring- field, Ohio; Valentine, Toledo; Jeff era, Saginaw, Mich., and a theatre in course of construction at Detroit. Several more houses are promised before the end of the season. It is stated that the circuit will play the same grade acts in the cities men- tioned as the other houses and with one or two exceptions better, creating possibly strong opposition in all the invaded terri- tory. Of the list, five houses are now operating with the independent bills. THE BIGGEST COAT EVER. It causes no comment when the electric lights are turned on at the Casey Agency as Fred Brant appears in the doorway. About three weeks ago when Mr. Brant and Pat Casey surprised Springfield, Mass., through an unexpected call, the papers next day said there had been an eclipse of the sun the afternoon previous. It is recorded at Coney Island that when Messrs. Brant and Casey presented themselves to the "guess-your-weight-or- no-charge" man down there last summer, the fellow ran for the ocean and has not been heard from since. This was recalled on Monday when the English-made coat Jenie Jacobs had or- dered for Mr. Brant arrived in New York. Before leaving London, the gar- ment was exhibited in the warerooms of James Benson, the swagger tailor over there with a card describing it as the largest coat ever made. It is a mackintosh, size "54." While being displayed in the Casey Agency, one ot the sleeves was carelessly allowed to fall upon the carpet. Charlie Stevenson happened in seeing it and remarked "You people here are getting pretty swell with your new rugs." Mr. Brant will return to Europe with the coat to-day (Saturday) in company with Mike McNulty. Brant may also take his sole and only "Orange, N. J." band along with him. While abroad he will look up Kitamura's Kitafuka Troupe of Japs now somewhere on the Continent and attend to other diplomatic relations in connection with acts, Mr. Brant being Kitamura's general manager. Mr. McNulty, who formerly conducted the Metropolitan and Saranac hotels, goes along with Brant to preserve' the peace, and see the old country. Canfield and Stone have separated, and Stone has left "The Fashion Plates," where they were engaged. William G. Clarke, formerly of Hanvy and Clarke, has joined Canfield with the same pro- duction. TIN PAN ALLEY JINGLES. By WILLAM JEROME. Happy Harry Williams was the large noise at the beefsteak dinner Frank Meehan gave to Mason Peters at the Hotel Bayard last Saturday night. Long Island papers please copy. What ever has become of Braisted and Carter, the boys who wrote "She Was Bred in Old Kentucky" and "The Girl I Loved in Sunny Tennessee." A song writer is known by the publisher he keeps. No one publisher can ever Standard Oil the song market. New writers are born every minute. One of the Alley's brightest stars is up at Saranac making a game fight for health. His name is Herbert Ingraham. "Roses Bring Dreams of You" is one of the best ballads of the year. Yes, he wrote it, and I hope everybody sings it. William Jennings Bryan's favorite song is "Over the Hills and Far Away." The other fellow's song always sounds better than mine. For novel ideas in advertising a song Leo Feist takes the blue ribbon. A song in the safe has as much chance of success as a snowball Jules Von Tllzer, who deserted the Alley to take a dip in vaudeville has sold his bathing suit. Welcome home, old pal, your act is all right—but you opened in the wrong theatre. Get a real place and try again. There is a certain song writer who splits his royalty with the bookkeeper. Wise boy, that. Some of the season's ballads are fun- nier than the comic songs. James W. Tate, the English composer, was one big scream at the Colonial last week. Welcome to our Alley, James. Bert Cooper is going away from here— he is going to Chicago. FOREIGNERS WANT DAZIE. With the publication in Vabiett last week of the Marinelli agency offer for Dazie to play abroad next season, the cables commenced working. Before Mon- day had passed, Mark A. Luescher, Dazie's husband and manager, received several more European propositions, one arriving on behalf of Ronacher's, Vienna, with a salary of 12,000 kronen set for the month from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15, next summer. This is at the rate of $600 weekly, American money, a large 1 sum for the European continent. The Folies Marigny, Paris, is after the dancer for a two months' engagement, commencing June 1, next. The Marinelli agency has also submitted further offers. Adolph Newberger staged La Adelaide's act