Variety (March 1909)

VARIETY ARTISTS' FORUM Conftn* your letters to IM word* -and write on ono tldo of paper only. Anonymous communications win rot bo prlntod. Name of writer must be signed and wM be held In strict conftdenct, If desired. Letters to be published la this column most bo writttn exoluslvely to VARIETY. Duplicated letters will aot bo printed. The writer who dopliostos a letter to the Forum, either before or after it appean here, will aot bo permitted the pririloffo of It again. Editor Variety : New York, March 2. Sime reviewed "The Fashion Plates" and stated one of the numbers, "I'm Strong for You/' was programed as an exclusive number written for the produc- tion by me. 1 never claimed to have written this number. Geo. Cohan wrote it. I arranged two numbers for orchestra as well as com- posing and arranging the rest of the first part and burlesque, which consists of an opening to each and five other numbers as well as arranging quite a bit of the olio. L. Frank Muller. the boy perhaps a year under that." Oh, Sime, how could you? Please, please, Mr. Editor, correct this, as in the years to come, when even one year makes a difference, two years —the thought is terrible! Harral says, "I don't care if he says I'm sixteen," but Harral is a boy; he doesn't realize how important the age question is. I have just passed my twelfth birthday —Harral his tenth. Dainty Dot tie Dale. New York, March 1, 1909. Editor Variety : In Sitne's review of our act at the Bijou, Brooklyn, in your last issue, he says "the girl appearing to be about fourteen and Providence, March 2. Editor Variety : I wish to say that while Irwin's "Ma- jesties" were at the Gayety, Hoboken, I did not do "Salome" after the Mondav night performance. I was taken ill, and although continuing during the balance of the week, a chorus girl substitute did the dance. Clara Rackett, (Two Racketts.) n "GREAT JUNK UP HIS SLEEVE. By GEO. CAB80N. (Carson and Wlllard.) I met him on Broadway, talking to the gang, He'd Just hop'd In from Frlaco; told 'em with a twang, He'd played them all in the west, but neTer played the east; Excepting at Peoria once for Old Man Weast. Hare a knockout act; said 'twould bust up any show, The kind of stuff Johnny Ray did years ago. He said, "Catch me when I open, Kid; I'll kill •em, I believe; I'll be a riot with the Junk I've up my sleeve." He looked like ready money; his make-op caught my eye, He'd a sparkler on his finger, another In his tie. 1 asked him how bookings were; "Ain't got a Job," said be, "But I saw Nash to-day and he'll take care of me. Nash and I are friends," he said, "I knew him years ago, That's when Phil and I were with a wagon show." I said, "I wish you luck, old pal," and as I turned to leav*. He Bald, "You'll hear about that Junk I've up my sleeve." It was nearly six months after when again we met; His sparkler had disappeared, he hadn't opened yet. I whispered, "How's your route, Old Man?" He answered in dismay, "I think they're working on it. they told me so to-day." I never saw him after that, from "open time" he died, When he passed away his pals were by his sMe. He spoke of Beck and Hodgdon, and said: "I wonder will they grieve, When they hear I've made my exit, with this Junk still up my sleeve." MORRIS BOOKS HAZLETON, PA. Hazleton, Pa., March 4. Monday will usher into the local field the Palace, a playhouse of 1,200 seating capacity offering vaudeville booked by the William Morris office, New York. The house was built by local capital. Its manager is Joseph J. Laughran, who pro- moted the enterprise. The opening bill includes Frank Bush, Blanche Baird, Rose-Dale Quartet, Francesca Redding and Co., Franklin Parker and Co., Gertie LcClair and "Picks," and Blake's Animal Circus. The house is a model of theatre con- struction both before and behind the foot- lights. A pretty greenroom has been pro- vided for the players and the dressing rooms are fitted with every convenience. The house has an "arcade" front illum- inated with 1,000 incandescent lamps. RAT BENEFIT AT CHICAGO. Chicago, March 4. The benefit for the Charity Fund of the White Rats was held at the Grand Opera House last Sunday. Quite a sum was realized. The long performance contained all the prominent professionals in the city at the time, and was greatly enjoyed. Willa Holt Wakefield holds over at Hammerstein's. WOMAN IN VARIETY By THE SKIRT. What a pretty girl Fiske OTIara has with him in his new act. In a simple green velvet frock relieved with violet she was like an old-fashioned miniature. The five little imps with "The Devil and Tom Walker" have more life and anima- tion than any chorus of treble their num- ber. The little white imp adds greatly to the sketch. I saw the play at the Murray Hill this week called "The Scribner Show," and there are some "show girls" in it who put the women principals in the shade. The chorus, after wearing red tights towards the commencement of the show, reappear one half gowned in light blue and the other in yellow short