New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-02-23
Tyr CASE OF FRY r, BENNETT
CARD FROM MR.. FRY.

I ., Wow York-wscn this man, some SIX
N' - ds.ovsr.d in me-, the fret operate or
:t...,;.,l MANAGE who dared to refuse hin o''cH-
al and one Go even igGT'd the ve'J eA".-
enoe Of liz po laied journal. by w'hnod'ns IRON
advertisements, md denying 70 any OF us ea"ona or
,e,or,ipe crew the privilege OF the iiee,n' "n'u
ri. I,bn sei,e Of the Press perceived DIS oiscH h7u
oIcuna,iop 10 danger be formed dehoe'ae p'ao 70
.,,.ck me ,broueb The columns he controlled WIN
5sboc mslignity be sought 10 rum my business ana
49,, character lest other managers might follow
-, e,,rnle and withdraw from bis job-ofhce the
.a.,,;c.l prn,irg the black mail prods upon which
n, n,ofts over and above what any primer should
,sb.rce-to the extent OF s2 900 to s2o 900 year,
have built up and sustained, and still are chief sup
port Of bis paper.
With this view, for several months be published,
Almost daily columns Of person 81 abuse and defama-
ton Of me- in the guise Of criticism upon my operate
management ard the operate performances. lie
stated that the Astorplace Opers-ou-e vas the CON-
mon re,ort Of prostitutes and gamblers although It's
univ patrons were the most respectable people Of
EewYork although four hundred season subscribers
Of that clsss nightly attended the representatives;
and although the example WAS set by me, for tue fret
time in America, in that Optra-HoHse as well as in
the one in Boston aud the one 10 Pbuadephia, while
under my control, Of closing all bar-roons for the
ssle Of liquors. and Of excluding ali improper per-
cons. lie again and again accused me OF squssder-
ing the subsonbers' money" swindhng' tnem out
o. their money ore Of the terms mplOyed-al-
though he well knew tn Il every dollar Of that money
1sbs, by ny request before the seasOu nencei,
placed in the hands Of the late Mr. James Foster Jr
trustse appointed by themselves, who did not and
could not pay over any portion Of it 20 me until
h.d fully and faithfully performed my contract with
thtm He published lying statement At the opera
l 10 Philadelphia, under my management, had "burst
up and ended and that the one In New ork would
Hsoon follow suit; and reiterated such statements
and predictions although the season in Philadelphia
had at that time been fully completed by me, aud
e;ery promise announcement made in regard TO it
tsd been fulfilled to the letter and although the
son here, notwithstanding bis predict ms that it
would fail and assertions that it had failed, was 10
IKE amer carried through, and all the fifty repre-
! settsons promise d to the subscribers given
He asserted that but for the patronage OF the gam
bers before and behind the curtain" | could not
keep the Opera open week, and led those who we're
ter,onally uDacquain'ed with me- to believe that
the associate of blacklegs and derived my means Of
supporting the Opera from the m; wben in fact, in
the whole course OF my life never once even in
gambling house-never once bet even penny on
any gan e, and never had even a speaking acqusot-
snce with gambler, and always thoroughly despised
ambrg 10 any shape as the mesoest aud 10 west Of
all pursuits.
He blscb guarded and abused the ladies' and gentle
men who regular fequ' ners of the Opera on the
subscription nights and go ridicu'ed the "exra or
non subscription niehts-to the success OF which,
s they were little or no extra expense to me,
had looked for the profit Of the season-that WAS
forced to abandon them; his statements that on these
lights the bouse was pairorized by the lowest most
vulgar and vett OF the community, unfortunately for
me- bsvipg found respectable people creiuous On )ugh
ia believe them.
Without a shadow Of foundation for such charges,
he accused ne of cauceng contracts with artists for
The purpose of cheating ihen-of hiring people to
write slspdercus articles them, and of employing
and packing the Opera House With bulies to hiss
them; and he openly, throu.h his new-psper, and
eecre'ly through his eDsssry, Revolt caused serious
pderetsndirg between two or three cisafiscted
neober. Of the company and myself he ipctns them
% n,t.p pi to thrust me out Of the manegement, ana
AXE il themselves. When he found they could not
,nccre in THE he in editorial article 10 me Her.
MD. hdvi cd the Oporh Company employed by zoe 10
brock their eng apements leave ma IN body and go
h the Il oadway Theater, and set up for themselves
He moreover in the exercise of what he calls his
rirht - An EDITOR to criticize operate performances,
.ad that when appeared before the audience to ad-
dre,s them il was 10 my favori'e character OF an
{, sne." and furthermore that VAS half starved
8, mu.icsl aoyenturer, who "cen1 not paw my land
.lsov Ms Edes for my board" And, ~ wsy ct /
esis may here Iema'k, as one OF the curl
osities Of legal practice, that his trial, whsn
,hed 20 produce this lady in Court to prove his a.
.er,,op q mi,ersbe lie | was ted by my counseil
could not do so because he had not made any attempt
o. prove itt'ue.
And here let me state, that the isyracetul fact
mus, be admitted that no other American Journal at
he time these hbels were published circulsed in Ed
rope as extensively as The HcrdH This circulation
Bennett had obtained by sending no other Ameri- /
can newspaper proprietor had done, large numbers
Of gif, copies 70 European editors and 10 Reading
rooms, SC. The London Times, too, aver eager to
copy anything dc, oga,ory to Auercs from the Ameri-
can press always found in the curn, Of the Scotch
v sgabord an ample supply OF such material. These
libelus articles about ne. aud especially such as
were contaiGed in his theatrical aud musical a'elli-
cence which he Published on stesmer-iay for the :
European market, we're copied no European papcrs;
the result was belief by musical agents aud musical
artists there that had, ~ he termed IT, "burst up,
or was on the poin, of do.ogso; belief which pre-.
vented NY agent there tom closing eng sgements with
some distinguished srtsts, from which should have
derived great profit.
Those we're but some of the nunberlass modes in
which be attacked ne, alensted from enterprise
;he support OF a large portion Of the public, and
osu- Tie peconsry Don.-uccess of a season. which,
si,cr had hOnOraby carried it through, sud iul-
SHED my engagements with the Subscribers and