Variety (January 1914)

8 VARIETY DESIRABLE LIFE MEMBERSHIPS. Oik- of the interesting records on view around the White Rats' Building on West 46th street is the little frame in the lounging room on the first floor of the building in which arc posted the names of the life members of the organization. Not as rapidly as one might expect in view of the great ad- vantages which the life membership plan offers to tho-e within the organi- zation, but still Mirely and steadily this list of names has been growing until, at the present time, thirty-one representative men of the show busi- ness constitute the roster. Jt is of record that Frank Kogarty was tlu> first t»> secure a life member- ship card in the organization, the lit- tle pale urcen slip which he carries constantly bearing date of Oct. 1. 1909. After him came the following: Bobby Tiaylor, I'd Keou^li, A. A. Ford. Lewis Hraham, Corse 1'ayton, Harry Kelly, Fred Xiblo, Frank Fay, Thomas P. Russell, Thomas Welch. Rohelia Inza. C harlcs H. Farrell, Frank North. Marry Coleman. W. W. Wat- ers, Junie McCree. Hassan Ben Ali, "Happy Jack" Gardner, Lon Hascall, James F. Dolan, Colie Lorella, Eddie Clark, Dr. Carl Herman, Chauncey D. Herbert. Fred A. Stone, Hal D. droves, Jules W. Lee, Dave Mont- gomery. Will J. Cooke and Frank Kvans. With scores of things to do in every day's routine of business in the interest of the many who are already within the organization, it is a pardonable con- fession to say that a general campaign, both for ordinary and life members, has not been waged as energetically during the past few years as it might have been. The measure which the W. R. A. U. is now considering, calling for the appointment of ten organizers to work in the various sections of the country which they visit, is an indica- tion that this fact is admitted. While there never has been a time when any artist eligible to member- ship would not have been welcomed with open arms, the organization's at- titude on this important matter has been more or less passive. The advan- tages of membership in the organiza- tion have been forcefully pointed out from time to time, and there has been more or less personal effort on the part of individual members, but con- certed action of the kind which is bound to bring results has not been directed in the past as it will be in the future, with the organization now in such shape that things of this nature can be more energetically attended to. In spite of this condition of compar- ative inactivity, in connection with the notation of the life members of the or- ganization, it is notably true that of the 30 men who have cast their for- tunes with the White Rats forever, 23 of them—all but seven of the total number—have secured their creden- tials since December, 1912, a period of just a little more than a year. As a purely business proposition, the life membership plan is one that ought to appeal to every individual in the show business who is eligible to mem- bership in the White Rats. Life mem- bership cards arc available to any member of the organization in good standing, with no back dues against his name, upon payment of $100. The life membership cards absolve the holder from the payment of all further dues and secures for him all of the benefits of the organization, subject to the by-laws, for life. Inasmuch as the yearly dues of the organization are ten dollars, it is apparent that the life membership plan merely calls for the payment of ten years' dues in advance. In the ladies' auxiliary branch of the organization, the Associated Ac- tresses of America, there are the same requirements for life membership. Two well-known lady artists are distin- guished by carrying life membership cards in the A. A. A.'s, Dorothy Vaughan, having achieved the honor July 19, 1911, and Lillian McNeill Oct. 1. 1912. DARE'S FATHER DIES. Writing from Harrisburg, Pa., un- der date of Jan. 13, Harry Dare, well known in the profession, advises of the death of his father at 3 p. m. Jan. 12. Amos Schultz, Mr. Dare's father, was a retired railway passenger en- gineer, and had served the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Co. for years. STRONG LANGUAGE USED. Chicago, Jan. 14 In his general clean-up of the em- ployment agency situation in this city, NEXT SCAMPER, JAN. 24. To prepare for and direct the big Scamper which the White Rats Actors' Union of America will hold in the White Rats Building, New York City, Saturday night (of next week), Jan. 24, the following committee has been appointed: Joe Mack, Chairman; Mark Hart, William Zinnell, John Birch, Ira Kessner, Louis Piotti, Jack Van Epps, Jack McCowan, Carl Francis, Harry Denton, Paul Quinn, Thomas J. Grady, Dixon Peters, George W. Kingsbury, Art Adair, George Botsford, Larry Fhillips, Dan Harrington, W. C. Mat- thews, Tom Gillen, Thomas Goodwin, Charles Sharp and Tom Lewis. The coming Scamper is to be an- other of those jolly informal affairs in- tended to establish closer ties of friend- ship among members of the organiza- tion and their friends. Admission will be by cards of invitation which are now procurable by members at the ex- ecutive offices of the White Rats. In no sense will the entertainment pro- vided be of the "stag" nature and par- ticular pains will be taken to make the evening one of equal enjoyment for both men and women. As is always the case, it is impossible to announce in advance a definite pro- gram. There will be a vaudeville show in the big auditorium of the building, to be followed by dancing and a ca- (The matter on