Page 4

4                                                    THE SHOW WORLD
WARFARE MAY CHANGE THEATR
(Continued from 1ge 3.)         There is a circuit known as the     tion they might have had with the
George Peck, who formerly repre-   Southwestern, which is dominated by  Syndicate.
sented the Chamberlain, Harrington   H. W. Wood, of Sedalia, Mo. Just             The Wood Towns.
and Kindt circuit in Chicago, is low  now it appears to be affiliated with  In the southwest there is a power
inNewvYork,whereherepresentsthe      the Inter-Mountain circuit (Pelton &  known as the American Theatrical
Western Managers. The string of                                           Exchange. It controls the Greenwall
theaters he now books include the    Smutzer). The Wood interests op-     houses in the more important Texas
Chamberlain, Harrington and Kindt    pose the Western Maiagers in sev-    cities and has many other towns oil
houses, the Crawford circuit, the Cen- eral states. Pelton & Smutzer have its list. The majority of the towns
tral States circuit and a number of  100 theaters (they say) and as the   outside of the Greenwall cities can be
individual houses affiliated with these  points are small they have braved the  booked independently, so one-night
circuits. Instead of losing theaters
by the "open door" stand, the West-
ern Managers are said to have taken
on strength andwithina cek have
*  been additions to the circuits which
are comprised in the broader term of
the Western Managers' Association.
About Circuits.
It must be remembered by those
who are unfamiliar with circuits that
they are not operated for fun. The
booking agents are in the business for
the money and while they sometimes
perform maneuvers which seem to
lbe everything but legitimate, they
play the game as it is played. The
mere fact that the name of a town
appears on the letterhead of a circuit
manager does not prove that he has
absolute control of the bookings of
the house, for most circuit managers
are great bluffers and operate on a
capital which consists of an office, a
typewriter, a desk, imposing station-
ery and great quantities of nerve.
For instance there may be some
town which is found on the printed
lists sent out by two or three differ-
ent booking agents. The circuit man-
ager may labor under the impression
that he controls a town when he does
not and may possibly   be   honest
enough in speaking what is not the
case.
The average booking agentis aro-
gant and insolent-when he can af-
ford to be. He gives the little fellow
small consideration, but in turn the
manager or agent of the big show
forces him to bow and scrape to them.
The booking agent will bluff those
who will stand for it and will be
bluffed by those who can make it
stick.
The Most Important Circuits.
The most importantone-nightstand
circuits are those of Julius Cahn and
.     Mose Reis. Other circuits have just
as many towns, but none have so
many large cities and so many points
within easy reach of New York. The
Julius Cahn circuit embraces New
England and a few towns in New
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West
Virginia. Cahn has his towns tied up
very strong and one-night stand show-
men say it is impossible to book the
cities excepting through Cahn. While
friendly to Klaw & Erlanger, Julius
Cahn is manager of his own circuit.
He is with the Syndicate as long as
his interests lie in loyalty. Mose Reis,
on the other hand, owns the theaters
or has the lease of them in the towns
on his circuit. He therefore is abso-
lute. He is said to have partners; in-
deed, it is believed that Klaw & Er-
langer own a part of the stock in the
corporation.
The Western Managers control the
Chamberlain, Harrington and Kindt
towns, the Crawford circuit and the
Central States towns. George Peck
has represented the first named houses
heretofore. Don Stuart, the Craw-
ford interests and James Wingfield
the Central States. The theaters are
in the middle west. In the south the
theaters are mainly controlled by Klaw
& Erlanger, who book the most im-
portant points. Sometimes it is pos-
sible to book in independent of Klaw
& Erlanger, but to do so it is neces-
sary to have a small show. The Klaw
& Erlanger circuit is the best con-
ducted of them all and fewer com-
plaints are made by managers who
take shows over it than from those
who play any other circuit. There is
probably less graft in the Reis cir-
cuit than in any other.
lion in his den and cut off any affilia-
stand howmen say. The Dixie Ex-
AMUSEMENTS ARE MANY
IN NEW YORK TOWN
Dramatic and Vaudeville Attractions Vie with Outdoor Shows
for'Hot Weather Supremacy
NEW YORK, July 14.-In spite of
tie awful summer weather we are
having in this burg, the Jardin de
Paris on top of the New York roof
still costinues to play to an enorm-
ous business with Fred Ziegfeld's
"Follies of 1909." Eva Tanguay re-
placed Nora Bayes in the lead and
made another Tanguay sensation. A
number of new songs were introduced
and a new Bathing Girl number that
was a winner from the start.
