The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-01-26
THE AGENT.
As Numerous as the Drummer
and Quite as Persistent.

and Quite as Persistent.
"What do you think of advance
agents as q class?" was the direc
reach of a Post and Tribune reporte
made for information yesterday wheI
he encountered William Whiting. ad
vance agent for William Stafford
who has Just closed an engagement
ut Whites grand theatre.
"WelI.n responded Mr. Whiting
"a prominent western journalist say'
that theatrical agents are born. no
made. Quite a feather in u caps
don't YOU see, for we are classed will
that select array of measured rythn
dispensers-the poets"
"How does this relationship to thu
poets affect the agents morals?'
"The number of advance agents
who die young is small, 80 | won'i
enl Arge upon their good qualities, bu
they have endless trials and tribula'
tjons. and it must needs make strong
men weep to think they should in any
way be handicapped n their enorIs
to become nillionalres!"
"What is their general routine o.
work."
"The advance agent generally goes
about one week ahead OF his com
pany, accompanied by two big trunks
and enough paper for two weeks OF
n night stands. The Stafford com
pany, for instance carries sixteen diff
ferent kinds of autographs, three OF
large stands, eight of posters, seven
of hangers, 5000 reserved seat tickets:
endless programmes, 10000 small
Ithoeraph,c books and an immense
amount of other small work. AS all
this comes from different parts of the
country, it requires a good deal of in
Renuity to keep the supply well In
hand"
us that all you carry?' .,
mo. some agents carry gold
watches to present to their lever-that-
moves-the- world friends throughout
the land; but this class Is rapidly
becoming extinct"
After modestly waiting long
enough to ascertain that MI. Writing
was not of the 'becoming-extinct'
class, the reporter inquired who else
thew classed among their friends.
"Bill posters, baggage men. and an
occasional hotel man thrown in for
effect. Bill posters can help an agent
if thew want to, but when they own q
town they will dictate terms that
would make q h~igh-salaried baseball
PLAYER turn green with envy. l was
challenged by q paste-slinger down
East. but I exercised my right as the
challenged party, chose paste brushes
for weapons, and he never resPonGeu
The baggagemen are pretty gooo lei
lows as a rule, and, l guess, more
sinred against than SHINING so far as
agents are concerned. They gener-
aily receive more i'll natured ePithets
than benevolent benedictiOns:"
What about the editorial frater-
SVisiting the editors is classed
among our share of joys. Some OF
them receive us with deferential cere-
mony, set out q collation. of 'pi.' e.
pecially if the advance is a printer,
y 8 I am, and ak him to pitch in.
Others make it pleasant by Introduce
ing him to prominent people, and l
have known agents to embrace such
opportunities to address sewing CIR
cles or agricultural societies, always
ending up with a notice as to where
reserved seats for the show could be
procured"
"Of course every advance agent
thinks his attraction Is the one from
which all others taper OFF,"
mo, that's a wrong impression.
There's q certain town not far from
Detroit where there's a standing offer
for an agent who will state That his
attraction is not the best on the road,
not making more money than others.
etc.. and, come to think of it, it is a
town where the license is not only
mohey but passes for some hfteen
aldermen. Oh, tender moments OF
antique anguish! that's when an ad-
vance agent kicks"
ibid you ever strike a snag that
makes you want to court the smiles
of fortune in some other vocation?'
"Let me recitate, as the minstrel
SAYS. When an agent arrives in a
town to bill his attraction and finds
u drunken bill poster, q don't care
local manager, and the elements
weeping, then does he truly meet a
day in the winter OF his discomfort.
He is brought face to face with i'm
pending calamity, but the majority
of the brotherhood generelly prove
equal to the emergency. Then If
go wrong back with the COM
pany, q small house for instance, or =
bill hung upside down. or an unusual
number Of young ladies put in an ap-
pearance with passes, or a contract is
not satisfactory, or u letter is missing,
then does the more or less innocent
agent have condensed wrath visited
upon him in the shape of an epigram-
letter from headquarters. 1t is
also q fact that the agent who works
hardest for the success of his attrac-
meets with the coolest Gay
it cOllapses.'-Detr0i Post.
Old Time Militia 'sMuster. Days."