Variety (October 1909)

8 VARlBTfY m. RETURNS TO PANTAGES. San Francisco, Sept. 30. The case against Carter Taylor Co. and &.-C, brought by Alex. Pantages, which came up ^before Judge Van Fleet, was postponed until -Sept. 27. The. temporary injunction, .against ■Taylor .was removed, jU lowing' him to book for this week. The next day Taylor informed W. Z. Tiffany, representing RanUges, that he was willing to fulfill the contract obligations.and left for Pen- ver Wednesday evening. The suit against S.-C. will be continued. OPPOSITION IN ST. JOE. San Francisco, Sept. 30. .There's a. rumor about that Sullivan Coaijdine have purchased a site-in St. Joe, Mo.»^and< will* build, a theatre to oppose .the Crystal, -now a Pantages' stand. FINALLY DECIDES ON BOOKINGS. Chicago, Sept. 30. The Columbus and Trocadero did not fall into the .Morris column. Walter F. Keefe 'is providing the attractions for both houses this week. The Columbus hag 'been booked by- Coney Holmes for four .months—four solid -months—and -the Trocadero has been booked through him since it changed policy. Last week report had it that the Morris office would here- ,after furnish the.bookings for the two , houses. , Some reports are that the Morris , office went so fax as to outline a -bill. It .is certain that Coney Holmes had part ox the programs engaged. At a late moment Max Weber changed his mind and Keefe will provide the shows for an indefinite period. Holmes surprised vaudeville men by holding the Columbus so. long: It is a noteworthy fact that ,Coney Holmes' vaudeville was the only one of numerous ventures to succeed at that house. The Trocadero bill is in- creased to eight acts: Walter F. Keefe atsb books part of the acts for Schindler's. Charles H. Doutrick and Keefe jointly provide the bill. Paul Goudron will present his first bill at guttler's North Avenue next week, ^his week's show was partly booked by Goudron.. HARD BUILDING UP MATINEES. Chicago, 8ept. 30. There are several vaudeville theatrea on the North side playing good bills at from 'ftMjf ib 10-90. Business is, as a rule, In, two or three houses the managers find it hard to build up a matinee busi- ness. The houses which play matinees every day sometimes have very slim crowds, and one bouse with matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, has found it impossible to entice the crowds in • the day time. MANHATTAN BOOKING DIRECT. The Shows at the new Manhattan in New York will be booked direct by Will- iam J. Gane, the manager, from his office commencing with next week's bill. On Tuesday Mr. Gane reached his de- cision, casting out all agencies. The Mor- ris office was the last to help AH up the Manhattan shews. BUSH FOR PfrttBUto?^ " The rush of vaudeville agefcU* Ar repre- sentation in Pittsburg, bejgns. Jo look like the movement aften a,<f£W(|o/nia gold strike. On : Monday- ;ef this , week^ ithe NYBO vaudeville exchange dispatched a man to take-up quarters in that city. The Independent. Booking Agency. decided at the last meeting of the Board of Directors to establish itself there, and Frank Mel- ville has declared his intention of moving to the smokey town. The presence of a very Urge number of popular priced vaudeville and moving pic- ture theatres in the smaller factory towns around Pittsburg and the almost un- limited number of small acts playing them are the. cause of• the rush. . On Wednesday a representative of the Joe Wood office was dispatched to Pitts- burg with orders to lease quarters and open a branch. Wood handles a good deal of the vaudeville attractions in the John Harris houses and wants a place from which to deliver emergency numbers as well as a location near the opening of the Western Vaudevile Association time for which he books considerable material. W ON PLAYING. Kate EKnore and Sam Williams, her husband, have been assigned by the Mor- ris office to play the Dominion, Winnipeg, next week. They will likely be seen the following week at the American, Chicago. Last week there Waa some commotion over the Elinore contract, Morris asking Miss Elinore to appear as a single act, with Mr. Williams again offering his • moneeog as another turn. This Kate re- fused ta do. - For a minute it seemed as though it would he a question of contract, .etc., with a lawsuit in the prospective, but the nflair simmered down Into Morris withdrawing his request for "Kate Eli- nore, Single." For that billing and act, Miss Elinore is reported to have asked $200 increase in salary over and above the amount she and her husband now en- joyed weekly, reported as $000. The Winnipeg week for the team, as engaged, is supposed to be the end of the controversy, though Miss Elinore called at the United Booking Offices once or twice while the matter seethed. Geo. Homans, the agent, said last week he would place a claim for commission on the Morris-Elinore contract, the act hav- ing overlooked annexing his name to the agreement. BRTNE GOING HUSTLING. Geo. J. Bryne, general manager of the I. B. A., expects to leave upon a trip to the south and through Pennsylvania next week in quest of new bookings for the agency. Atlanta will be Mr. Bryne's southern' most point, taking in all large towns. Kmil llofnion and oi. - in "Tlic Jx>st rhord" will be K iven a "break in" week from the Toe Wood office shortly. 