Page 17

THE SHOW WORLD
LRMtBREVO
TME 111R LWHO SAYSTMINGS
YOU REMEMBER ME, DotiT YOU?
Sin    Mlont.,  .\il   I amily  theater,
In &   Considine  circuit. - Dear
I   h h: I shall now endeavor to redeen
my promliso, made some time ago, to ac-
quaint you with conditions theatrical on the
cat and in the northwest. But I had to
book the S. C. circuit in order to fulfill my
promis,- for as soon as I announced in my
columns jmy intention to write of conditions
existj .. uit here, I was cancelled by the
West-  t ttesepeople. Theygaveas an ex
case that my salary was too high, but my
opinion is they' could not stand the search-
light of THE SHOW    WORLD. The Sulli-
van-Considine management not only invited,
bit requested, honest, candid criticism of
every house on their circuit.
I left Cheicao Wednsday evening, April
1. at  C1:0; arrived in sttte Friday evening
at 8 'clock. Made one change of cars, and
thatseas inCSt. PaulI. We are providedw ith
ticket in Chicag-o costing $125 which takes
us all oer the entire circuit and back again
to Chicago. The cost of the ticket is taken
outof 'ur salaries at the first houses on the
circuit  Our jumps average about $5 a
week. P'rformers making the trip will be
wise t engage atsd pay for sleepers as far
ahead as possible; otherwise you stand a
poor chance of securing berths from St. Paul
10 Butte. I pad to come tourist from   St.
Paul and Upper Right was the best I could
get, althouih I had reserved a lower Pull-
man I telgraph. But arriving in St.Paul
I leauiied tisat my berth Isad boon disposed
of to a younger and handsomer woman.
Worse Than a Circus Car.
I can just hear some of you laugh now at
the I    a yf ni climbing up into an upper
berth. I t is forty tiimes wyorse ttsan a circus
car. I am positively homesick, thinking of
circius cars. I'd rather sleep on the flats of
aocirc uscar than to ride in the finest state-
room Mrs. Pullman ever rented. And the
irst red  agono'ithlgoldiwheels thatI meet
I am going to folloss it doiwn the road.
Nuie. many travelers have a wron g impres-
lnofaouristcar. They think it moans a
lot of light housekeeping, squalling young
ones anId ensigrants.  Welt, it does some-
times, hut our party os mostly alt people
who, like myself, had been disappointed in
securing Pullmans.  Tele children all be-
b ased beautifully excepting one (I could
have choked it). In fact, the children be-
haved better than some of the adults did.
We s'on all became acquainted and got
real "I Iu'uy  A couple of couples in the
frontl of the ear alisost got too chummy.
The lady wyithi the prickty heat wyaist con-
tided in me that she as going to Peortl and
"to join her husband wsho swas the finest
man in the world;" but that didn't prevent
her from carrying on a very open flirtation
with a man from Seattle.
Offers Nellie a Cigarette.
She 0jfTed me a cigarette and was aston-
ished Ih, i I refused it.  She said  she
thoughtI all theatrical women smoked.   I
might have said: I thought all married
women behaved themselves, so I guess we
were both mistaken. Yet, those are the kind
of wvo u who judge stage folks and think
all sj-'c wonsn smoke, drink      and flirt.
Oh ye , we hind another Romeo and Juliet
with us, also, who were the observed of all
observers. She left the train at Butte; met
her husband here. Yes, she honestly had
the nerve to look him in the face. Well,
se all divided lunches; traded a pickle for
seine preserves or an onion for a piece of
pie lite mother tried to make, and everyone
had a thoroughly good time.
The onductor had an exaggerated idea of
his inmportance until lee attempted to cam -
pel me to remove my hat from      a hook
overhead and audaciously told me I would
have to comply with the rules of the com-
pany or ie would refund my money.    But
after I eenanded to see tlse rules of the
romp-i, treating on hats in sleepers, and he
refuge, toi showy themn, and I showyed him a
bsk f the company's instructions to con-
duero swhich I carried in my grip, ad-
monishing them to be courteous to passen-
gers, esIecially women traveling alone, he
reced,<1 tsd my hat hung there until I
reach, 'titte.
I dont' blame him  for being cranky.  if
I had aIttained his age and had advanced
n u far ther en the ladder of success than
landlady-f a tlouri1s t sleeper, i t seouldmranke
me cranky, too. Oh yes, I had a run-in
with the conductor of the cookhouse also.
Pardon me; I meant the diner.
Asparagus Like Cornstalks.
(I have been talking circus to Uncle Dick
Sutton all afternoon and have got cook-
house on the brain.) The menu read "now
asparagus." I ordered some. It looked and
tasted like corntalks. I told the conductor
it was canned asparagus.   He said: "Oh,
no, it is not canned."  I told him it ought
to be canned. The only difference between
the Pullman and the tourist sleep'rs is this:
The Pullman seats are plusher and the
porters not so black. And they have whiz
buttons in each berth and the porters say
'Yes, ma'am "  But since the cost of the
tourist is only half as much as a Pullman,
Weenn llspense with those sunburned Ches-
terfieldl.  Everyone on  the train  got off
with n, at Butte to say good-bye to me.
