, 1888-09-06
ACTORS AND ACTRESSES.
Working for Starvation waGes-Seamy
Side of Stage Life.

this summer of the condition of the men,
bers of the theatrical profession. The re-
suits of the work are extremely disap-
pointing to all lovers of the stage. 1t
appears that during at least three months
of each year three-fourths of the profess
sion are either idle or gaining a bare sub
sistence in other industries, and that the
other fourth find employment in such
huge spectacles as Nero" in Staten Island
and 'The Fall of Babylon" in Cincinnati;
in ''summer snaps and in the numer-
Gus low oncer halls, dime museums and
music gardens of the larger cities.
All of these classes were carefully in
vestigated by Mr.. Berg and his col
leagues. Nearly every case presented
the most pitiable features. A majority
of the profession lived with, or rather
upon, parents, relatives and friends.
But few were content with the enforced
idleness, and tried to make a livelihood
during the dull season. Among the vo-
cations temporarily pursued were wait
ing in restaurants and saloons, bartend-
ing, horse car driving and conductoring,
running privileges at excursions, pic
mic groves, baseball grounds and country
fairs, button covering, making ladies'
underwear, ''sweat tailoring" barber
business, news stands, canvassing, en-
broidering, laundering, dressmaking and
housekeeping. Hardly one of these paid
more than enough to keep body and soul
together. In one case three actresses
rooming together in a single large apart
ment supported themselves by making
%petticoats and chemises. Working twelve
hours a day, the three combined made
only $11 a week. Their room rent was
S. per week, and the remainder, Sc, had
to supply food, needles, thread, car fares
and medicine.
A number who support themselves by
''sweat tailoring during the summer
made a slightly better report, earning on
an average So a week. Waiter girls in
both restaurants and saloons do better,
receiving from So to So as wages and
at least as much more in the form of
tips.
Those who obtain employment in
dramatic work ma 2 very bad showing.
OF those employ ia Nero at Staten
Island and '"The l al If Babylon" in Gin
%cinnati, four-fifths have had more or less
experience upon the boards. A few nave
held prominent places; these include
women who have been unsuccessful stars,
leadingladies in very hard luck and young
actresses who have neglected or failed to
save any money during the season, and
who are too proud to beg or borrow and
too moral to use other means to obtain
an income. The great majority are chorus
girls, members of the ballet and women
of n years dramatic experience. The
general salary paid is So a week. The
average, $3.75.
OF those who go out on what they term
a summer snap" but few do well
enough to pay for board and ~transporta-
ton, much less have a clear profit. To
this class walking railroad ties'' is no
figure of speech, but a horrible reality.
Of thirty companies which left New York
in July twenty-eight, numbering over
400 souls, were stranded on the road
penniless, and begged or borrowed their
fare home or were sent there by the
generosity of kindly strangers. The
few concerns that succeed (f success
can be applied to their ~efforts) are those
which play commonwealth" Ii. e., arc
cooperative in character) and make
some town their headquarters where
country board is cheap and where no
legitimate companies ever come. By
playing a night in this village and that,
by ''assisting" churches, lodges and other
societies in benefits, they manage to pay
their board and washing bills and get
home in time for the regular season.
Perhaps he hardest lot of all is of
those who play during the summer in
concert halls and dime museums. Hardly
a watering place exists upon the CONT
nent but what has its .'free and ~easies,"
''open air theatres" and free variety
shows. Here the romance and pictur-
esqucress of stage life disappear and all
the brutalizing features are multiplied
and nagnifed. The performer is an
Ia unct to the bar; his or her art a spir-
,tual free lunch to the drinker. In nearly
very case they are expected to drink
with patrons, to be introduced to any one
who knows the proprietor or bartender,
and to listen in silence to the reeking
vaigarIty which alcohol pours from
amnn lips. The pay in these places
:.snges from So to $12 per week, and the
pert manc runs from noon to mid
night. The place being ''open air" the
strain upon the voice is far greater
than, in closed buildings, and finally
produces that huskiness or painful fall
setto so familiar to patrons of the circus.
If the dime museums are better than the
open air concerns so far as the behavior
of the audience and the work of the vocal
organs are concerned, they are more de-
structive to the health of the performer.
The performances are usually given each
hour from II a. m. to II p. M. The
halls are close, poorly ventilated, hot and
dirty; the dressing rooms vile, and the
c~onveniences for the actors nil. The
wages paid are the same as those in the
open air temples of amusement.
Mr.. Berg shows that the mutual help.
fulness and, generosity which SO charac.
terize the dramatic profession is an or.
ganic necessity, and that without it,
under the circumstances above detailed,
hundreds, if not more, of actors and &C
tresses would be starved every summer
or forced into the almshouse. Even as
it is, their condition during never less
than one quarter of the year verges upon
naunerism. Mr. Rhro's nrestirntinns