dresses. The effect is stunning. Mr. and Mrs. Norman Selby (Kid Mc- Coy) have been touring the European continent pretty thoroughly. They will remain abroad but a short time longer. Upon returning Mrs. Selby will open a fashionable millinery establishment in the thirties, near Fifth Avenue, and will personally be on hand to see that every- one leaves well pleased. The return of Rosario Guerrero (Or- phcum Circuit), following the appearance of Severin in America, recalls a noteworthy performance in Paris, which these two foreign artists, assisted by our own talented danseuse, Dazie, participated in several years ago. The occasion was the brilliant benefit performance to aid the sufferers of the tragic French Bazaar disaster. On the bill were Rejane and Coquelin. Dazie gave a dinner in honor of Severin in Chicago recently, while the former was there with the "Follies of 1908" and the remarkable Severin was playing at the American Music Hall. Accompanied by an elaborately dressed woman, a theatrical man well known about Times Square appeared before the box office of a Brooklyn burlesque the- atre a week or so ago, and, laying down a $10 note, demanded the exclusive use of one of the stage boxes. "We're slum- ming," he observed haughtily. "Want to sit through a burlesque show." Now, it so happened that the owner of the show, one of the few managers who is a stickler for cleanliness in his productions, was in the box office at the time. He knew the "slummer" intimately, but did not dis- close himself, and for the moment said no word. When the couple were comfort- ably seated in their box, however, the manager joined them. To the ready spender he said: "You've got a fine healthy nerve to come to my sliow on a 'slumming' tour. Now, I don't need your $10 nearly as badly as I know your wife in Harlem does. So I have taken the trouble to send it to her, telling her how and where I got it." ATALANTA NIOOLAIDES. In vaudeville. Direction, W. L. LYKBNS. Six acts and moving pictures will be the attraction nt the Paterson Opera House, Paterson, N. J., beginning March 15. They will play the entire week instead of only three days as before. The cost of the show will be advanced likewise. Joe Wood will supply the bookings. OBITUARY The mother of Mamie Diamond died last week. Miss Diamond and her hus- band, James C. Morton, are with "The Behman Show." Mrs. Margaret Harrington, mother of Dan Harrington, the ventriloquist, was accidentally burned to death in her home, 1124 30th Street, Brooklyn, Monday. She was moving from one of her rooms into another when an oil lamp exploded in her hands. Before aid could reach her, she was burned to death by the flaming oil. Gus Milton, of the Lola Milton Trio, died Feb. 22 at Canon City, Colo. He leaves a widow, Josie Milton, and two children, Lola and Frank Milton. Death resulted from an operation for mastoids. The burial occurred at Chicago Junction, O., where Mrs. Milton and her daughter will temporarily reside. Gus Milton has been on the stage for twenty-five years, playing in vaudeville and circuses. San Francisco, March 4. J. P. Bogardus, for many years editor of The Figaro, and a noted figure in the field of western theatricals, passed away here February 17 at the age of 83 years. From experience of fifty years he had a comprehensive knowledge of the business and was a much-quoted authority. The Figaro plant was destroyed in the dis- aster of 1000 and the paper suspended. Up until his death Mr. Bogardus was vaudeville editor of the Dramatio Review. BROKEN LEG LEFT UNSET. Clarke Razzillian, head of the aerial troupe which bears that name, is in the Roosevelt Hospital, New York, suffering from a broken leg. He received the injury while setting the act's rigging in Jackson- ville a month or more ago. Following the mishap the acrobat was removed to a local hospital and, accord- ing to his story, was kept there four weeks before the broken bone was set. The hospital people demanded some pay- ment from the patient for attendance. $156,000 OLYMPIADS RECEIPTS. From a statement given out at the New York Marinelli office this week in which there appears a comparative table show- ing the receipts at the Olympia Theatre, Paris, under the management of Isola Brothers and under the more recent direc- tion of De Cottens & Marinelli, the high- est total of receipts for a month are stated us $30,000. This was in September of last year. For the corresponding month of 1907 (under the management of Isola Brothers) the takings were about $21,000. The lowest point was reached in January, 1908, when the total reached only $19,000. In the five months of De Cottcns-Mari- nelli handling the place has played to about $150,000, as against $116,000 under the former directors. Swan and Hamhard, who were in the train wreck at Murphysboro, !>«•!., last week, in which several acts lost their bag- guge, this week received settlement of their claims against the railroad in full. Trunks and costumes wen; replaced and they received cash damages beside.