Variety (November 1924)

^Wednecday, November 5, 1924 VARIETY 43 imim AT WASHINCIQK i\-i \i".* .1/^ •A :<* -4- vr, t-.yj Lf!.*i me (Continued trom pare 9> >^ view with him, "I'm foing to .make Cal lau*b^ut loikir* 2 NO, I never aaw It. ^ Pld be show you anything elee l'«xcetit the aooca he |trop<|e«4. to t*nK? , -> • ■ '■-;: = '•.;•■■? > Nothing etee. .^ . , .. pid he tell you what th« others 'fpropoeed to do? Jolaon'a Liat Sf. ■ ■■^. Did ho glv> you a Ilet of actors >Wnd actresses who were going to teome down? t- Yea. decidedly. ^ Have you the list with you? !.r No, sir. y- Tou saw the llat afterward ^ub- ^'bshed. or a large number of them ;t>«iere? Yes, sir. After you got here, I will ask yoii tc state whether or not sonte bur- lasque artor and actress wera/addcd 'to the liel, people who were showing Iisre in Washington at the time? *- They came down nftprwards and ^r^iloolt part in the ceremonies. ''. Do you know the firm McCutch- :^^a-Gerston. the so-called McCutch- ^!^n-Gerston Syndicate? •^ 1 never heard of-them. ■ Senator Caraway: Are these the actors and actresses who took breakfaHt at the White House? Mr. WaMo: Yes. Was that a part of the meala you paid for? 7<o; lunch going back which they kad. Mr. Walsh: There wa* nothing paid for the meal at the White House? Mr. Waldo: Of course not. Wald* Led Th«n Did you lead them to the White .House yourself? Tes, sir. Did the young man who first came to you come along? No. Did yoa ever see hire afterward? No;. ..■> You never saw him with Jolson? Xo. He came to me with Jolson, t' and after that I never saw him again. Was his name Patrick Heni-y? No; it was something that began ■with a "M"—something like ".Myers" •'•r "Moyere." - . Did this man say whe e he Ured' Did he give any address? No, sir; he did not. I was not In- terested In him except he said he would bring around Al Jolson. Did he give you any place of busi- ness? No. I nafi not interested in him sufficiently to ask him. Whether you were Interested or not—we do not want to make a big resord; I want to give you every •poortunity, but let us get to It. Very well. I wish you would describe this man Ib the record as best you can. Afa Personal Friend • Oh. he was a young man. He said he was a Captain somebody, and he told m4 he was a personal friend of Mr. AI Jolson's. Does that nt hU description — I mean the color of his eyes, and the color' of his hair, and his age, and •o forth? He seemed to be a man oL about ■ledlum height. \ What was his complexion?' ' No special outstanding character- J»tic. ^. Do you know the color of his eyes' ;* Did he have a full beard? 7 No; he was pust an ordinary, reg- ."••lar type of man. .* Was he smooth faced or did he '<>|lave a moustache? ,, Smooth faced. ^ You do not rcmembfr his com- ! flexion? No. How tall was he? • Medium height. 1 notice en here • And he got no^monejr from us, and deceived no salary frdni us. We will run that down a little ■ 'i?'*'"' ^^ ^"^ know, as a matter of [ fact, that the young man who came w yon waa a representative of a nnn called McCutcheon-Oerston? » No. Shubert Advertising r One minute- Who did the adver- tising for the Shubert Theatre, who have under contract with them many I actors and actresses? I am going to [ ask you If you have heard of this, because we may follow It up. And that this company had offered, for ^the sum of $S0,OO«, to furnish, for campaign purposes, actors and ac- 1 tresses who would call upon the can- .didate that hired them, and who f Would alng certain songs, furnish certain songs, tell pertain stories, and that the acthrity would Include the showing of films In picture houses I throughout the United States? Had r you heard that? [' I never heard of thi.s young mai*j ';-«onnection with nnythli>p. Did you hear of that proposition? Never. ,; Mr. Walsh:. I notice that you i^ nave down heft on your list of con- ,v tributors Lee Shubert for 1750. sj Mr. Waldo: He contributed it to B>e yesterday. He Juat gave you that yesterday? Yes. ,. Have you paid the Shuberta any- thing prior to this time? Never paid them • fiknt ' '•♦'' ' , The 11,600. or whatever iiM llji 362.60, that yow have on here, rep- resent nothing bat the aleAplng car and the meals? That la all. ■ Othar Thaatricata Iv- DM you know that persons upon this list had already contributed to the National Committee of the Re- publican party and that the National Committee of the Republican party had submitted a list showing the contributions which they had made to them as the total contributions such party had made? I knew nothing of that. You have General T. C. du Pont on here? ' Ye«, sir. You have E. F. Albec nere? Tes, sir. That Is the theatrical ntan? Yes. You have August Heckshor on here? Yea, sir. Do you know he appears on other lists? I do not know. Yoy know what the law about this Is, do yon-not; thai ts. the Na- tional Committee Is required to make returns? Yes. sir. And you know that that means to inform the public or in prevent cor- ruption? * Yes, s^r. You know that pei-fectly well, do you not? •■ Yes. sir. .You say you h.ive aiready collect- ed $16,000 that you have not report- ed to the National Oonmlttre? Yee, sir. And that it was use(l--.it least so fa- as your recollection shuW) n<"iw— principally for natlons.1 purposes? • Yes, sir. !