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About The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1903)
THE COURIER mlse? How much money would It take?" "He Is as anxious to get you oft as I am," said the lawyer. "He Is begging for you. He's not the only one. There are others." "Indeed! Well, we shall have to see what we can do. Have you heard from my father?" "Your father says he will have nothing to do with you." "Impossible! The old man hasn't gone back on me, I'm positive. He may have been affected by the sensational stories that have been printed about me, but when the true facts are presented I am sure he will come to my aid." "Say, this is beastly, and I have some of the most Influential persons In the country for my friends. Why, in Chi cago, I met Mrs. Potter Palmer and had a most interesting talk with her. I know Mayor Harrison and all the leading men of Missouri, know them intimately. I have met Russell Sage here and found him very interesting. It Is an outrage to hold me here like this." Justice Wyatt, who had been scarcely interested in the stream of dirty, ragged i urchins before him, looked up with sharp attention when young Murphy languidly stepped upon the platform. The young ster had left his hat and cane behind him and had come in as though for a ceremony. Murphy stood listening in dignified si lence while the evidence was presented against him. He whispered to his coun sel once or twice. "We can't get around it," the lawyer said, when the secretary of the Savings bank swore that the bank book of Mur phy had been falsified. "We will have to plead guilty." Then Murphy, who had been mani festing signs of impatience at the con duct of his case, took it into his own hands. He marched up to the railing and spoke to the justice. For ten min utes he whispered eagerly to the justice gesturing animatedly with head and arms. Justice Wyatt was deeply interested. The nimble wit of the youngster kept him on his mettle. The youngster won a temporary victory and was not sent away to an institution. He walked out of the court room with a weary air. The eyes of everyone followed the ex traordinary little lad as he went back In disgust to join the little ragamuffins he had just left Murphy. Is a remarkably bright and handsome looking little chap. His head is almost as large as that of a man and is abnormally high from the ear to the crown. It extends far out behind and the organs of self-esteem and egotism are abnormally developed. Curiously enough his forehead is not very high and his chin not very large. His features are soft, almost girlish, and his eyes are open, frank and intelligent. He makes friends instantly. He is extremely fastidious about his clothes and about his bill of fare. He eats only the best food. When he travels he always stops at the best hotels and rides in cabs. He carries a full ward robe of tastefully selected clothes and in the evening wears his dress suit. He had not been at the Gilsey house here a day before he made a score of friends, all of whom took instantly to the bright little chap who talked inter estingly on all topics. Few men are brighter in conversation. Major Rice, a guest of the Gilsey, took a great fancy to the boy and took him to the theater and out dining, and when the youngster was arraigned In court his friend. Major Rice, vas there to comfort him. His manner Is so plausible and sincere that he inspires immediate confidence. Even In the face of overwhelming proof in the Children's court, he made the spectators waver when he put on his frank look of Innocence. When the youngster was arraigned Justice Wyatt had before him two letters about the boy, one written by George J. Sherer, a wealthy Minneapolis business man, asking about the lad, and the other was Father Ducey's reply. Mr. Sherer's letter read: Rev. Father Ducey, New York City. Dear Father: In going from Minneapolis to Chicago, over the Chicago Great Western railroad, our train waa somewhat delayed, and we made connections with the Kansas City division of this road, and the passengers were taken on that division. Among them was a boy by the name of Richard E. Murphy, thirteen years old, and a very bright young fellow, which we considered a marvel for the brightness and Intelligence he displayed and the manly way In which he conducted himself during the three-quarters of a day we spent with him. He stated you were his guardian, we became Tery much Interested In the young man, and on my return was astonished to read the Inclosed clip ping, which I did not believe, or any of my com panions would believe, was true, and I feel an injustice has been done to the boy; that Is, if he is under your guardianship. If not, then certainly we all have been taken In by this marvelous boy, as we all really fell in love with him. I hope to hear from you, and If you will kindly answer this you will oblige a cumber of us. and an acquaintance by the name of Mr. Kerwln of St. Paul, Minn., who attended your parish In New York while living there. Hoping thl will prove a mistake, very truly yours, GEORGE J. SHERER J. W. Wolfe, candidate for the Republican nomination for exciseman, came to Lincoln twenty years ago from Pennsylvania. In his endeavor to accumulate his share of this world's goods Mr. Wolfe has tolled hard and In cessantly. Starting life as a common laborer he has advanced step by step and today