Variety (June 1923)

V^^IETV Thursday,, June 28, 1928 PALISADES PARK Schenck Bros, resort perched at the peak of the lower Jersey Pal- isades hundreds of feet above the Hudson river and overlooking the upper end of Manhattan, has the king pin location for a summer park. Its situation as a place of hot weather recreation is ideal. The management has capitalized this detail of the enterprise, for it is ex- ploited elaborately In all kinds of billboard stands up to the 56-sheet from one end of New York to the other. This year the place has been renovated from the gate to the furthest concession and is spotless and orderly. The huge swimming pool is the big attraction, but even at this early season the genera', amusement features have a tre- mendous draw, not only from the New York side but from the sur- rounding districts of New Jersey. All the trolley lines of the northern part of the state pass close to the gate and within a 15-minute Journey there are well-to-do sub- urban communities like Knglewood. Hackensack and the resident la! groups around Tenafly. The place is splendidly run and maintained in modern style, but the kind of transportation provided by the Public Service Corp. which stage manages the northern counties must be a severe handicap to the progress of the property. The trip from upper Manhattan to the park ought to be an enjoyable experience on a warm evening, but the car lines furnish a service that makes it a task to daunt the hardiest tripper. The cattle pen herding in vogue on Ellis Island bus nothing on the traffic system at Edgewater where the ferry crowds en'route to the hill-top park are discharged. Seven or eight hundred people are put ashore through the ferry house andPryn between harrow side walls to a crude car barn where they must wait in line to go through turnstiles to the hot cinder plat- forms. The car service Is woefully inadequate and the crowding is dis- graceful. Last Saturday night it took one couple from New York ex- actly 24 minutes to accomplish the three-minute trip from Edgewater landing to the park gate. A perspiring conductor who had been trying to handle crowds for four hours was In despair. When threats and pleadings fr.iled to get twice as many people into .ae car as it should have held, the car was stopped until the victims were packed far enough into the aisles so the doors could be closed. The traffic men say this condition pre- vails from four in the afternoon until 10 at night on busy days, but the service is not improved. The Public Service Co. has a strong hold on local politics and enjoys remark- able privileges. They don't permit Jitney men to operate from the Edgewater landing and they have a soft monopoly on the stiffest fare for the shortest distance around this section. Eight cents Is the fare for the lide of less than a mile. Prom the north and west the service is better because It Is spread out on more than one line and the crowd doesn't assemble at one spot. The hands of the park people are tied, because any attempt to fur- nish Its own service from the river would bring opposition and reprisals from the trolley lines. But in spite of the discomforts the park haa a tremendous draw from the New York side. The bill- ing features the beautiful swim- ming pool, one of the best In the east and this has become an insti- tution among the families of north- ern Manhattan. It Is crowded from 11 until the park closes i.nd this feature alone brings in a revenue of more than $75,000 a season. The park offers a variety of fea- tures to satisfy the tastes of any- one. There is a splendid dance hall of the pavilion type, open to the air on all sides which ets a big play; there are three or four rides of .the coa.ster type, a fine merry- go-round; a complicated "fun house" called "The Third Decree" with a multitude of tricky surprises The familiar "Street of Venice," a water tunnel ride, and this year there has been added a "Catter- plllar," the covered circular novelty that seems to have swept the coun- try since last summer. It gets 20 cents and attracts big play. Besides the paid concessions the inrk has extended its free circus, a twice nightly show on a picturesquely ar- ranged stage built on the brink of the cliff over the river and flanked on the west with grandstands hold- ing probably 1.000. Saturday eve- ning the stands were at capacity, the park holding probably in.000. There are probably a dozen mer- chandise wheels, mostly of the reg ulation nail-and-buzzcr type, but they do not get the enthusiastic play noticed at Columbia in tin- same section. Palisades does not seem to go :>ftcr the crowd on the wheel play in just the stmr way. On a brief examination the Pal- isades percentage look rather stronger than the other. For ex- ample there is a wheel giving out musical instruments, numbers being sold al three for a quarter. The grade of premiums looks the same, but at Palisades th.