At the Aerial Gardens "The Gentle-
man from Mississippi," now in its
r-leventh month, still continues to
turn people away at every perform..
ance. It is likely that this show will
last until the opening of the regular
season, when it will be re-transferred
to the Bijou.
At the Lyric, "The Motor Girl"
still continures to win fresh laurels.
Julian Edwards has again covered
himself with glory and Cameron &
Skinner have produced a decidedly in-
teresting book. In fact, it is the
daintiest, funniest, most tuneful at-
traction New  York has known    in
years.
At the Broadway, "The Midnight
Sons" is testing the capacity of the
theater in spite of opposition they
have been obliged to put in two extra
rows of seats. Blanche Ring im-
proves with every performance, and
the whole show is now swinging along
in a manner delightful to the eye and
ear.
At Lew Field's Herald Square Jeff
de Angelis and petite Marguerite
Clark are making the horrid Herald
Square a veritable "Beauty Spot." In
their able hands the show is a joy
forever.
At Joe Weber's "The Climax" has
returned home again, closing at Daly's
on Saturday night and opening at
Weber's Monday. This play will tin-
doubtedly run through the greater
portion of next season.
At Hammerstein's Roof, breezy en-
tertainment holds sway.    Annette
Kellermann, the Diving Venus, still
continues to excite envv among the
ladies by her Venus like form and
among the gentlemen for the cool
plunges she indulges in. Gertrude
Hoffman has Worth and Paquin
backed off the map for toilets for this
weather. She wore an extra solitaire
during the week and was nearly over-
come by the heat. The balance of
the bill is made up of Living Marble
Statues (get on to the Irish of this
billing.)  Princess Rajah, "A Night
in a Monkey Music Hall," The Quar-
tette, Three Musical Johnsons, Christi
and Willis, and six others.
At the American, Consul, the Monk,
is the head liner, and Consul is sure
one great monk. Eddie Pigeon says
To Go On Stage.
BOSTON, Mass., July 12.-Hilda
Stowe, granddaughter of Mrs. Har-
riet Beecher Stowe, will make her
stage debut with William Faversham
in "Herod" this fall.
that Consul was the amanuensis fo:
Darwin ii all wis writings. Besides,
Consul, tile following are monkeying
on the bill: Aida Overton Walker in
a Karra-Karra dance, which is some_
thing between "Newtown Creek and
Gowanus Canal;" Sa-Hera, Mental
mystic;  Daphne   Pollard, Rosaro
Guerrero, who is more beautiful than
ever, and for some reason it is said
to be that she has found her heart's
delight, after flirting  with  King
Leopold and other pikers on the
other side, dauces more divinely than
ever. There are ten other acts to
make up this great bill.
At Keith & Proctor's Fifth Avenue
MIle. Dazie, the incomparable dancer.
will continue on indefinitely in her
beautiful pantomimic  recital with
which she has been greeted w,ith
rounds and rounds of applause and
no less than ten curtain calls at every
performance. MIle. Dazie will be as-
sisted this week by Al Leech and his
Three Rosebuds, Mine. Herman, De
\Vitt.  iurns and Torrance, Barnes
&Crawford, Melville & Higgins and
alaway's Monks. The way the
manks are butting into this game will
make the head liners sit up and take
notice.
By the Sad Sea Waves.
At the New Brighton Theater they
are celebrating their second big jubilee
week with La Stella in pantomime,
Frank Fogarty, the Dublin Minstrel:
Three Juggling Bannans, Gus El
ward's School Boys and Girls, Jesse
Lasky's "Iiperial Hussars," Kelly &
Kent, The Moores, Kroneman Broth-
ers and last, but not least, Susan
Roccamorra, and Susan goes very
much better than her namesake did
the last bet I had on her. Stisan is
sone pretty lady andI makes good. ,
At the Brighton Beach Music Hall
Burt Williams, of Williais & Walker,
heads the bill. Burt Williams is cer-
tainly in a class by himself. He is a
comedian to his finger tips. La Tit-
comb is also a feature of the bill. You
notice what I say there, feature of
the bill. She is all that and then
some.   Burt Leslie and company,
Burtie Herron of minstrel fame and
ten girls do a bully act, while dull
care is driven away by the following
strong attraction  Ward &    Clark,
Bowman Brothers. King & Roltaire
and Vimie Daly. The way that little
Daly girl dances certainly makes one
think, that perpetual motion has been
discovered.