Is the possessor of a goodly portion of that which he had contem plated securing. He has for the past eight years been one of the owners of the Farmers Grocery company, having direct charge of the meat department of that institution, where he Is now actively engaged. Mr. Wolfe's business qualification is shown in the fact that when he first took charge of this de partment th6 yearly sales amounted to $24,000. He alone has been the means of developing the business to the present standard of $124,000 annually. Mr. Wolf caters to the common people. He Is associated with various lodges of this city and Is a member In good standing In" the Knights of Pythias, B. P. O. Elks, Knights and Ladies of Security and Knights of the Maccabees. He also belongs to the Commercial club and the Young Men's Republican club. Father Ducey in his reply said that the boy was suffering from an overdeveloped brain and unless properly cared for would finally become Insane. He added: "I am sorry your kindly hearts have been Im posed upon by this unfortunate boy, whom I cared for and forwarded to his parents with the hope of saving him for good and not for evil. He should be locked up In some reformatory, guarded and treated with Intelligence until he has given evi dence of moral balance." u u off tfye SSjiom The theatrical advance agent Is a much maligned and little understood person. In the eyes of Joke writers and the public, he is an unscrupulous and conscienceless liar, who perpetrates un heard of "fake" stories about the at traction or star he represents. Every theatrical company has an advance agent, but few people, even professionals, know just why an advance man Is em ployed, and what he has to do to earn the salary, often quite respectable, which is paid to him. The advance man Is never seen by the public He is usually well on the way to some other city by thr time his company reaches the town where he has spent a week. The ad vance man of a theatrical company Is his own boss at all times. He can do his work when he pleases, and how he pleases, but even with the advance man there is a reckoning some day, so that it behooves him to attend to business and follow his route according to schedule. Most agents do this, but there are al ways some stray wanderers who fall by the wayside now and then. The theatrical advance man of to-day is a development of the last ten years. A few newspaper men, able to write good stories about theatrical matters, found the people read them with interest. The atrical managers commenced to employ newspaper men to write articles about their attractions. The old style advance agent, or "press agent," was unable to write a line of correct grammar. In the old days all the agent needed was a brief and perfunctory announcement, prepared in advance by some one in New York city. But the new development of news papers led to the demand for fresh and readable theatrical matter. No one was able to fill the demand excepting news paper men. Thus It happened that many newspaper men stopped working for newspapers and wrote for theatrical managers. Some of the best known theatrical managers of to-day were former news paper men. Daniel Frohman was a critic on the New York Tribune. Kirk La Shelle worked on the Chicago Inter Ocean. George C. Tyler, the executive head of Ltebler & Co., was a printer and then a reporter in Washington. Charles B. Dillingham, manager of Julia Mar lowe and Henry Miller, was the star re porter on the old Chicago Times. Bruce Edwards was a newspaper man from Hartford. There are dozens of others who might be mentioned. As these ex newspaper men rose In the profession they realized the need of more newspa per men to assist them. Nine-tenths of the advance men who now represent the atrical attraction are ex-newspaper men. " The advance man has to regulate the amount of advertising in the different newspapers, supply It with fresh and readable Information about a theatrical attraction, and endeavor to get interest ing articles published in the different newspapers. The majority of the news papers are glad to print stories that will interest their readers. No newspaper will print a story as a favor, but a con sideration involving the publication of an article Is: "Will It interest our read ers?" If a story about Maude Adams or Julia Marlowe or Henry Miller or Rich ard Mansfield is well told and crisp, the editor as a rule will print it. The advance agent travels from seven to ten days ahead of the star he repre sents, going over the same route which the company will follow. His first duty is to make the railroad arrangements. He sees the passenger agents of the dif ferent railroads whose routes include the territory he will traverse. Then he se lects the best route, the best train, and makes a contract for the movement of his company. Most stars require ar rangements for their personal comfort, such as the reservation of the drawing room or the state room, and certain berths are held for certain members of the company. Each railroad company has its own rules about movements of theatrical companies. As a general rule, twenty-five fares en title a company to one free baggage car. Some roads require only eighteen fares to cover the free movement of the bag gage car. If a special private car is used, it requires eighteen full fares to cover the movement of the car. no matter if only one person uses