36 WEEKS AT I. B. A. Welch snd Maitland were given a con- tract on Tuesday by the I. B. A. for twenty-eight weeks of consecutive time, with no "splits." The act has worked for Kecney's, two weeks; Fieber, Shea & Coutant, four weeks; and Bruggeman, two weeks, alt booked through the name agency, giving the Independent Booking Agency thirty- nix weeks in all. ADC FOR WORLD-WIBB UNION. President Harry DeVeaux of the Actors' Union, announced this weak that Presi- •dent Sam Gompers, of the American-Fed- eration of Labor, is progressing favor- ably with his scheme to- amalgamate the various union bodies of stage people under k single banner including, both American 'ami European. ... "No organization without labor affilia- tion," said Mr. DeVeaux, "and none which is associated, with a non-union society would be considered as eligible^ to the pro- posed body." Mr. DeVeaux was of the opinion that the Variety Artists' Federation of Eng- land, although it is affiliated with the British unions would not be eligible for the present, through its working agree- ment with the White Rats of America, a non : union body. TO REORGANIZE UNION. It is not unlikely that the union, of stage hands employed in the New York dramatic and those vaudeville theatres other than the Fifth Avenue, will be or- ganized into a new union shortly. The old organisation was called Local No. 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes.. A few days ago its charter was revoked by the International Alliance, following a dispute over jurisdiction in the mat- ter of moving picture machine operators. Local No. 1 had also refused to pay a $200. fine imposed upon it by the Al- liance. BOCHEZ' "NO. a" MONKEY ACT. Offers of American time have poured in on "Rochez' - "Night in a Monkey Music Hall" so plentifully thnt it is proposed by the management of the act to produce a "No:* 2" company to take up the foreign time, contracted to commence July 17, 1010, in Germany, with eight months of continental bookings to follow. WANTED $50 "DEPOSITS." Washington, Sept. 27. Jose Ham on Ravitel, Louis Daley Rivas and Gustave G\ Malvia, all foreigners, were arrested here last Saturday on the charge of vagrancy, and held pending an investi- gation. The police claim the trio advertised for applicants to joint a theatrical company intended for London. Many men and women surged around their offices in an- swer to the advertisement. They were informed a deposit of $50 would have to be made before a contract could be signed. Then the police stepped in, alleging also that the men, who profess to be actors, worked the same dodge in Baltimore. ENGAGED FOR PARIS REVUE. Margaret Haney, the little American girl from B. A. Rolfe's "Paradise Alley," has been contracted through Mr. Rolfe to nppear in the revue at the Folies Bergere, Paris, from Nov. 10 until March 11. Miss Haney will be a principal of the produc- tion, engaged under special contract. About Nov. 1 she will be presented around New York in a new Rolfe act. Mr. Rolfe, who returned from Europe last Saturday, will remain on this side about five months, producing three new pieces while here. V KILLED IN PLEASURE PARK. x ^ » San Frantisoo> Sept. 30. The New Cfcutes was the seethe of a lamentable tragedy lately, when Ethel Bevel, 19 years • old, was Injured in an > amusement device, dying a few hours* later at the hospital. J. J. Havlland is suffering • from severe contusions and bruises. The ac- cident was the > culmination of an eve- ning's pleasure spent by Miss Revel and a merry crowd. ''The Double Whirl," a combination of several sets of small "Ferris'wheels" which turn over and re- volve at the same time, was the last > amusement device visited. Miss Revel % and Mr.' Haviland were seated in one of the swings and had made about ten revo- lutions when one side broke away. Mr. Haviland caught Mjss Revel about the waist and claims he would have held her if the operator had .been at -the controller and stopped the swing at once. At the highest point something struck his hand, breaking loose, his hold and throwing them both to the pavement below. John Green, the operator in charge of the swing, was arrested. CONTEST OVER SONG. Joe Hart this week* through his attor- ney, Gus Dreyer, secured a Supreme Court order directing William Gould to show cause why an injunction should not issue to prevent his further use of the song, ''Nobody's Satisfied," an English com- position to which Mr. Hart claims the American rights. The court order was returnable Thurs- day morning,, but argument was. post- poned. - - - BAND CONTRACT OPEN. Arthur Pryor, the bandmaster who has for five years led the beach musicians at Asbury Park, has not been re-engaged for next season and there is some speculation as to who will secure the engagement. The Asbury Park band contract is one of the best in the east. It is let by the Beach Commission, an appointive body selected by the local Council. NO MONEY IN CELEBRATION. The Hudson-Fulton Celebration Week in New York has . been of no assistance to the box office of the vaudeville the- aters. The burlesque houses have felt an increased patronage resulting from the crowds in town. On the parade days all theaters have been nearly empty, offices being deserted also to "watch the parade." Monday night was rainy. That helped A: some, though everyone seems to hold the impression of the visitors that they are a "cheap bunch." The restaurants along Broadway have complained that there is little money in the throngs, although they fill the eat- ing houses to suffocation at meal times. In one large restaurant near 42nd street a party of five countrymen entered, or- dering a pot of coffee and cake. From the pot each had a cup, with a piece of the onke. The check was sixty cents. Ollic Young and April have received a route of thirty weeks over United time. "Mrs. Gilbert and her congregation," ad herents of Christian Science, will occupy the Plaza Music Hall Sunday morning* An afternoon and night vaudeville show will be given on that day as usual.