Variety (December 1909)

18 v a a jet y UNION BILLPOSTERS HOLD THEIR ANNUAL C ONVENTION Circus Managers Again Sign the Agreement At Most Peaceful Meeting the Alliance Has Ever Known. Chicago, Dec. 15. The International Alliance of Bill- potter* and Billers held a convention at Indianapolis laat week and the circus agreement for 1910 and 1911 was arranged. It is practically the same as in effect in 1909 with the exception that the billers receive a $6 a month raise. The agreement was signed by represen- tatives of the Ringling, Barnum A Bailey, Forepaugh - Sells, Hagenbeck - Wallace, Sells-Floto, John Robinson, and Louis E. Cook, representing the Two Bills, sent word that he would do what the reat did. Charles Ringling was at Indianapolis. W. B. Franklin, representing the Sells-Floto, was also there, as was- R. M. Harvey, representing Hagenbeck-Wallace, and L. H. Heckman, representing the Robinson show. The new officers elected by the billers are: President, George W. Lowery; secre- tary, William McCarthy; treasurer, Harry Jones; sergeant-at-arms, A. O. Ruhlin, and chairman board of trustees, George Eliott. The next convention will be held at Buffalo. During the past season the relations of billers and circuses were very pleasant. Only two complaints were made against the circuses. Three billposters from St. Louis had a bill for $2,100 against Sells- Floto, claiming they were not called to come with show. This was so ridiculous that the grievance committee threw it out. John Hester, of Cincinnati, had a bill of $418 against Hagenbeck-Wallace, which was also thrown out. It was the most harmonious convention ever held by the billers. PRESS CLUB'S OPENING. The New York Press Club had a "house warming" during the latter half of last week, dedicating its magnificent new build- ing at the corner of Spruce and William Streets. The denizens of Park Row as- sembled with their wives and sweethearts for three nights of revelry. President John Hennessy was the first man to speak in the new building. R. G. Knowles was the second, and because of an interruption in the routine of specially engaged talent, Maj. John M. Burke was the third person to entertain the assembled throngs. Whether Buffalo Bill is in Cody or on the road the Major never forgets him, and until the regularly engaged en- tertainer appeared on the scene he told of the brightness of his never-waning star and, as usual, "put it over all" the other press agents. BAD OUTLOOK FOR "GRAFTERS." Chicago, Dec. 15. "Grafters" are worried a little about next season and are afraid they won't Ind any place to "drop," as most of the circuses in 1910 promise to be "clean." The "business" has not been a very prettable one in recent years. WILL COXEY GO BACK? Chicago, Dec. 15. Willard D. Coxey, at present one of the press agents of the Boston Grand Opera Co., is in Chicago and while it may not mean anything in particular there are many who wonder if he is here to ar- range with the Ringlings to replace James J. Brady with the Ringling Show. Brady announced his permanent retire- ment from the circus field when he re- cently joined the Whitney Opera House as press representative, and as somebody must be engaged to succeed him it would not surprise anybody if Coxey returned once again to his first love, the Ringling. A LIST OF ANIMALS. Chicago, Dec. 15. The Ringlings have purchased a num- ber of animals for the Ringling and Fore- paugh-Sells menageries next season. They are expected to reach Baraboo, Wis., some time next month. For the Forepaugh - Sells show there is in this collection a herd of performing elephants which works with a troupe of ten trained dogs, eight Siberian camels, two zebras, a gnu, a white-tailed gnu, a tapir, a pair of In- dian Hamas, a pair of blossbuck, a water buck, three leopards, two spotted hyenas, a giraffe, three Russian bears, two striped hyenas, three dozen monkeys and apes. For the Ringling circus there will be in the collection two giraffes, two spotted hyenas, two striped hyenas, two zebras, a female lucoryx, three dozen cage monkeys. These animals come from Carl Hagen- beck, at Hamburg, Germany. The two pair of spotted hyenas will be the only ones in this country. The zebras for the Ringling show are of a kind not exhibited here with the exception of a pair with the Barnum & Bailey show. "TODY" HAMILTON, INVENTOR. Last week R. H. ("Tody") Hamilton came to New York from his home in Baltimore on business concerning a series of patents which he controls covering in- ventions which he has been largely en- gaged upon since retiring from the circus business. Tody is organizing a company to back one patent in particular which concerns an appliance for an air brake which the Westinghouse Co. has endorsed as practicable and desirable. He visited several of his old friends among the newspaper men who formerly handled his "copy" as chief press agent for the Barnum A Bailey Show when James A. Bailey was in control. To one of these men it is said he intimated that the present Barnum A Bailey manage- ment had signified their desire to have him handle a special campaign of news- paper publicity for the show when it comes to the Garden next spring. ELEPHANT, ioo YEARS OLD, DIES. Evansville, Dec. 15. The Norrls A Rowe Shows, in winter quarters here, have lost their big elephant, "Princess," who died Monday at an esti- mated age-of more than 100 years. The elephant was once the property of