■•. Ta* ' Ib adTaseet No. <• ' Why did you not tell tben in ad- vance that thes* folks were being brought down here in that wajr? The question never cam* up. Tbcra was no reason for telling thaC . Naii'Partiaan Angla You knom it la a IltUe bit un- ,usual, ia It not, to take delegations around at the expense of some non- partisan committee to make the public believe they are vitally In- terested in some candidate? It has been ^one many times before. Will you give me another In- stance? I have heard of It In another campaign, but I cannot tell you offhand. Tben why do you answer so glibly that It haa been done many times? I understand that It has. Have you seen It In the news- papers? Yes. .."viv-■.■.,»,'»,■.■? .. What papers? '^ .-. In the New York papars, in otli«r campaigns. Have you any more deflnlte state- ment? No. Are you willing to sit titer* and swear that such things have been done? No, sir' I have not said they nad. I said I understood they luid. What year?. I understand the last presiden- tial campaign. I do not know it as a/matter of fact. I cannot swear to i(. You used to be police commia- •loner of New York? T«s, sir. - >''^ •- . 1«^Days AhMd secretary . to the Waldo Arranged Bringing a lot of actors and itc- tresses to the White House. Who made the arrangem«n.t for getting them in the White Hluso for breal:- ■fJist? T did. Was it made on ttie moroing yeu came, or before?. ,- ,. Before. .».■ Ai-'f Did you do It by co^espondence? By personal call and correspond- ence. •Will you send Katber, a telephone call. You bald a personal call and cor- respondence. A telephone call. When you said "eorresi>ondence" to this committee I meant correspondence by tele-, phone. , You had no writing on It at all? No writing. To whom did you talk on the teI*|»hone before you brought the actors? Mr. Slemp. The private President ? Yes, sir. Breakfact Arranged Too Did you make the suggestion to Mr. Slemp after these people got here that -It would be a nice thHig to have them for breakfast at the White House, or was that arranged about before? Arranged about before^ Through Mr. Slemp? Through Mr. Slemp. How long ijofore they came? A couplo of days. I think that in all. Senator Cpraway: Was the Presir dent Informed that you were pay- ing these folks' way to get them down here? .^ Mr. Waldo: No. sir. Why did you not tell him? I caw no reason for telling it. Paying for N«n-Partisan Do you not thlnl. .- you are run- ning a non-partisan league, paying people to go around to be non- partisan, that "you should have told the President that this was a paid bunch you brought with yon? These people were not paid. Their expenses were paid. Their expenses were paid, but they were not paid. That Is »ome pay; they got a trip and a breakfast. Most of these people are men who earn ^ery larKe salaries, .and arc not looking for trips to Washing- ton. Senator Caraway: If they are earning large salarlc". and are very much Interested, cou!d they not pay their railroad bill and their lunch bill? I suppose they might. Did anybody offer to pay it? They did not. This non-portlsan cause did not appeal to them to that extent, that they would pay their railroad faro? I puppose many of them contrib- uted In various ways. That was not responsive to the question. They did not volunteer to pay thoir way. Did you ever tell anybody before that you paid their expanses? Yes; I told the press one day, told the New X«»rk papers. Senator Caraway: Horn long did It take you to get this lot of actors and actresses whom you brtfught down her* to make tlM Prasidsnt laugh out loud? Mr. Waldo: About a week or tell days. Do you know bow maay yon brought? "!;•-..•" Porty. ''■'.'