> crowd plays against 120 numbers Against the the Columbia board of !*i>. in like manner the, ten-cent wheels run to 24 instead of 20 numbers, in all cases the wheel taking an additional 25 per cent, over the player. The play at Palisades is listless. or was Saturday evening, the grind continuing with sometimes less than half the numbers played. The Paradise crowd is prosperous looking and orderly but appears to be made no more of young jouples looking for the excltment of rides and the family resort atmosphere is less in evidence than at Columbia. It's a brisk spending gathering, particularly on the standard rides and amusement devices and strong supporters of the dance hall. The refreshment booths are models of neatness and courteous service. The prices are moderate and the materials of good quality and well served. Among this year's additions is one of Evans & Jordan's animal freak shows, a 20-cent show that got moderate play, although why summer amusement seekers should want to look at animal monstrosities is a problem. v The problem for the park people to solve is the transportation from the shore to the gates. As long as It continues In the present shiftless manner It Is bound to react unfavor- ably on attendance from across the Hudson, where the institution's big- gest potential public lies. Rush. BAZAARS ON SALARY; PERCENTAGES ALL OUT STOCK-SELLING FAIR rottsville, Pa., June 27. The sponsors for the new Schuyl- kill Country Fair held a stock- selling rally at the fair grounds last Wednesday, when it was reported 2.000 shares were sold. As a rule fairs projects are financed b\ business men, but it is expected by spreading stock among all classes greater interest in the annual event will obtain. The plant will cost about $500.- 000, half of which has already been subscribed. The steel frame, for the grand stand has been erected. The opening fair is dated for Labor Day. LARGEST POOL IN COUNTRY Newark, June 27. Olympic Park expects to open Its great swimming pool Saturday. The management has had the greatest difficulty in securing water, and, al- though wells have been dug to a great depth, they are not yet sure of keeping the pool filled. The pool Is said to be the largest In the' country, being 400 by 200 feet. For the opening carnival it is stated that among others Helen Wainwrlght, Alleen Riggin, Ger- trjde Ederle and Helen Meany \. Ill compete, as will Johnnie Weismullcr. Greenwich Affair Nets $40,- 000 — Nothing Shared- Johnny Keeler Directed As an evidence that charity ba- zaars and amateur circuses for charity purposes are being handled on a new basis of efficiency, a cus- tom Is gaining ground under which wealthy promoters of such events are taking all financial responsibil- ity, employing professionals on a salary basis and elimi; atlng the percentage plan that formerly ob- trined. In the recent case of the amateur circus held in Greenwich, Conn., for the benefit of the Memorial hospi- tal a net of $40,000 was turned over to the institution funds. Nothing on the ground was handled on the per- centage system. Two professionals were engaged at a fiat salary to en- gage such, performers as were re- quired to supplement the amateurs. These consisted of several aerial acts and a group of clowrs. Johnny Keeler directed the show and Prank Bowen trained the ama- teurs for the numbers. The affair was at all times in the executive hands of Mary A. Lanier, a wealthy local resident, who advised with Keeler and Bowen for the renting of the 150-foot top and vised all bills, which were audited and paid with money secured in advance from ticket sales or advanced by the sponsors of the show. The women who had the event in charge took~counsel with the men of their families, who are concerned in important business affairs, and the whole affair was handled like a business undertaking. Numerous carnival promoters had ottered to provide the tops and concessions on a spiit arrangement but all tenders were declined. AL. G. BARNES CIRCUS XELLEY'S BULL