The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-06-30
ON THE ROAD
Of an rndomttabio
Advance Agent
How nm Unfortunate Company Of Actors
Struggled with NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
ties That Dosot tho Travel
lag Troupe.


ties That Dosct tho Travel
lag Troupe.
When the bent Of ones impulse Is II.
resistibly stagoward it Is q waste Of
time and eloquence TO warn that per-
son against the heart breaking unccr-
tainties Of stage career. II Is not rs
sorted thet grief and disaster arc incvt
table results Of theatrical undertake
ings, but they most assurcdly ere the
los of large majority Of travelling
companies The following uncmbel-
lishcd narrative Of actual experience
| shows what difficulties arc encountered
by tho peripatetic actor: e.
Two seasons ago, after o prolonged
struggle for existence, wrll-known
repertoire company took blind header
south In tho hope Of retrieving their
fortunes and playing the season out It
was, however, but case Of out OF the
| frying pan into the fire, ae the third
week found them at Little Rock prncti-
| cally strapped. Money and credit were
exhausted and oil advertising material
was used up. In this extremity Tho
agent was given carte blanche to so
ahead and do whnt he could to keep tho
company moving. Arkansas was
stranger to him and be proceeded TO In
tcrview, in rapid succession, the thea
ter managers, railroad men, hotel pro
prictors, bill posters, attaches OF then
ters and, so on, in tho faint hope of dig
ging up mascot
He finally gave it up and settled on
tho very ancient town Of Arkadclphia,
where to move tho company from
Little Rock Tho management secured
enough money to got him there. Tho
next point YVES TO obtain paper to bill
with. An interview with the Ntho-
graphcr and general factotxa Of the
Capitol thcater disclosed tho fact that
he had for years been In the habit Of
saving dozen or more Autographs Of
every star who played in the theatcr.
Mr. Agents persuasive tongue easily
won him TO give up three l;thoGraphs
Of each kind. making total of about
three hundred. Gleefully returning to
his abode the agent trimmed of all
printed matter, both top and bottom,
from the Autographs and, with tho
blessings and prayers of the wcll-nigh
stranded players, proceeded on his way
to Arkadolphia.
With tho assistance OF fcw stray
and apparently lost inhabitants ct rtln
place, he finally located the 'opcr,.
house." 1t was sight! A wy pla;:i.
cheap wooden structure when bull
probably thirty years bcforo-tiir.e h;.a
dealt hardly with it. Covc7ci win
moss, it leaned towards tho great wu,,.
and somehow suggested by it's general
appearance that it wns holding ite
breIth in last rally not to givo up tho
ship and collapse entirely. The little,
narrow entrance door leading to tho
steep and primitive steps was locked.
and the agent rushed into the thick Of
tho town and fnnlly located the
marshal Ile was informed that Mrs.
Blank owned the ''opero house" and
lived out Of town about two miles.
After jollyiug the marshal and promis-
ing him several comps for his in
1uenco and assistance In negotiating
for the opera house" they started on
foot to seek the owncr-a vehicle being
out of the question, as money was now
to the agent but q memory. Arriving
ut the housc the colorcd attendant
ushe,ed them into the parlor, where,
otter almost an hours wait, the lady
appeared A threecorncred talk now
ensued. as the lady would not do busi
ness directly, but through tho marshal
The ogent talked to the marshal, the
marshal to the lady, and 80 on back to
tho ngcnt After ON hours confab tho
opera house wes secured On tho follow
ing extremely liberal tcrms-for tho
owner: Rent, including light, hcet and
one stage assistant, twenty dollars,
payable to the marshal before tho
curtain rose. This wos exclusive Of all
licenses, which ainounted-state, county
and town. including collection fees-to
eighteen dollars and twenty-five cents,
also payable before the curtain went
up
A little lcg-wcary, the ngcpt returned
to town and dashed into the ono printing
oficc where, to his further hindrnncc
and disnay, he found the editor and his
entire staff, consisting OF one person
the devil-busily engaged IN working
the hand-press running of tho weekly
edition. The promise Of throo dollars,
payable before tho curtain rose, stopped
tho press and the editor, the devil, and
the agent got their heads together in
dcvising stunning dete-line which,
after many trials, they succeeded in
setting mp and running of, II an
nounced grnnd production of Our
Boys" by the same company of twenty
artists playing that week at the Capt.
tol theater, Little Rock. A haf-column
local followed from the agents pen.
the editor obligingly setting it up and,
lifting q patent medicine ad. out of
the form on tho press, he inserted it IN
It's stead and ran it in the remainder Of
the edition.
His date-lines secured the agent
hustled to his hotel and with the aid
of borrowed bottle Of mucilage, at
tnchod the dates TO the Autographs,