Evening star., 1898-12-24
THE kLONDIkE THEATER,
An Evening at a Show Will Cost You
About 800.

THE kLONDIkE THEATER,
An Evening at a Show Will Cost You
About 800.
From the New York Times.
H. b. 5. Marcus, one of Dawson City s
most prominent citizens, left this city yes
terday for Denver en- route for home after
a stay of just twenty days in the United
States Mr.. Marcus makes a speciality of
furnishing the "coiors'' and other acces-
sories at considerable expense to Dawson
CityS jeunesse doree and others that they
may do the rest and as result he owns
number of good gold mines that he per-
sonaly did not discover. Mr.. Marcus, in
short, is the owner of the Combination
Theater''-Dawson's leading playhouse
and is the best known impresario north
of the Juneau This is his second visit to
the United States during thespresent year
and he brought matter of eighty-one
pounds OF gold dust which he exchanged
for greenbacks at the Philadelphia mint.
Marcus is in appearance the typical west
ern miner. He was dressed yesterday in
short coat. had corduroy trousers, brown
woolen shirt in the bosom of which spar
kied a high diamond. As a compromise to
the amenities of eastern civilization. he
wore a pair of immense gloves, such as
might be affected by a coachman in De-
cember.
Speaking of the drama in the Yukon dis
trict Mr. Marcus stated that the stage did
not require to be elevated there.
we do not go in for much talent" he
said. "All we want is plenty of lungs and
legs to make the show a CO. and the man
ager and actors make a pretty good thing
of 1t the year round. The great expense
in starting in the theatrical business there
is the building. My theater Is of logs, 100
by 80 feet, and cost $4,000. OF course, the
women draw the best. What we want
above all in women is voice, and plenty of
1t, good and strong, for variety business is
our long suit, and plenty of singing is re-
Quired.
THE show is a continuous performance
beginninS about p. and skimming along
Tor about seventeen hours. The price of a
seat is only $2.oO. and there are no reserved
seats. There are tables inside, however,
and the playgoerS there are generally
thirsty, so that the principal profit in the
snow business is In the sale of drinks. If
man wants to go in light and simply trot
along in the procession, he drinks beer
which costs only Sc bottle; but it's sur
prising how many people there are who get
in the way of drinking wine. This comes a
little dear, of course, costing $40 a pint bot
tie. 1t was selling at from $50 to $50 a
pint, but big shipments into the district
have now placed it within the reach of ALL
Whisky can be had for 90 cents a drink
and a rafting good cigar can be bought for
10 cents. Soft drinks don't go at all. The
walters in the klcndike theater get SIS a
day, and the members of the orchestra are
paid a little more. The actors get $3.50 a
week, and no difference is made in their
pay. If they are good enough to go on at
all, they are worth $150, and we don't want
any worth more.
THE actresses get the same amount, but
in addition are allowed % per cent on all
drinks that they induce customers to buy.
You see, between her turns a singer is al
lowed to rest herself at one of the tables
out among the audience. While she's rest
ing, II gentleman desires to refresh her
with wine, naturally she doesn't object.
There's where her big money comes in.
The show goes on till II or l o'clock in
the morning. when the dancing begins, and
continues till about Z or o'clock. An the
actresses must be able to dance. The price
of a ticket calling for one dance is $3.50,
ami the gentleman who likes dancing is
supposed to like wine also, and generally
Goes. The lady gets her usual percentage.
I'VE have stuck strictly to vaudeville so
far, but I'm thinking of trying on little
play of some kind next summer if 1 can get
a bunch of talent that can take it off prop
erly. i want to run about one night week,
but I'll have to raise the price of admis-
sion. l can't give good drama for Moth
ing, you know. We put on a prize fight
every few nights, and 1t may seem odd to
you to know that the fights have been linn
tied by the police to ten rounds. Another
thing about Dawson that might surprise
you people here is that all saloons and
theaters close at midnight on Saturday
nights and remain SO over Sunday. Sun
day in Dawson is tanner than in New York
THE busy season there begins in June.
when the miners finish their clear-up. l
should say that the ordinary evenings ex-
pense of d man who wanted to take in
the theater will average about 800, for
everything costs little something there.
For instance. he'll want bath first thing,
as man who has too much pay dirt stick
Ing around on him wouldn't haYs any fun
at the dance. There's public bath house
in Dawson which charges only s. a bath,
but that's something. A shave costs 81,
and $50 more goes for a hair cut It's
these little things that count up. The only
thing in the way of luxury there that
man can't get Is a shoe shine. There are
no bootblacks, because they would starve.
You see, Dawson has only one street,
and the mud on this is from six inches to
two feet deep. There ara no sidewalks,
but going to have some pretty soon,
for the town treasury now has a surplus
of $1SDoU. To raise this they fined recent
ly every sporting man in town $50 and
avery gambling house paid $1,000. We have
fine hospital, which was built principally
by the gambling houses. and the town has
nearly everything else that's required in a
first-class place. There are about forty po-
licemen on the force and there Is no dis
order. Stealing is almost unknown, and the
larger number of prisoners doing time are
men who have cheated at gambling. The
penalty for cheating at a gam of chance is
three years imprisonment. Take it all to-
gether, Dawson Is pretty good little old
town"
Manager Marcus desires It stated that If
there are any stagestruck young women
knocking about thu country today who
would like to accumulate money sufficient
to start a bonfire, they may apply at the
door of the Combination Theater, Dawson
City, any time during the coming night,
which in that city lasts four months.
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