Baraboo, Wisconsin, Is to declare a general holiday Saturday, Aug. 11, to celebrate the homecoming of John M. Kelley's $75,000 prize bull, "King Jees Homestead de Kol." The Pathe people will take pic- tures for the weekly. May Wirth, who is with the Wal- ter L. Main circus, will repeat her rldrng stunts done on the prize Kelley bull in the east last season. "The King" will make a tour of the western fairs this summer as an exhibit. PARK SHOW SUNDAY BAN Springfield, Mass., June 27. Local authorities, spurred on by the same reform elements behind the film censor bllj, have issued an edict against Sunday circus per- formances in summer parks. The performance at Riverside Park here was stopped Sunday and notice was given that the ban is permanent. Riverside had booked in a elx-act bill and advertised It extensively. The show was the basis of a strong advertising cam- paign to draw people to the resort. B.-B. IN CHI FOR 9 DAYS Chicago, June 27. The Ringling Brothers-Barnum- Balley Circus will exhibit at Grant Park for nine days starting July 14, giving two performances dally, In- cluding Sundays. The bannermen worked here^ last week tind obtained a couple of splendid locations In the heart of the city. The lithographing brigade began to get In the windows late last week. 3-RING PARK CIRCUS The experiment with an extended open air show with grandstands find a paid gate i^; said to have worked out satisfactorily at Dream- land, Newark, N. J. This week the show was spread nut over three rings and Involved 20 acts besides turns doubled. . Attendance has run as high .as flO,000 week-end evenings and near- ly twiee that <-n Sundays, accord- ing to the statement of the manage- ment. ELECTRIC PARK FOLLIES Midsummer Edition Kansas City, June 27. It Is an entirely new show in every particular that constitutes the mid- summer edition of the Electric Park Follies, starting last week, as the entire cast has been changed, new acts introduced and new musical numbers offered. Most managers and directors would have been con- tent with the production that had been running since the season's start, but not Manager Heim and Director Mack. In spite of the fact that the unseasonable weather of the past few weeks had kept many of the regulars from the park and that the opening revue was still new to thousands, the midsummer show went on according to schedule. The new show is given on a dou- ble stage connected by a wide run, which gives opportunity for the working out of novel effects, which Roy Mack has made good use of. "Whoa, Tlllle; Take Your Time" Introduces a new dancing juvenile*, who, with the "Follies" girls all dolled up In pink jazz togs, put over an attractive bit of pep. Miss Suth- erland followed with a nut singing and dancing bit that won her a lot of friends. Mary Ellis, petite blonde, with a big voice, the best heard at the park for some time, sang "A Heart That's Free" to repeated encores. "Har- mony Baby" was a real production number, led by Mirth Willis, a little blonde soubrette, the only one of the cast of the preceding show to be retained. This is her second sea- son here. Cuter than ever she looked as she pranced out in a jade and scarlet creation, leading the Dancing Dozen, who for this occasion wore novelty dancing dresses of white, with music notes worked out in black and with music scrolls for head pieces, making a novel appear- ance and carrying out the title of the number. Jack Irving followed with "Yan- kee Doodle Blues," and then came Bold and Townsend In a clever ex- hibition of fancy stepping, neat and graceful. "The Four of Us," a male quartette, all youthful, put over rag numbers, and the crowd wanted more, but encores are barred here. Then came the comedy hit of the evening, "The Dumb Dora Blues," by Ferguson and Sunderland, as- sisted by the Bowery Dancers. The costumes the girls wore—most of them could not be called dresses— are indescribable, but the number is the biggest laughing bit the park haa had for several seasons. Pros- wpcr and Maret, the "College Ath- letes." who played ten weeks here last season, the longest ever worked by a similar act, were given a re- ception on their appearance. Bold and Townsend gave another peppy dancing number, and then came "In the Days of Captain Kidd," a pirate number, by Miss Willi* and her pirates. This was another pro- duction number, with the girls all I decked out in bold buccaneer SO'le, This is the 14th season for Al G. Barnes* Wild