The St. Johns herald., 1894-08-16
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AMERICAN INVESTMENTS.
The Immense Amount Of Money @ Spent In Theaters.
A Large Army Of Professionals Are
 Kept Busy-Tortunes Annually %Ss,, Spent in TraTeliHg on the %-E Railroads.

It is estimated that there are per haps as many as 1000 travelling theatri- cal companies in the United States, says the Washington Post This in- cludes everything that can be con sidered strictly professional companies, to say nothing Of the countless amateur organizations. Of the strictly theatri- cal organizations 1t is safe to presume that the average receipts per night for the ], ,00o companies are S40O each. At seven performances per week for each company the weekly average, as will be seen, would be S2, ,S00 The average theatrical season is forty weeks. The entire 1000 companies with an average nightly receipt of S4O0 would produce weekly receipts at seven performances per week amounting to S2, ,60O, eco. This multiplied by forty, the number of weeks in a season, would yield gross receipts amounting to SIP, ,000, ,090.
 From the above estimates some idea can be formed of what the American people spend annually for amusements by companies which are known as strictly professional Thousands of dollars are also spent with amateur theatrical organizations and lecture bureaus.
 It would appear from the above state ment that a great deal of money is made by theatrical people. The expenses in- cident to earning SIP, ,QD0, 900 are very large, It is reasonable to say that one third, or S39, 1000, ,O0O, of the total S112, 1000, ,00O, is spent with railroads. Another very large item is expended for printing. Great fortunes have been amassed by printing houses in the production of theatrical printing alone. Hundreds of thousands ef dollars are also spent for advertising in news papers, It is safe to say that 40 per cent. of the correspondence between theatrical managers is carried on by telegraph, which amounts to great deal in a years time.
 The travelling companies, however, are not the sole possessors of the grand total, SIP ,OO0,0OO. This is di- vided between the travelling companies and the owners of the houses where the companies play. The net receipts de- rived by the companies would perhaps be in the neighborhood of 65 per cent. or 70 per cent, making an average net re- suit of between $75, GOO, 900 and O,OOO,- OO0 Out of this, of course, comes all of the expenditure for railroad trGnspor- tation, and over one-half of the total amount paid for newspaper advertis- ing. Out of this also is paid fully 95 per cent. of the amount paid to print ing houses.
 The 1000 travelling companies will average fifteen people to company, making total of 15,OO0 theatrical peo pie travelling over the country forty weeks out of the fifty-two. This, of course, does not include the number of people employed at theaters. Upon the estimate made as to the number of companies there must of necessity be the same or more number of theaters, as two companies cannot plny at the same theater on the same night. There l are at least on an average fifteen peo- pie employed at every theater, which would be 15,C0o This added to the number of people travelling would OOtel1 O1 OOsOOV DCOi1ACs IL lo said that there 5000 actors and act 1 resses now out of employment. There are at least engaged in the theatrical business directly or indirectly-those | who make living from it-GO,O0O.
 Some actors make q great deal of 1 money; some do not. Those who make the most are generally those who say the least about it. Those who make the least on annual tours arc as class those who do the most talking about | having done the greatest business. A great many managers and stars hold | to the old-fashioned idea that they ] must always talk about the enormous business they are doing, the people they are turning away from their | houses, and how many times a week the Standing Room Only" sign is out. They do this for the express purpose of attempting to deceive the public. The best evidence that travelling theatri- | cal attraction is a good one is the fact that large audiences attend it.