the Barnum A Bailey and Ringling Bros. Shows, and was at one time in the Phila- delphia Zoo. — Chicago, Dec. 16. Tomash, one of the Ringling elephants, was injured at winter quarters at Bara- boo, Wis., recently, being crowded in some way by another bull. Toman's ankle was sprained. He now has it band- aged up and his weight is supported by a swing. At night the keepers place a large bale of hay under and a tub in front of him, upon which to rest his head. By leaning his heavy body against the brick wall with these props, Tomah manages to get a little rest. HAS "TWO BILLS" PROGRAM. The firm of I. M. Sothern A Co. will publish the program for the Buffalo and Pawnee Bill Wild West next season. This privilege has been held by Joseph Mayer for several seasons, but now that Maj. Gordon W. Lillie is in command he has shifted to Mr. Sothern, who formerly published the program for the old Pawnee Bill Wild West. Sothern will also publish the programs for the Hagenbeck-Wallace Shows, Miller Bros.' "101 Ranch," the John Robinson, Norris A Rowe and the Gollmar Bros.' Circuses. Mae Barry, who was formerly Joe Mayer's stenographer, has gone with Sothern in a like capacity. OLD HEADS RE-EMPLOYED. The Ringling Brothers have re-engaged most of the heads of departments who held over with them from the old James A. Bailey days, for the next Barnum A Bailey season. John McLaughlin, train master; Dan Taylor, master mechanic; Tom Lynch, boss hostler, and Arthur Graves, boss property man, are among the old timers who have been able to conform to the Ringling methods with entire satisfaction. Such was not the case with Geo. Conklin, boss animal man, and "Doc" Elliott, superintendent of ring stock, who failed to last out their first season under the Ringling way of doing things. LOOKING FOR FEMALE TRAINERS. St. Louis, Dec. 15. George W. Rollins from the "101 Ranch" is looking for three young women to spend the winter at the quarters in East St. Louis where the show is for the cold spell, and to learn to subdue wild animals while there. JEPTHA GUINN KILLED. Jeptha Guinn, said to have been at one time a circus clown, was run over and killed last Saturday by a dummy engine at Big Stone Gap, W. Va, Tim Keeler is back in town for the win- ter after a season with the Yankee Rob- inson Shows. He says that Fred Bu- chanan will put the show in better shape during its winter at quarters in Des Moines and will increase its size for next season. A SELf-MADE MANAGER TO HIS BOOKING AGENT BY J. A. MURPHY. (MVBFHT AJTD WILLAJLB.) (The twelfth of a eeriee of Mr. Iforphj. detail lng the hypothetical reports and trlala of • "amall time'' manager.) East Cranberry, O., Dec. 14. Dear Mike:— Yours received whereof you ask when ) want Welter and Smax to come back and 1 want to say right here I don't never want them. I told them when they was here that they could come and act for me any time, but I tell everybody that because ycAA said I must be jolly with the acters. 1 had a spat with them about a barrel when they was here. They wanted a barrel to use in their play so I got one and charged them forty cents for it when I paid them off. Then Walter took the barrel out in the alley and broke it up. Acters want an awful lot of fool things anyhow. Lowney and Gunther, the sister actresses, that's here this week wrote in ahead of themselves and wanted a maid. There is a lot of old maids up in the north end of town but I was afraid they was too finicky to have around a theatre stage, so I got the Swede girl that works for Mrs. Gastric to come over. The sister girls put on three or four suits of clothes at once which was fastened with strings instead of buttons, but it seems the Swede girl got kind of mixed up and pulled the wrong string which yanked off all four suits at once and left them with no clothes on at all and they couldn't go on with their part. Ed Octave, the comic feller, said he couldn't act without a piano on the stage so I borrowed a second-hand one from the music store. They wanted to charge me five dollars to haul it so I hauled it in my own wagon and will deduct five dollars from Octave's wages Saturday. The troupe of monkeys is first rate but they cost ten dollars more than the other ones that was here, which is some more of your carelessness. Allegro and Brisk have a house with a lot of flaps and shutters which they jump through and hit each other with buckets and clubs. They made a dive through one of the windows last night and landed in the middle of the troop of monkeys and got snarled up so bad they had to stop the show till they got them sorted out. The Operatical trio of two men and a woman yelped out a lot of tunes that nobody ever heard of. They bad a lot of spats with the fiddlers because they kept tearing loose in the wrong place. They brought a scenery jail along with* them and one sung outside to someone in^ side. The newspaper man says the show this week is needy ochre, which I suppose means it has a yellow streak in it. The Ladies aid Society is bavin a benefit show at the Oprey House this week which 1 suppose will keep away some of my cus- tomers. This reminds me to ask, how can I have a benefit without the acters knowin it is for me. Acters always work for nothin at benefits and I would like to fix up one for every week. You could hire acters for five days and one benefit and it would make the shows a little cheaper. Let me know about this. Adam Bowerguy, Manager.