Animal Circus. Start- ing in 1910 as a small outfit, Barnes has gradually built his show slowly but surely Into a big-time organiza- tion. The Barnes circus is well known In the west, especially on the coast. The three dates played last week in Elizabeth, Jersey City and Paterson, N. J., brought the show closer to New York than ever before. It's different from the regulation circus in reveral respects. There's no acrobatics, aerial or casting acts, or bareback riding. But the number and excellence of the trained wild j animal displays more than balances the absence of those three styles of circus turns. There's a novelty combination of musical comedy.and high school horse act on a large scale that carries a % suggestion of the big acts that have held forth In the past at the New York Hippo- drome and which gives the Barnes show a big city tomb that lifts it out of the category of the regulation touring circus. Unlike most of the other circuses composed of acts e'ngaged for the season, with the show put together like a vaudeville bill, Barnes owns the whole show, lock, stock and bar- rel. The trainers are employed by him. The wild animal features are un- usual. They have been for several years with the Barnes show, but this summer Barnes has crowned all past endeavors. Lions ride on the backs of horses, tigers do the same thing; a hippopotamus waddles around the track harnessed to a wagon; groups of lions, tigers and South American pumas are in a r.eries of arena dis- plays genuinely bewildering in the variety of specialties offered with the animals and In the speed with which one follows the other. Three rings, with the arena cage in the centre. The other two rings are for trained horses, ponies and tame animal displays. All are busy every second, with feature act topping feature act. The Barnes show Is a 30-car out- fit this year. The big top is 305 feet long and 150 feet wide. The seating capacity is 5.600. with 2.200 reserved seats at $1.50 top, 1.200 at |1.25 and 2.200 at 75 cents. The show rostea. holds 485' people. Seventeen all- steel cages house the wild animals. Besides the circus in the big top there's a couple of side shows, with 25 cents admission to each. Ben Austin is general manager, and Thomas Dawson press agent. In Jersey City Friday the show did capacity at night and the side shows both did an overflow busi- ness. There was no matinee in Jer- sey City Friday. The Barnes show gets off with «, whoop that gives it a whirlwind start. This has a touch of novelty also. It's called "Alice in Jungle- land" and has Dot Whitney as "Alice" falling asleep In the arena cage and dreaming the grand entry. It is some grand entry, with 40 horses ridden by expert eques- triennes, a ballet in the arena cage by 12 dancing girls all In white and with costumes as spic and span as might be expected in a Broadway show, a prima donna, and Lottie Le Clair, who sings atop Tusko, a giant elephant. This has considerable singing attached to it in addition to the spectacular elements. There are eight elephants, rang- ing from the giant Tusko. claimed to be the largest elephant in captivity, to two four-year-old bulls, real baby elephants that stand about five feet high and are about the size of a small chunky horse. The babies are a natural source of delight to the kids, as well as highly interesting to the adults. Louis Roth Is the chief animal trainer. He shows a number of wild animal turns, Including one with 11 lionesses and another with 12 Bengals. Among the odd acts are one with an American eagle and a mule, a group with camels and an- other with trained .wild boars. There are two liberty horse acts with 12 horses in each, with the animals doing the rotation trick perfectly, among others. Pearl Lingo, in addition to ap- pearing as trainer in a lion and horse display, Is also an eques- trienne of ability. She leads the closing display, which has 40 horse- women in the high school and sing- ing ensemble. Robert Thornton is equestrian dfrector, appearing with a number of acts, and Allen King has several wild animal displays in charge. Among the trainers Of a varied list of interesting displays are Nellie Roth, Rita Bellew. Iva Thornton, Kathryn Thompson. Mer- rltt Blue. Max Label, Jack Cava- naugh, Bert Den nip an^ Red Mc- Kay. There are 18 clowns, who pep up the shqw with real comedy occa- sionally, but there is not too much of anything. That's on«» of the real assets of the Barnes show—its