All pr'j-'ised to read SHOW  WORLDS and
to Wtch for me when I strike their towns.
I. A. Billings, THE SHOW WORLD cor-
respondent at Butte, met me at the train
and conducted me to the Family theater,
where I was received with open arms by
ever'- - George Donahue, manager of the
Farmil the Grand and the Lulu and all of
Uncle I 'k Sutton's houses, is a past master
in the art of making people happy and
comfortable. I am sharing honors this week
with Grace Darnley, a contortionist of much
ability and pleasing stage appearance.
Potter & ITartvell, gymnasts aid high-
class tumblers, with  comedy   and   talent
combined. easily score a knockout.    Wil-
fred and Lottie more than hold their own.
Wilfred is one of the best equilibrists and
hand-balancers I have ever seen. (I didn't
say chair balancers, for I never could see
but one of them.) And Lottie is the clever-
est and best eduicated dog on the stage, and
I have been on circus tots and behind cur-
tains all my life and have seen many acro-
bats limbering up before they go on, but
Lottie is the first dog I have ever seen who
will come out in the wings and without
being prompted by anyone, start limbering
up before her tine to go on. Slocum      &
Co., magicians, present some old and some
new stunts. Mr. Slocum is seriously handi-
capped in his art by a crude assistant who
has not yet learned what a busy business
this is and that curtains and cues wait for
ito one.  Lvr   act on the bill is a circus
act, and, of course, I feel much at home.
For opposition we have at the Grand a
very strong bill, which I will have tih
honor of working with next week at Spo-
kane, and you will find my comment on
them in my Spokane letter next week.
Harry Neal Closes.
Harry Neal, who was on the bill at th,
Grand this sweek, wyas forced to close is
engagement as his tsroat failed him, due
to the high altitude.   Cora Morris, who
sings the illustrated song, is capable of
higher class singing.  This whole country
out here is full of Mike Bernards and Bert
Greens. Good piano players are abundant,
and why some of the eastern managers do
not import some of them     is the eighth
ssonder of the wor-ld. "Bunny" Phaten, wvho
dispenses music at the Family      theater,
plays high-class overtures vith an artisti
touch wyhich only comes with years o f pie-
tice. He gets every cue and one of the
pleasures ofn working at the Family the-
aster is wvhen see look dosvn at the profes-
sor we always find a smile, wvhich goes a
tong wvay in our business, Half the time
"Bunny" was the only one in front whom
wve could make smite. "Ches" Gillette, at
the Grand, isn't to be overlooked in classi-
fying good musical directors, either, and
artists working at the Grand acknowledge
that they owe muich of their success of the
week to Ches' fine manipulating of the ivor-
ies.       Business Bad; Living High.
Business Is bad in both houses. The only
real mood audiences eve have to work are
Saturd  aand Sunday, andthen wegive four
shows each day, but have no matinees dur-
ing the veek; two shows nightly. The cost
of livimsg is very high. There is a deplor-
able lack of popular priced hotels in Butte.
The good hotels are too expensive and the
bad hotels are, too bad. Restaurants are
tsoor and high priced. We are all stopping
at the   Curtis block; rooms reasonable,
steam  heat, running   water and   electric
lights in each room, and, best of all, a
completely  equipped  kitchen  for the ex-
clusive use of performers, where we can do
our own cooking if we care to, thus greatly
reducing the expense account. This is very
considerate of the management of the Cur-
tis, and greatly appreciated by the travel-
ing profession.  No wonder everything is
so high here. We are 5,700 feet above sea
level, and, as our Mr. Billings says, we are
5,200 feet above the level of Clark street.
I didn't knosv Clark street was such a tow
dosn place.    ell, anyhov, it stands pretty
high in my estimation right now.
Butte a Lonesome Town.
Gee, but this is a lonesome town, and
svere it not for the newspaper boys, such as
Charlie Cohen, the moulder of public opin-
ion for Thse Miner, and Mr. Billiisgs and
Uncle Dick Sutton and George Donahue amid
dear little Grace Darnley, I think I'd take
a train and "bike right back whlere usy
beau liv'es at." Just thintk, at hair-cut costs
fifty cents here. I'd move my barber shop
out here, only t'n afraid thcis Iigh altitue
swould not agree seith the peculiar style of
beauty of Adam and Coat-Oil-Johnny, and
Billy Tribune after having worked in my
basement barber shtp for sixteen Years.
I met Petit and Martette out here. They
hsave just finished twventy-eighst wveeks of
the Western States tiie and have booked
the Suitlivan-Coissidine circuit.  They  are
mieeting wvith gratifying success everywyhere.
Frank Smalley called on me. He joins the
No. 3 car of Ringling Brothers' circus at
Danville, Il.
E. J. Cox, now associated with Johnny
MGrail in Chicago, writes me that he has
secured thse tease of the Mattjestic theater at
Ann Arbor, Mich., for the coining season.
I found a fine lot of T. M. A.s here.
George Donahue, manager of the theater, is
the president,- and everyone who is anyone
at all in show circles is a member of No. 78.