-' - What was your oblect? To have them tell th* Prcsldsnt that they were for blm. and go home and toll their people and their friends that they had met hlni, and that they were for blm. Was that the object? That is tb» only ol>iect I know of. Was not the object to give the Impression that people wars very enthusiastic for the President, and *o give out to the pilblio that peo- ple were ealUng on htoi In delega- tions. Was not that' t%e object? Was it not for the purpose of let- ting th* public know? ^ I^attlng tb« public . know that these people were for him. Not Pe*lina Public That was th« ob>set, to fool th* public? Not to fool the public, no. Just why, then, did you not tell the public that all this enthusiasm cost so much? You wanted to be fair with the public, did you not? Yes. You are non-partisan. . Yes. Then why did you not tak* th* public into your confident and tell them all th* story? There was no other story to tall, except that they had to come down. There wan the story of how much it cost to come down, was there not? I did pot see It was a matter of intcrast.' When It became a matter of Interest I gave Itto tbem. Is it not to the Interest Of th* pul>lie to know what a so-called non-partisan is? It Is presumed that the Coolldg* Non-Paitlsan Leagu* has the in- terest of electing Mr. Coolldg*. Is It presumed that they are en- thusiastic for so much per enthu- siasm? I do not know anybody who is enthusiastic an that basis. At least these acTsrs brought their jokes down her* at your ex- pense? Actors Not for Hir* But they were not people y( u could hire under any conditions. But they were people mh--<e transportation you could pay with- out much row? Yes, but not people you could hire. Do you know whether they were paid or not? I know they were not paid. How did you know? Decauae 1 have never heard of thrfr t^lng paid, ;...d I know of no- body who would have paid th«m. Nobody else vx-as so enthusiastic that he would put up any money? Not in t:.at form. Do you mean to say thet when it was published in the New York Times that you brought this dele- oration of actors here—did It appear in the New York "Times" that you paid their way down her*? At the time. no. It came out In Ae "World" afterward. I think. How long afterwards? Three or four days. ) i • Did you glvo It out? No; they came and asked, and 1 told them we did It. •, ^ That you did iiolT .., >; That we did? rtit^'l'ti; T find hve a stateiAltM- tMf was Moni^ Cdmraittc* for Immediate r*> leas* on the morning they came here.* You saw that, did yoa not (handing witness papery? No, sir. You saw the article published Ihroughout th* United States? Yes, sir. I will read this to you. Did Al Jolson have any other song he was going to sing? - No, sir. ■ -!' - . ■ ■ Mat Othar Aet«rg ' Did you meet any other actor ex- cept AI Jolson? Yes, si;-. What other one dkl you meet who talked about thi'^trlp? Nobody who talked about th* trip. Did you tell Al JoUon that If h* gov these actors together you had a fund out of which you could pay their way to Washington, and that it 'would not appear In tlie returns of the Republican National Com- mitCee os an exiienditure? I did not. Did you tell Al Jolson that if he got th*** people together yon war* in a position to pay their way down, and would pay their way down? I fold him I would pay their way down. You told him that you would pay their way down, so that no per- son connected with this trip sa<d anything to you afterward about paying their fares? / None. ' '.'• • ■ Knew Fares Wsr* PiM When they gathered, every one of th«m knew that their far* was to b* paid Iter*, that fh«ir foM was to b* pravjdad, Jind everything else so far as you-know? Yes. That if true. Hew. is this th* song he shewed you in advaac*? "Th* race is now begun And Covlldg* is the one. Tta* on* to fill the presidential chair Without a lot of fuss H* did a lot for us. Be lot's rsclprocat* and keep him th*r*." R*fpsiH "K**p Coolldg*; k*ep Idg*." Mr. Waldo: Y*s. Cool- Dent. Theatrical League Aiid Pat Henry Again Beside* RlUnclander Waldo's personally operated Coolidge- Dawes' Non-Partlran League, there was a Democratic organiza- tion with a Theatrical Leagtie aside to it. for Davis and Bryan, of this campaign. ' On the Democrat^ roster Wiltqii Lackaye was president, with Rob- ert Edecon, West Coast, chairman. Listed as the mid-West executive secretary was Patrick -Henry, with ofllces at (4 West Randolph atreet, Chicago. He is believed to b* the same Pat Henry concern«d with th* a*rson • McCutcheon Advertising Agency of Chicago. Others named as gen«ral r«pr*- ssntatlves wcr* W*lls Mawkss, John Wilbur Jenkins and William Joy. ■ An executive committee of 94 members, moi^ or less well known in stage and screen circles, was named. That was published in the papers?given out oy the Republican Na $96,000 PRWIT (Continued fron- page 1) profit of 170,000 during this year to Oct. 1. Through the threatened court proceedings, the thrde-cornered partnership was dissolved when Charles Hanson and John Wagner, th* other two members, purchased Blkeles' Interest. With th* pur- chas* the Intended legal action was abandoned by Mr. Goldsmith. According to account th* course taken by the'Goldsmith legal ofBce la a new on* in cabaret circlea to enforce a sal* or boy proposition betwaen cafe partners. Elkeles held M per cent «f the stock of 110 East &9th Street Cor- poration, with Hanson holding 60 per cent and Wagner 20 i 'r cent. The affidavits charged that Hanson and Wagner