Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1894-11-27

| fe~-ion Euzz the Managers Ear-An H.
Iu.tratlan In which Barry sullivan Was
the central Figure.
/ Somebody once remarked shat there are
| three kinds oi peoplc-men, women and
/ actors. Certainly the dramatic profession.
| as a class. - totally distinct from all other
classes. here are mere pccuIiarities and
knpcrstitions connected with il and more
distinct types of character In its forces
than one would suppose possible in a line
of effort thas shoJis bc followed only by
the intellectually inclined. GOOD men and
bad men can be found in the ranks of ev-
cry calling, bat there Is one type of char
acter that ori inaIed in tho dramatic pro-
fession, ard tilat Is the hnocker - Until
recently the knDt..CF" was known only
To the theatrical profession mad confined
his iahors entirely TO the people of the the
ater
The Enocher'' is one who states un-
truths, that II apparent, but let me make
it a little bit clearer. The knocker'' i
one who by some peculiar art or device
watches 10 70 2 you into bad repute The
"knocker'' always Is dcspiSed ana Stunned
by those who Thoroughly know him; hut,
like all persons no deal IN ncbulous mat
tiers, tknocko.s IS are difficult TO convict
Almost every theatrical company has AT
least one .'knookcr'' in its rnnks, while
the manager If successful theateT has q
whole army OF thcrl To contend with
The " knocker'' is a 'bachcappcI''--in
plain English, one who docs a. fauch in
jury he can II mon who, his poor in
stincts tell him. are his suDr-io.s If Il
person is discharged from n company. il i
limited that the bnucilr'' LIS l., en- 1T
work, ard al sorts Of explanations ar
made in the attempt T. keep secret Tie
causes which led TO the Iii Schargc Grim
nations and denominations are induced
in, wherein Mr. Smith Il accused Of hay
ing 'queered Miss Jones, and Actor |
Smith and Actress Jones are given a TEN
porary importance which is quickly for
gotten.
Who cares for SMITH"
Miss Jones'
Who undGF the sun is Miss Jones? The |
could get 20 persons in three |
hours notice, but
And thcre's tho but"
The knCch2F'' has so got the managers |
ear that the manager discharges either |
Smith or Jones without the slightest cause |
and wholly because of the Knockers" |
Diplomacy, by the way, is a |
mild word 10 use in this connection
There are al sorts and conditions of |
knockers First is the man who gets |
the ear of tho manager and is constantly |
telling that Il certain person in the com
pany is Goodl" very goodr' excel
enti' Ho Is thoroughly in earnest. to
All appearance and keeps up his praise so
ong and 50 porsistcntly that the manager
gets disgustcG-p probably suspcious-and
he actor is discharged. some knockers
work in oiamctrically opposite way
They say ont and out hat such an actor
n actress is bal But this is only when a
of familiarity has been estab-
ished between tie knocker' and the |
manager. Next comes the insinuating |
knocSer. " He usually wears n placid
milc whenever tho name of the person
whom he wishes tn knock is mentioned.
lie Will shreS his shoulders and murmur:
Yes, he is eood-that is, l think so
Aheml This often sets tho manager
linking, and il Only remains for the
knocker' Ia draw his attention 10 the
good man" on one of his off nights to
nish the work
Then johnny goes marching home.
Another interesting specimen of the
knocker" tribe is the man W no works on | ,
nperstitions. The large majority of stage |
cople are superstitiCus, and the 'insinu !
ing knocker' has simply to drop a hint
'at Mr. So and 50 il Jonah" quoting =
few instances OF his hard luck aud an T..
her .r-rci -ee-crS uTErCr tncf managerial =
lillotine, for no manager wants a .Jo- | q
ih' in the company Above all, if bad | /
i'll have the desired effect. II
Barry Sullivan, the celebrated English :
agedian, discharged the best leading ,
AN he ever had through the influence of I
g knocker ,
Sullivan opened at the Alexandria thea
r In Liverpool with an elaborate revival
s.Richard ILL., The tragedian prided |
Imself on his performance of Gloster and
lade extensive preparations TO dress the
4 a | ,
ne of the many new things he purchased
II the production. After the performance |
as over Sullivan, who was delighted with
is success, was sitting in his dressing |
pom, still dressed in his armor, when Mr..
Knocker," unusually apropos Of his
anne, knocked for admittance.
Mr.. Sullivan, - said the willy one, Il
ope you will pardon me for disturbing
on, but / wished to say how pleased
ras that everything turned out all right
Sullivan looked up.
Il don't understand he said.
The "knocker" smiled as he spoke again.
.,Oh, no one would know 1T, sir. 1t fits
just as If it had been made for
GU
Sullivan was perplexed. He looked
gain at the speaker and asked him in
lnguaee more forcible than polite what
10 meant.
why. the armor +" said the 'knocker
We'll, what about it2" demanded Mr..
sullivan.
Well, sir, l don't believe he meant any
arm, but Mr.. contided to me
aough he made me promise not to speak
4 it-that he loaned 1t To you for the
light
The air was blue for few moments,
nd it was said that the sulphur in the
Dom furnished the armor worn by the
to such an extent that he never
wore it again.
He rushed blindly out of the room upon
no stage and ruared out for his leading
nan.
The leading man had gone TO his hotel.
Gone to his hotel, ehf'' cried the in
uriated actor Come herel' he cried to
he property boy. who was Standing near