the car. But a private car is a very cumbersome thing to handle. Richard Mansfield uses one. but then the extra cost and bother in his case Is inconsiderable, since he car ries such a large company and so many baggage cars that his train is usually run as a special train. Mrs. Langtry once used a private car. So did Anna Held. So did Herrmann the Great. But each discarded the private car after a season or two. One of the women In Henry Miller's company, play ing a minor role, created a sensation several weeks ago by traveling in a private car while the company used the day coach. The woman in question was able to afford the lux ury, but after trying the private car for one week, she sent it back to New York. The trouble of shifting It from one de pot to another was too nerve-trying. It often becomes necessary to hire a spe cial train, on account of a difficult rail road movement, where the ordinary train service Is not ndcquate. A special train of one day conch and one baggage car can usually be had for fifty first class tickets, but each railroad has Its own rules upon the matter. As soon ns he nrrlves In the city the advance agent cnlls on the transfer com pany nnd arranges to have the scenery and baggage hauled to the theater Im mediately after the company's arrival. Sometimes the scenery nnd baggage reach the city ahead of the company, the special baggage car being brought by a night train. The stage carpenter nnd his assistants always travel with the car. This Is to guard against any possible Hide-tracking of the scenery. The ndvnnce agent makes hotel ar rangements for the members of his com pany, reserving rooms for the important players and the star. He also order carriages to meet the star at the depot. In some cnses he arranges for a piano to be placed In the suite of apartments or dered. There are many small details to be at tended to at each theater. The schedule of prices must be satisfactorily ad Justed. The number of calciums required ascertained and ordered. Certnln sets of ropes at certain distances from the cur tain line must be nrranged, so that when the scenery arrives It will be hoisted easily Into the proper places. There are many plots to a production besides the plot of the play. The scene plot tells the manager of the theater what scenery is required by the visiting company. The line plot tells what ropes are needed. The light plot gives explicit Instructions to the electrician about the lighting of the stage and tells him when to change the orange sunset glow Into the pale blue and purple which Indicate twilight and then to the green, which Indicates moonlight. Th property plot tells the property man what "props" are required what chairs, tables, crockery must be furnished. The theater agrees to furnish only imperishable properties, such as can be secured without expense. The com pany furnishes and pays for perishable properties, such as cabbages, lemons, onions, eggs, etc. The advance agent nlso has to oversee in a general way the blllpostlng of the paper for his attraction. 'The different lithographing and printing companies send the printed sheets to each city by express, and the agent opens the bundles nnd "lays out" the paper. He explains to the bill poster Just how It can be ar ranged to the best advantage. Then the bill poster usually winks nnd asks for a pass or two; the agent gives It to him, and the paper is upon the dead walls the next day. If certain hotels h.ive a prejudice against pet poodles, and certain stars carry dogs, the advance agent must rec oncile the two opposing forces In some way. If he cannot bring about a recon ciliation, then he must promote a con flict, and notify the reporters, who will do the rest. The next day there will be a lively story about Mme. Tuttl-Fruttl's Indignation at not being permitted to take her pet Unky-Anky-Ooo to her suite of apartments. There Is one Indignity which the ad vance man cannot forgive. That is to hear his company referred to as a "troupe." , In spite of his association with the theater, the advance man leads the most melancholy existence imaginable. He gets sick of the theater. He has heard all the. Jokes they tell there. He has seen most of the plays. He may have a few friends in every city, either former newspaper friends or theatrical acquaint ances, but the chances are that they will have their time occupied with their own duties. If he were back with the com pany his would be a more enjoyable lot. Each company on the road organizes itself into a Jolly club. The stars usu ally entertain the players. Maude Ad ams was noted for the pleasant surprises she gave her company In the way of sup pers, sleighing parties and entertain ments. Julia Marlowe Is fond of doing the same. Ethel Barrymore likes to take half a dozen of her players for a horse back ride into the country. Henry Mil ler's hobby is taking his entire company out sleighing whenever possible, and rounding up the evening with a Jolly supper at a country inn. He also has been known to take his company to a dog show on two separate occasions, for he is very fond of dogs. Nearly every star takes pleasure In treating the play ers to some little surprise. But the advance man travels seven days ahead of his company. He hears of these pleasant little parties, but to him they are forbidden. The best he can do Is to write vivid descriptions of the happy events.
