New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-05

OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN.
that he believed the assignment would he a tenn
porary one. az Mr.. Iiammersten had assets sufi-
cent to pay every $40 for 81 that he owed, but
| the assets being in property were not immediately
available.
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES.
His liabilities Mr. Lichtens;eln said. not
more than $4,000 s75on and his principal rs
set was the equity In Olympia which cost him
81 100 900 and was mortgaced for SDO0.0p0, which
less than the cost OF tho land. Sl,Win~0. &c
sides this property. he owned his house, NO ~
West One hundred and twentcth-st. The assign
mcnt was due to bad business AT olympia during
| the last few months and the poor health OF Mr..
Hammerstein.
Mr. Lichcns:ei then added: 'Wn will call meet
ing Of his creditors TO see what be done II is
merely temporary embarrassment. and he will
be able TO pay every one in fun. Creditors wanted
their money. They that business N the
Olympia was not paying and they began TO har
rass him"
Oscar Hammersteln has been regarded az
curiosity among theatrical managers ever since
he made his start in the business. Ills bold
ventures. his fantastic notions, his constant gunr
rels with other managers and with actors and ms
nevcr-endins series OF lawsuits have held the at
tention OF all who wont TO give attention to
such things. lie disagreed with manager, about
their contracts, with actors about their salaries.
with the city departments about his buildings. with
his own partners and with his employees. He
had trouble with newspapers because II his belief
that dramatic or musical cri' who attended
one OF his entertainment, had no right 10 publish
an adverse Judgment OF them \ suit for 5000
is now pending against him, brought by the dra-
matte critl. Of evening paper. parti" on account
Of an alleged abusive letter concerning the critic
written by Mr. Hnmmerstcn 80 %" managing
editor o. tho paper Ifi"r th. .riur hal written
an unfavorabc notice O. or II Hammerstein's
performances one o: h.s freaks. some ycnrs ago.
was 10 write an ope-etta. words ana music. on
wager. IN forty-cight hour. being locked into a
room at hotel fo9 the purpose.
Mr.. Hamnerstein began his career a. New
York manager at the Harlem Opera House. which
he built. II opened on September ~, 1852 J.
was no, long before he was in trouble with man
agcrs who's attractions cam" to the theatre amons
them being Daniel Frohman and T. Henry French.
\ year later Mr.. Hammersteir ofcncl another
theatre In Harlem, the Columbus. and Il had
trouble ut the very beginning for the opening WAS
delayed for several daya on account OF tho IN
willingness Of the Fire Commissioners 20 give me
necessary certificate that the Laws IN regard 10
protection from fire had been fslly complied with
They gave It in the end. Both these theatres were
fairly prosperous and the Columbus was de-
cidedly so.
WITH ROSTER & bal.
Mr. Hammersten next talked Of building thea
ire In Forty second-si.. but he WAS unable to get
for IT, and he finally built the Manhattan Opera
House row Roster Balls. IN Thirty -iourth-St
Various failures recorded In tho hrst fe"
months after the opening o! this house. and then
Hammerstein joined with Messrs. Roster ana bal
who were running a prosperous music hall In TWEEN
ty-third-st.. IN forming "A corporation known az
Roster Pial CO. Under the management OF ms
CORPORATION the Manhattan Opera House was
turned into music hall. and was enormously
profitable. The first public 'ntinaton OF trouble
was when IIammerstoin sat In a box In his own
fhs al" precipaed a qUarre between Ir Hammer
stein ana Mcssrs. Roster and Bal There were
Hu' as, Messrs Kos!er and Ba bought out Mr
Iiammers,ein for gooi round sum; which wa, was
iners,ein became Roster 81 Bal's bondsman From
that time -. hsresst enmiy eAsted Pe'w hos snSe
Threatened to take his name on their bond. but he
aa' sch d0S May so a s i DDSdlrs e Mas
one OF Mr. Iaminers,ein's most notable achieve,
vnx kSss H o wea i he RaG ae shS
charge An obvons effort was made TO gc, % n
these as +, was possible to get without falling over
f. Tho same tendency was observable In some OF
sIaen at oIymp phe called The SHY Dinner
n m "sen Chained q" ni the ""hoshp of this
work. and Mr.. IIammersten discharged him Tor
doing so. .,,
Olympia, the big building. with theatre. music
hall and roof EardeH. nj broadway forty,foart IN
ago The morning after he opening a steam pipe
I'm the basement burst, and two men lost their
lives Iawsuits naturally arose out OF this. though
no charge was ever made that tho accident hap
| pened through any fault or neglect OF Mr. Ham
| merstein. one OF the hrst attractions at olympia
was Mile Yvette Guilbert. notable for her Indecent
French songs whom Mr Hammerstein was the
| first TO bring to this country. -.,
The last persons with whom Mr.. Hammersten
ouarrelled, far as IL known. were MISS Anna
| Held who sang the leading part In his producuon
Of "ia Poupee and her MANAGE MI I e n.
| derstudy was put In her place. Mr.. Hammerstesn
| said that she not singing the part properly;
sol1 haf "A
one OLYMPIA was closed altogether last night
WHAT HAMMERsTEIN SAYS.
| Mr. Hammersteln said last night: Il am physi-
cally unable at the present time TO conduct the
business Of the institution. have made and su-
perntended In person three great productions with
| in tho last six weeks. The productions were The
Cat and the Cherub,' the Grend opera Tabieaus
and La Poupee.' BY the desertion OF the prin.
cipal woman In La Poupee II VIII be necessary
| to reorganize the production. am unable 10 40
this and attend to my finances IN order 10 secure
| FOR nv creditors every dollar owing them and at
tho same time TO avoid being harrassed, l have
made an assignment Although olympia Is IN the
name OF my wife the property Will be used as
security re f Hc Is for
discounts The amount due 10 employees is ap nyal
1900. and they, under the asssnmeht are pre
ferred and Will be paid mrs. a ono vmna
| that owed nothing. Since that time my losses
have been very heavy.
OTHER LOCAL BUSINESS TROUBLES
TIL. Sheriff received execution yesterday
..a,n,t the schneder- Brkenstock Marble Company,
o, No sas East One-hundred- and-seventh-st-, Tor
Snh tIep m n