The stage hands also have a very flourishing
local here, No. 94. organized in 1902, con-
sisting of 48 members.
Uncle Dick Sutton as I Met Him,
For years people have been asking me if
I knew   Uncle Dick Sutton of Butte.     I
rather reluctantly admitted I did not. Well,
they always added: "You ought to; he is
a grand old man." So about the first thing
I did when I arrived in Butte was to pre-
sent my compliments to Uncle Dick. le
was   busily engaged   with  some   church
women who weere wheedling him       out of
some of his hard earned money to buy a
new red velvet carpet for the church.
It's funny that a showman is always the
first person a church committee calls on
when they need money for any of their pet
charities. Well, I knew that was no place
for me, for I could just feel the rubber on
my bank roll bursting, so I left, to return in
an hour.   And maybe Uncle Dick didn't
accord me tn enthusiastic welcome. And
I M P O R TA N T
ANNOUNCEMENT
Beginning with the coming issue, dated April
25, the Show World inaugurates a new
policy that will firmly establish its claim of
supremacy among American amusement jour-
nals. Instead of appearing Tuesday morning
with the following Saturday date and present-
ing the news of the past week, The Show
World will now appear every Friday
morning with the news of the current
week. This will be of immense importance
to the profession generally in that live news
will be given during the week in which
it occurs and which will be presented to the
public from one to four days in advance
of any other amusement publication.
This departure is in line with The Show
World policy to be always in the lead
and it will be doubtless appreciated by the many
thousand Show World readers.
The Last Forms Close at Midnight on Wednesday
If you don't read the Show World you don't get the news
Actors and Actresses Get Wise!
And wear the diamonds which flash like the genu-
ine. We carry the best line of stage jewelry ever
placed on the market.
Gents' Lion Head Ring with Hawaiian Diamond in
mouth. Ruby set eves. 14K gold filled. $1.25
Price, each .. ...... ...    $1 2
Ladies' Tiffany mounting with lK Hawaiian Dia-
mond, gold filled ring.  Price, each  $. 1.
Sent C. 0. D. on deposit of 50c. With  -50
full cash payments in advance, enclose l0c
for register mail. Send for 1908 Catalogue.
W. 1". 1-ollister & Co.
Dept. A. 42 River Street,  Chicago, Ill
Sketches Bring Down the House Every Time
W~ritten to order or can supply immedi-
ately. For information apply or write
PROF. DEPT. SHOW WORLD, -  Chicago, III.
maybe I wasn't delighted to see hanging in
his office pictures of my good friendsPunch
Wheeler, E. H. Macoy and the lamented
Biff Ball, all wvarmi friends of Uncle Dick's.
Sutton a Picturesque Personage.
Now, nit to have seen Uncle Dick Sutton
would not be seeing Butte, for he is the
most picturesque, interesting personage in
theatrical circles of the northwest. He is
affectionately termed the Tony Pastor of
the West. He has cashed more hard luck
stories than any man in Butte. He owns
and operates four places of amusement,
covering vaudeville, drama, burlesque and
grand opera, and, best of all, he is an old
circus man and I'm sure no one who knows
him questions his judgment in any branch
of the show business. He is a living exem-
plification of what brain, brawn and nerve,
accompanied by some knowledge of the
show business, backed up by a heart of
gold, can accomplish.
He came here twelve years ago a com-
paratively poor man; today he is a factor
in financial circles. To Butte he is just
Uncle Dick, with his hand always extended
to a weary traveler, his purse alslys open
in a good cause. 'rith a friendly word and
a bit of good advice backed up by a sub-
stantial donation, the endowed beds in the
hospitals and the Newsboys' home and
many other charities are monuments of his
generosity.
Sutton Has No Creed.
I asked him his creed. le said he had
none. "What's your religion, Uncle Dick,"
I inquired
"Well," he said, "my religion is to do the
tat I can all fay lng, and let the Lord
take care of the rest."
Tssyenti-tree years of harmonious mar-
ried life is his boast. God gave them no
children of their own-I presume because
he meant them    to foster everyone else's
children.  Several adopted children adorn
his fireside. ie was born in 1845 in Ken-
tucky. He embarked in the show business
in 186, with William McLake's steamboat
show at Evansville, Ind., and started down
the river for New Orleans, where they met
Ramsey, Newcomb & Campbell's minstrels,
who were escaping from Memphis to avoid
being drafted into the army. Many of the
celebrities of the stage today gained their
first experience under Uncle Dick's tutelage.
Fred Stone, of Montgomery & Stone, was a
former pupil of his. Ie tells some amusing
incidents about Fred Stone playing Topsy
and going out on parade in a gunny sack.
Well, it was worth coming to Butte, if
only to have seen and become acquainted
with Uncle Dick, and my only regret is that
we haven't more men like him. No wonder
everyone loves him.
The Discords and Harmonies of Single
and Wedded Life is the namee of a sketch
recently copyrighted by L. J. I. E. DJ
1ieuiles, Jr.  Mr. De Meules, Jr., would
seem to have Mrs. E. D. N. Southwsorth
faded to a pale mauve.
Anril 18, 1908.
17
Semi'jolt
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