Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1897-05-21
PAY OF ACTRESSES.
WOMEN ON THE STAGE REcElvE, AZ
A RULE, SMALL SALARIES.

There Are . Few Who Are Rewarded IAb-
orally. bus Generally the business IL Mot
Profitable, and Not Many In This Coun-
try Have Made FORTUNES.
Into u room In an up town Office
building there passed at irregular inter
walls young women who. after having
spent some time inside, reappeared at
the door and started down the flight OF
steps that lead to the street. This hap
pened all day. A line OF women waa
continually going In and out. None OF
them staid very long. and none Of
them left the room with expressions of
particular satisfaction.
II don't think there could be any bet
ter warning said a theatrical man
who had an office opposite the door
through which the girls disappeared,
ito women who think OF going ON the
stage than the sight Of that string Of
women. That is theatrical exchange.
and In and out Of that office they go ev-
cry day. Some Of them--the lucky ones
disappear after awhile. and they seem
to have found places, But the majority
come and go for a long time before any
thing Is found for them. The best don't
come to the exchanges, you know. Only
those who are not well enough known
to have their services always In demand
are compelled to look for, positions
through the agents. The Others can go
to the managers, or. in some rare cases.
have the managers come to them.
"There never was a subject about
which less was really known than that
Of the rewards that life ON the stage
bring to woman. remember to have
seen once an interview with Lolita Grab
tree In The Sun In which she said that
the stage gave women more than any
other profession could. Lolita il one of
the few very rich women Of the stage,
and am afraid that optimistic opinion
was affected more or less by her own
success. II she had not accumulated
$500. 900 or more. Lolita might not look
so favorably upon the stage AZ a means
Of livelihood for women.
1.-THE ideas that are prevalent about
salaries, the general idea of the large
amounts paid and the prospects for saw
ing money that such occupation affords
are all based on very erroneous impress
aions There are, Of course, actors that
make large sums. and some that make
fortunes. But there are not many Of
them. There are very few people, for
instance, who would believe that the
leading lady of prominent New York
stock company gets only 800 aweek
that il, for about so weeks Of the year,
or maybe 30 at the outside. On the road
she receives &1sb u week. A certain
amount Is paid by her manager toward
her costumes, but when 1t happens that
the plays are not successful and have to
be changed frequently, the expense of
costumes uses up large proportion of
what she may make. The most popular
Leading woman In American receives
only $126 week when ahe IL In New
York and an extra $26 ON the road. Yet
IN many Of the people at the theaters In
which she acts go to see her az go to see
the star with whom she's associated.
But she's to be q star herself after
awhile. and then she will make enough
to repay her for all the time she was
building up her popularity, even II she
was not getting rich.
"These women that get the salaries
spoke Of are the best paid In tho coun-
try. Among all the women on the stage
/ doubt If there are 90 who receive az
much ~ that One leading lady in q
New York theater gets only 485 week.
The women who act on the road with
stars get usually $76 or $50, and In some
cases 800. But, as ] said. there are not
many Of them in the last schedule. The
nm IN 6n0 xxhtot ta
about the smallest salary paid to any
woman In first class company.
"Wben they get to be stars on their
own account, the case IL different Usu-
ally the women stars get certain sums
evJ:v week in salary and certain
amounts from the profits. Some Of the
best paid get $500 week In salary and
onc-quarter Of the profits. Then they
begin to make money. One-quarter Of
the profits may equal, under favorable
circumstances. $4,000. That makes tho
salary Of the actor engaged on the terms
mentioned $500 week. But only tho
lucky ones succeed IN ever accomplish
ing such success az that OF course there
are others who take all the money and
merely hire their managers. But they
are still fewer In sumber.
Another thing that has to DO taken
into consideration Is the fact that wo-
man has only q certain time on tho
stage. She must be genius to last
much beyond 40, and she Is not likely
to become famous much before 80. So
her time Ia rather short. After certain
period the decline begins and salaries
begin to go down, just az before tho age,
say Of 40, they increased. Think, Of the
few rich or even comfortably off women
of the stage They conld be counted ON
the fingers - Lolita, Maggie Mitchell,
Fanny Davenport and CLARA Morris.
There may be u few others, but they are
mighty few. Compare this with tho
long list Of women that have been popu-
lar and successful in their youth, and
think You will agree with mo that the
women ON the stage are not az well paid
ss the aspirants think. New York
Sun. ---
His Way Of Telling = Horses Age.
A well known Portland man, who Is
the owner of fine young horse, has
pet hobby, and that 10 telling horses
age with the aid of q long hair from the
animals tail. q gold ring and glass Of
water.
His idea Lis to take tho ring, place 1t
In the center OF tho hair. aud, holding
both ends, put the ring In q, glass He
claims that the ring thus suspended will
atrika against the glass giving the COR