di- versity. The circus ran two and a half hours. It's a show that could come' into New York and. mpre. hold its own with any that has preceded it. Bell. * 1 > - with high boots, flapping hats with the skull and crossboncs, cutless and everything. It Is an attractive thing and served well its purpose of in- troducing the famous Ben Hassen Troupe, Arabian acrobats, for a whirlwind finish of the first part. The hour intermission gave the crowd plenty of opportunity to wit- ness the electric fountain display, with Its group of posing girls and models. This Is Manager Helm's pet feature, and he has never missed seeing It every night for the past 24 years when In the city. It is also seemingly just as popular with the park's patrons as when first built. The programmes are changed weekly and the pictures and effects kept up to the minute. The second part of the "Follies" started at 10:45 with "Lady of the Evening," by Miss Ellis and the Models. The audience got an eyeful of cos- tuming with this number. The gowns fairly dazzled one. Designed along Egyptian lines, with jeweled corsages, girdles and ribbon-effect skirts, they left little to the Imag- ination, but were beautiful and startling. , "He Loves It" was Jack Irvlng's second number and was well liked. Ferguson and Sunderland had the next spot, and their stepping proved acceptable. Miss Willis used "May- be Your Man" for her single and displayed another of her striktng gowns. This one was pure white, set off by a huge sash and bow Of turquoise. Bold and Townsend pre- sented a tango stepping bit. These "Valentino" things are commencing to get a bit tiresome, and something newer would be acceptable. The quartet came next and dupli- cated their hit of the first part. These boys can sing, look well and know how to "sell" their stuff. "Syncopate." with Mr. Irving and the dancers, was what the crowd had been waiting for. In their nobby one-piece suits and high pat- ent leather parade hats the girls, looked good and the number proved one of the popular ones of the bill. Novello Brothers, musical comedy clowns, were a novelty. An eccen- tric dance by Mr. Ferguson fol- lowed, and then the "Ukelele Blues." by Mr. Irving, and the Hula Girls," introducing Miss Willis fh a sojo Hawaiian dance. This nufnber stands out. The elaborntenesi of this produc- tion and the fact that no admission is charged except the regular 26 cents at th»> park gate Is the won- der of Visiting managers, but the answer la the crowds in attendance nightly, and also that they stay for the see.md p;irt of the revue, giving the concessionaires a chance during the hour intermission. liunite*. BARNES BACK TO COURT Wife Applies for Vacation of Di- vorce Decree Los Angeles, June 27. Alphaeua G. Barnes Stonehouse, better known as Al G. Barnes, cir- cus owner, whose career of late has been punctuated by frequent ap- pearances in court, and who was granted a divorce from his second wife, Sara Jane Stonehouse, former bareback rider in his circus, In Las Vegas, Nev., May 4, last, is due for another inning in court. Mrs. Stonehouse, who was award- ed $300 alimony monthly and $1,000 attorney's fees by the Nevada court last month, has filed a motion through her attorneys asking Judge Emmett Walsh, presiding judge at Las Vegas, to vacate the divorce decree on the grounds it was. ren- dered against her "through her mistake, inadvertence, surprise and excusable neglect." She further asks for $5,500, which she says will he a reasonable amount of expense for attorney's fees in moving for a new trial, moving to vacate Judg- ment and appealing the case. Stonehouse got the decree on the ground of cruelty, charging thrtt on one occasion his wife chased him Into a cage and used a whip on him. Mrs. Stonehouse countered with equally sensational charges. I DIVING GIKLS IN DEMAND The vogue for swimming pools in summer parks has been followed by a sudden demand fpr diving girl acts this season. The feature was featured last year by the Johnny Jones outfit, and the others are fol- lowing the idea. Jones spent $5,000 for a front for his show and did some heavy billing for the 90-foot dive by a girl. . Another girl did a 75-foot plunge,- and the two lendeiM were b.t.kc ' up with a bevy of seven fancy divers. The concession did well at a 25-cent gate. Under Canvas in Mountain* Sterling Bros. "Uncle Torn's Cabin" company, playing under can- vas, is being routed through the Adirondack retort region for the summer*