New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-07-13
CIR AUGUSTUS HARRIS.
.,,ccrssrr,1, MANAGER WITH GREAT
1NTEREsTs-THE EUROPEAN
PUBLISHERS


-.,.estone after brief illness. was essentially
.novman. and a successful one. He was
,~s,.a for political service as Sheriff of the
49,. a, Yondon having received the title on the
~ ..s,on Of the German Emperor's visit; but his
49,. was that Of an opera and theatre manager.
70 never allowed the public to suspect that he
..,a fail in any great undertaking. When he
1--we the manager Of Drury Lane Theatre
..,.nteen years ago. he assumed the ostenta-
.,.,s air Of q conqueror. who was triumphing
"sore other men had failed. He then
rrr man under thirty. who had tried to make
uv,nx In various ways. by trade and journal
tam and as actor and stage manager; and
:. hardly had more than Is which he could call
~. own. The secret of his success II. managing
theatre which had driven many OF his prede-
,.ssors into bankruptcy was his assumption OF
.ro.nerity II anything ever went wrong in his
.,.atr;cal and operate ventures the world never
v,sw Of IT, He taught the public to believe In
MIN AZ a Snowman who had a genius for success.
The energy Of the man was inexhaustible
Not content with being the manager OF Drury
,sre and the impresario Of Covent Garden. he
n,ss the lessee Of the Olympia and other places OF
.rusement and kept several touring companies
constantly on the road. The labor OF producing
,,nto,nimes melodramas and operas in rapid
which he was exposed was overwhelming; and.
,r,nr prematurely at the age OF forty-four. he
csn he said 10 have worried himselfint his grave.
r,. detail of directing and supervising all these
ventures was too complex to be mastered by
9.ne,e mind He was literally killed by over
york and exhaustion when his various enter
rr,ses were In q most prosperous state and when
everything was going we'll with him. There was
no more preoccupied man in this great working
world Of London than this busy manager. who
always seemed to be doing everything at once
and to be unwilling TO trust his lieutenants With
details Of any importance. He wore himself out
from sheer incapacity to leave to others what
he could not do himself
SIR AUGUSTUS AT WORK.
There was no more confused and bewildering
spectacle than that presented by Sir Augustus
Harris during his working day at his office The
room was crowded from morning until night
with a swarm Of attendants, clerks and visitors
He made few appointments and tried to see
every one who called. He was constantly inter-
rupted and. ordinarily. was talking with two or
three visitors at once. not infrequenty in as
many languages simultaneously. yet paying lit
lie attention to what any on, was saying. In
this maddening whirl Of excitement and con-
fusion he was arranging for rehearsals. devising
and musicians, making peace between capricious
nr,n,a donnas and settling a thousand details
nornpous man was Sir Augustus Harris, and
every one who approached the throne perceived
The necessity Of addressing him by his full title
and Of nattering him with obsequious attentions;
vet at heart ne was simple and unaffected and
far from, being as immodest and vulgar as he was
often represented. His title and dignities. like
his reputation for prosperity. formed part or his
stock in trade. and he made full use Of them; but
he was not Unfortunately vain. even II he did dis
tribute statuettes Of himself and advertise his
r,e,o.ramas and pantomimes with startling bonn
bast
The main principle which he adopted in his pro-
fessjonal career was this: What cannot be pront-
able in a small way may be remuneratve on
large scale. He began with meodramas at
Dr,,rv Lane and followed them up with panto-
mines, and presented both with unrivalled splen-
dor Of scenery and costumes He revived the
popular taste for opera in England by producing
the greatest Italian German and French works
an an unexamped scale Of expenditure. He was
no, musician himself and probably was a bet
ter manager on that account, because he had |
mind free from cant and prejudice. He tried
with wise eclectcis1, offer the public what it
seemed TO want and ct the same time popular |
Ted Wagner's music and gave great lift TO pop
,lsr taste Numerous as were his fobes and |
rannerisnas II is only just to add that II London
has reached during recent years a common level |
with the educated operate centres OF Europe. or |
with New-York the credit is largely due to his |
Aexibility and sound judgment. The magnificent |
performances Of Die Meistersinger' at Covent |
Garden this season have rarely been surpassed |
In Lordon In operate management, and these
were opening the way for a similar production |
here OF Tristan" with NJ. Jean de Reszke In the |
title part. His services to musical art In Eng !
land invaluable. Probably no other man
ager has ever done so much to elevate and purify
public taste
THE EXTENSION OF HIS INTERESTS.
Sir Augustus Harris took Drury Lane when 1t
had ruined one manager after another. and sue
ceeded after an arduous struggle, in making 1t
proftab bic house. Then he assumed the manage
inent Of Covent Garden and rescued 1t from a
dreary career Of financial embarrassment. The !
Olympia and one theatre and show after another
came under his direction. II was not passion
for management which induced him TO undertake
all these labors There was shrewd business
judgment OF the general effect Of having so many
irons In the fire at once. II tended to magnify
his Importance and advertise him far and
wide as q venturesome manager, who was
magician and succeeded in everything which he
touched. The truth was that his losses on some
Enterprises were made up by his profits on other
shows. He like speculative investor taking
large risks in many projects. with the assurance
that great stroke of luck In any one enterprise
would more than square" his liabilities all
around How large is the fortune which he has
left behind him at the close Of remarkable ca
reer it is not possible for any one 10 forecast
Probably he was not so prosperous as he seemed
and his reputation for worldly wisdom and bust
ness sagacity will be impaired when his affairs