this page has been furnished VARIETY by the White Rats Actors' Union of America, and Is vouched for by that organization. VARIETY, in Its editorial policy, Is not responsible for it.) a clean-up which will deal in a meas- ure at least with the theatrical booking agencies, State Superintendent of Em- ployment Agencies Richard J. Knight is using strong language in his descrip- tion of some of the men and women who are engaged in this line of busi- ness. "Thieves and burglars" are terms applied to some of the proprie- tors of the agencies. Mr. Knight's campaign has already resulted in drastic action against one theatrical booking agency in this city, and he has announced that there are three other similar agencies against which prosecution looking toward the revocation of their licenses will be di- rected at once. He has announced that he had originally intended to proceed against fully fifteen of these agencies, but decided to hold up twelve prosecu- tions for the reason that the United States Department of Justice is now taking active hand in the investigation. One of the State Superintendent's significant remarks is: "Just wait un- til the government opens up on some of these theatrical agencies. Some of the things that will then be exposed are hard to believe." baret, both in the main auditorium and in the several rooms down stairs. As an evidence of the closer com- munication which is being built up be- tween the White Rats and other the- atrical organizations, it may be men- tioned that one feature of the program for the evening will be a skit, written and produced under the direction of Tommy Gray, a well-known member of the Vaudeville Comedy Club, whose original creations have been highly successful at Vaudeville Comedy Club affairs in the past. Mr. Gray is not a member of the White Rats. WRITE TO HARRY GRIMM. Harry Grimm, of Grimm and Elliott, is very sick in Jefferson City, Mo., and is anxious to hear from his friends, who can address him at 428 East Dunklin street. While Mr. Grimm is not in need of financial assistance, letters from his friends, he says, would do him a world of good. CHAS. J. ROSS ELECTED. At a special meeting of the Board of Directors, called for that purpose, Charles J. Ross was elected a member of the Board to succeed Will P. Con- Icy, resigned. SUNDAY SHOW DESCRIBED. The advertisements for the Sunday night performance at the Winter Gar- den, following the opening of "The Whirl of the World" Saturday, read, "Concert, as it used to be." The Sunday night shows during the run of "The Pleasure Seekers" at the Garden would probably have had to be seen before full appreciation of that line could be secured. STARTED IN LOS ANGELES. Los Angeles, Jan. 14.—Frank Sta- ples, who lives at 1517 Winfield street, has called attention to the fact that Los Angeles has, to an ex- tent at least, become the birthplace of a movement which seems destined to result in much good for the actor and has asked the influence of the members of the W. R. A. U., individually and collectively, in furthering the move- ment already started. Last March theatrical people play- ing in Los Angeles petitioned W. I). Stephens, Congressman from this dis- trict, to use his influence in having the United States Postal Saving System extended so that the traveling public might have the same benefit from it aj those enjoyed by people permanently located. Mr. Stephens at that time as- sured the petitioners that he was heart- ily in favor of the plan and would do v hat he could to have it adopted. New rules recently promulgated to govern the workings of the postal savings sys- tem show improvement over the ones formerly in force, in relation to the needs of the individual who is constant- ly traveling, and Mr. Staples points out that the revision of the rules along the lines suggested to Congressman Steph- ens show what can be accomplished by united action. Mr. Staples expresses the opinion that if actors who are in the habit of using postal and express money orders as a means of safely securing their money would patronize the postal sav- ings system it would only be a matter of time until the system would be ex- tended to meet all the requirements of the traveling public in general. MAX HART IN THE BOX. The automobile industry has pushed Max Hart back on the check book bal- ance about $14,000, all cash. To re- cover the same and profits he believes should have been hisn, Mr. Hart has started suit against the Regal Auto- mobile Company for $60,000. Max Hart is a theatrical agent, ac- cording to the city directory, which docsn'* know much beyond what it is told. As a side line Max tacked on- to the buzz trade, taking the New York distributing agency for the Regal con- cern. At once his agency business was neglected, the placing of his signature on checks occupying all of Max's time. Now he's tired and would like to sec some of the coin return home, but finds a little solace in stories heard of show people who have lost more thai fourteen. SIM WILLIAMS* NEW SHOW 7 . Philadelphia, Jan. 14. Sim Williams' new show, "Girls of Joyland" had a good week at the Peo- ple's, Kensington, the new spoke on the Progressive Burlesque Wheel. Mr. Williams got the franchise for the ad- ditional attraction made possible by the opening of the People's. The Progressive route is now from the Trocadero to the Broad Street, Trenton, then People's and Victoria, Pittsburgh. The shows are playing Trenton on a guarantee of $1,200 for the week, with a sliding percentage scale on the gross. don't advertlM at all.