Coney  Island  still continues to
break all records of former years as
a show shop. At Dreamland, Luna
Park and Steeplechase, the nightly
crowds are testing the capacity of the
transportation company.- NELLIE
REVELL.
Getting to Be a Habit.
NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 12.-
S. Z. Poli has been elected a director
of the Mechanics' bank. He was al-
ready a director of the City National
bank of Bridgeport.
July 17  n
ICAL MAP
change at Dalla, Texas, is not in-
clined to be mlodest. It has a num-
her of towns on its list which are
found on the American lists and any-
one can book the towns, if reports
which come to Chicago are correct.
Harry G. Somers has 13 towns and
cities in Michigan, Indiana and Illi-
nois. He is closely identified with
Klaw & Erlanger. Peter McCourthas
the important cities of Colorado and
neighboring states and is also allied
with Klaw & Erlanger. John Cort
who has practically every one-night
stand in the northwest, is in the same
boat.
The Smaller Circuits.
Charles A. Burt hasacircuitwhich
looks big on paper. It is mainly in
the south. H. L. Walker has South
Dakota pretty well tied up. Maurice
Jencks has a circuit, but is not be-
lieved to have exclusive bookings ex-
cept in the towns where he owns the
lease of the theaters. J. J. Coleman
has a string of houses in the south-
west. AlfredsE. Aaronsclaims anum-
her of towns. Fred G. Conrad has
something like 2,000 towns on his lists
and his peculiar line of work has led
to him being called Fred "Golden-
Rule" Conrad by those who lookwith
derision on honesty and integrity.
Conrad believes that the houses should
be open to anyone and when a town
or city is on his books it is not be-
cause Conrad has the exclusive book-
ings, but because the house is open to
Conrad's attractions or to any others
of merit. His scheme is an innova-
tion to the show business  It is in
Icality a "Golden Rule" Looking ar-
rangcment and if he wins it it will
be cuncouragement for those who have
bcen distressed about 'hc ninoJs  f
the show business.
"Open Door" Not "Open."
In this connection there is a rumor
going the rounds which is interesting.
it is to the effect that the "Open
Door" of the Western Managers is
closed to Fred G. Conrad. It Is inti-
mated that this is because Conrad is
organizing a circuit and thel 1oking
representatives of th eW'estern Man-
agers fear his growing poecr. The
individual managers of the association
mlay not know   what their booking
representatives are doing, but they
may rest assured that Conrad's attrac-
tions are not welcome in   all the
houses, if in any of them.  If the
Western Managers would have public
sympathy they must be sincere. If
Lifling differences cannot be buried
at this stage of the game they are
not worthy of sympathy, for if the
'open door" is not "open" they are
adopting the same methods they are
supposed to oppose. A printed list of
the various circuits which make up
the Western Managers' list of houses
shows that there are many towns on
the list which would welcome Con-
rad's attractions, and if obstinacy is
to be permitted to stand in the way
of the interests of the houses the
agents represent, it shows to what
extent prejudice rules in the amuse-
nent world.
The Situation.
For several years the circuits have
increased in strength until there is
little to encourage a manager to put
out a one-night stand show. The cir-
cuit wants the best of it in percentage
and in many towns petty grafts are
not only a source of annoyance, but
cut into the bank account of the show
materially. One-night stand manag-
ers did not make much money last
year and the outlook for the coming
season is discouraging.
There is one phase of the Western
Managers' movement which is en-
couraging. It is said that assurances
have been given Chicago producers
that a better class of attractions will
be given the good time and at living
terms. This is leading managers, who
have heretofore been content to OP-
erate cheap shows, to engage in the
business on a more extensive scale.
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