Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-12-07
TRIALS OF BOX OFFICE MEN.
The Tribulatiops OF n Theatrical
Treasurer Caused by swindlers-
Petty hteves

statement was standing in box Office
at the time when he made il, with tho
box Office window framing his head
and the upper part of his figure. and
his countenance was lit up by savage
smile. which. translated into Engl.sh
ment that the public might continue TO
try TO get the best of him. but the pub
lie would not succeed. AS the speaker
Is at present the treasurer of we'll
known play house. and has had q wide
experience in the box Offices of the
theatres OF the country. from San
Francisco to Boston, his statemen
naturally attracted the attention of a
writer for the Mail and Express. to
whom IL was made. and he was asked
for an explanation aud an application
of his assertion.
The treasurer proceeded to explain.
he sa'd his meaning was simply this:
That all day long the procession OF
men, women and children who file up
to the box office window contains an
alarming percentage Of persons who
deliberately attempt to swindle the
man from whom they are buying tick
cts or pretending 10 buy them. The
ordinary mode of proceeding is for
them To put down b II Oh the box
office sheet presumably as a guarantee
of good faith and indication that they
have money to pay for what they want
Then the following conversation en-
sues:
Il want two good seats"
"There they are" And tho treas
urer points out two seats in the middle
of the house.
Have you got ANYTHING else?'
Eyes. there are two excellent seats
on the side aisle"
What have you got there?" The
applicant points 10 two seats in the
front of the balcony.
Nothing"
The treasurer is tired now and wants
to bring matters to a crisis.
"NothingP" This in accents of
aston shment.
Nothing" repeats the treasurer.
with solemn emphasis that would
have carried conviction TO any one.
well. then I'll take the first ones
you showed me-.
The coupons are handed ont and
with the coupons the change of the
bill which the would DO purchaser had
put down before he or she started in.
Then the dialogue flows on somewhat
after the following style:
What is thisp"
"Your change"
but | gave you $40.
"Not me.
I'm sure did. Just look in the
drawer"
The treasurer opens his right hand
and spreads out the bill which has
never gone into the drawer at all but
which ne has palmed Immediately on
receiving 1t.
This is the identical bill. It's a five,
ism it?"
The man or woman, and IL is not
infrequently a woman, acknowledges
that it is, recogn yes the fact that the
man in the box office is shrew WIDER than
they thought for, takes the change for
the five aud the tickets and leaves the
theatre.
The treasurer declares that in most
cases he can spot these people, and if
business is dull and he wants to divert
himself nothing pleases him better than
to set traps and have them fall INTO
them. He related one experience he
had in box Office IN q San Francisco
theatre, where the money received is
for the most part gold and silver coin.
A fellow whom he suspected of swind-
ling propensities came up to the win
dow one day. He prepared for him by
putting a rifty-cent piece on the edge
of the shelf i'm medialely above his cash
box. When the man handed in a ten.
dol ar gold piece and said he wanted
two coupons the treasurer palmed the
ten-dollar gold piece. and. showing the
silver half-dollar of the shelf. It clnk.
ed in with the other coins. The fellow
outside of the box Office frightened up
as he heard it. He imagined, of course.
that his gold piece was now lost in a
pile OF other coins. and as between him
and the treasurer it was wholly ques-
tion Of veracity whether that gold piece
was ten-dollar gold piece or twen-
ty dollar one. After good deal of
bother and delay. SO as to allow time
to elapse during which the treasurer
himself m ght become uncertain of the
money he had originally got, the pur-
chase of the seats was concluded and
the treasurer laid down the change for
S1Q Then followed the siereotyped
dialogue outlined above. except that
the man in this case WINS unusually
persistent. The ten-dollar golc piece
which had been palmed was pulled out
on him. but he still refused to accept
IL and went away to make complaint
to the manager. The manager came
back with the irate customer; the treas-
urer said that he hadn't gone into the
box Office for the first time the day be-
fore; that the man had given him ten
dollar gold piece; had got change for
. ten-dollar gold piece, AMI he could
never get an thing else. lie kept up
the sham to the last however; insisted
on being around when tn. cash was
made up for the day. AMI declared
that he would not be satisfied until the
cash balance showed an extra $40.
The treasurer said that he never on
any account put bill OF large de-
omnation in the money drawer
! which had been passed as pay for
tickets until the tickets had been pass