as a majority of the directors and with Hanson in con- trol of the stock were operating the Club Deauv4]le witiiout regard' to the rights of Elkeles as a mi- nority stockholder. '"^ Mrs. Hswkesworth's 20 P»r C*nt The Club Deauvllle. conceived by Ellceles, was the first night club of the Broadway section's night life. EHkeles brought Wagner into the venture, which was financed by Hanson, who is in a commercial business downtown, with $5,000. Messrs. Elkeles and Wagner are practical restaurateurs, with Elkeles also a the.itrlcal producer. Mrs. Margaret Hawkesworth at that time held the lease of 110 East 59th street and contributed the premises for her share of 20 per cent. With Hanson then holding 40 per cent to protect his Investment. Irater Mrs. Hawkesworth wanted to withdraw and reduce her stock to a leas* on the club. This was acoomplishsd wh*B sh« tamed her 20 per cent stock holdings over to Hanaon and the Club Deauvllle in turn toik a straight teas* at tlO.MO yearly rental from her. Since th* Club Deauvllle starUd, no improvements have bean made upon the place and the original in- vestment remains the sole outlay of the total equipment It has been estimated by restaurant men it cost $20,000 to decorate the Deauvllle, whereas the facts appear to be that from the deslKna by Elkeles and undfr his suv^ervlsion the entire cost of decoration reached but $1,300. Th* Club DeauvUle was char« 'tered In >Jew York State as a mem- bership club. It t'liereafter let Its catering privilege to the 110 East ttth Street Corporation, with the charter meml>ers and directors of ttM (w organlzatlona the sam*. DQNNHt RODEO (CoBtina*d from pag* 1) this summer Tex "cleaned" again at th* Am*ilcan rodeo for th* Brtt- i£b KzpositiOB at Wembley. Austin went over there as the promotsr and director of thu rodeo under a guarante*. < When Richard Rlnfling of th* circus tsmlly ttifled with a rodeo in Madison Bqnar* Cardan last win- t*r, h* was reportad to haytf l«st $M,400 OB th* T*ntuk«. Yoong Blnc' ling is cjd tn hav* s s our sd .th* Qardan aad«r mer* r*asdBAbl* t*nns than Austin. T«z is saM to hav* paid a daily rental of trbia tl4M to $l.6M for th* 16 days h* ooeuplad th* arena. Among the riders last week mneh recret waa expressed tlurougb T«x ttaving bv'sn oontned in a boaiiltal naarty throughout the engsgcshsnt with doam* pneumonia, followliiff an Injury to Ms right arm. N* a*neral KntlnisiasMi ' Not a great deal of business wu looked for at the Oardan darlag th* first days after th* rod*o op*n*d Oct. 18. Last week, the s*cond, it wa* thought th* rodeo would eroate the stir it had «t the Stadium. Sxtra stunts were put on last week with amateur riders drawing attention from those aware of their attempts, but enthusiasm for the competitlng events a-hprse failed to arrive. Prise, money to thd amotint of $26,00» was divided amonv~the ri- ders with the largest single purse |4JM.~. There were prizes'through- out the contests for winners of dally svents, up to |1M. 13 Top Beat* Cimrglng an niminUfn of M top te arena seate and |4 top for the boxes caused' some to believe the scale wtlfbt have aSeoted tb* pa- tronage, although a similar seal* was in *ff*et at th* Stadiam Ust year. Besides his fixed charges for overhead including pri^ money and rent, Austin spent about '|16,0d0 in newspaper advertising and .bill- boards. In addition tt\* promoter transported to New York from th* West six trainloads of cattle used In th* comp*titlon. Contestants at the Garden paid their own transportation to and from New York, also bringing on the hortcs at their own expense. It was strictly a competitive affair, with each event a contest other than a couple of minor affairs dally used to fill in for the program. Yesterday Tex Austin was re« ported somewhat better at the hos- pital but will likely be unable to leave there before the end of this or early next week. AUTHOR WALKS OUT (Continued from pag* 1) by th* producers. H* exercised "author's prerogative" by bundling bis script under his arm and walk« ing oat The following day Burnett ap- peared at the Wa^enhals ft. Kemper office to return his advance royalty check, stating the play would t>e done as written or not at alL Henry Hull, who was to have been featured, may return to vaude- ville in "Five Minutes From the Station," which b« shelved to r«- h*ars* with the legit attraction. "3 WEEKS'" JAM V ■ (Continued from pag* 1) down the criminal scqwl in script. Following the display of the film a mass meeting was held in the rooms of the Y. M. C. A., and a protest filed with the local censors after the first showing of the flta. The locals advised the manager tit* town thought the Qlyn story a bit rough, but Grower replied it was an old story In novel and pictures, no one else had found so much fault with it. He refused t« witbdraw! the picture.