The times., 1898-03-06

colossal lie ever told 10 an unsuspecting
public was Anna Held's milk bath story.
and yet it was accepted as fact all over
the country. The man who Invented il Is
now working on the New York Telegraph.
while the woman he made famous is earn
ing an enormous salary touring the cOun-
try. Then there is a class of legitimate
lies, called because on larger scale
than the others. Big real estate and the
atrical purchases by weIl-knOwn stars,
offers for plays and other fables Of like
kind. come in this class, and strange to
say, not one falsehood of a thousand is
ever uspected-excepting by the banker
on whom the inventors check is drawn
Perhaps the biggest and most Iong-Iived
farce the dear public has ever swallowed
is that of the New York production
There was time when the great Me-
tropoliS was not only the center but the
sole point of vantage for theatrical per-
formances. Railway facilities We're poor
and 1t was difficult to carry a show out
Of New York without dispensing with
some of the more expensive details. The
playhouse in the provinces did not ad-
NIT of the same presentations seen On
the "Rialto'' and the number of actors
who cared to go on the road, without a
big increase in salary. was comparatively
an inland city received a company intact,
and. when such an event occurred. the
audience drawn was sure to be larger
than usual.
With the Improvement of theaters and
the extension of railroads 1t became a
common and finally an almost invariablc
rule that the large river cities were sent
the same combinations that had been
seen in the gay Metropolis. IL any diff
ference existed ii was for the better. the
experience of a run on Broadway gener-
ally initiating TO advantage after the or
ganizatiOn left what actors. managers,
and agents have always been pleased to
call town. But the halo about original
productions" still remained and for much
the same reason that a merchant who can
only afford one store puts a sign in his
window to that effect, advance men found
it profitable to continue advertising orig
inal production" whether there was any
cause for 1t or not. Charles and Dan
Frohman are, at present, about the only
| two managers in the country who send
| out number two companies withoUt bill
| ing then. as such.
Slight changes are ignored by managers
| without apparent quaIms OF conscience.
| Even r. f. Rice announced the entire
! New York company in The French
| Maid " when everyone who had seen
| the piece at the Herald Square Theater
| knew that two of the most important peo-
| pie in the piece had been left out. "A
| Southern Romance was spoken Of as
the Fifth Avenue Theater success
| though it is generally understood that the
| play was one of the most pronounced
| failures of the season in that city. Had
| "a Southern Romance made hit at the
! Fifth Avenue it would not have been seen
/ here at popular prices, and did the mana
gers have reason TO give the public credit
| futility of such an announcement
! The truth of the three hundred nights
: in New York tales was put out of the
question some time ago. Even in the city
I itself it has become a general thing to re-
sort to dishonest methods in this and.
/ once on the road. the success of a pro-
! duction is only limited by the courage of
the press agent. 1t is no uncommon thing
for Metropolitan runs to include the time
spent before reaching Broadway, while
| still bolder plans are often made believ-
| able. Theaters with electric signs telling
the number OF nights a play has scored
find no difficulty in changing the figures
! twice a day or in jumping number Oc-
casionaly. Did a woman have as many
birthdays in year as sharp managers
have ''hundredth performances during
a months run the practice of giving
presents would become obsolete and old
age would be the most common state.
OF course, these things are sometimes
| taken up by the newspapers but as a gen.
| eral thing the dailies are too anxious
! about losing their theatrical advertising
! to risk an encounter. If this should nap
I pen the average manager would not take
the matter much to heart. The practice
OF falsifying criticisms and using them
on bill boards has become a science in
. Greater New York.
As an example of this let US say that
a remarkably bad combination enters a
high-priced theater and is seen by the
! critics, who decide to say just what they
/ mean about it. The notice in the morning
| papers will probably read: The perform
ance was worthy only as an example OF
[ just how poor a play may be. Never in
the history of local theatricalS has such a
faulty production been seen here. The
company is bad, the play is worse and
the scenery could not have been poorer
had the whole been put together for a
Bowery museum. Better that such had
been the case if it is destined TO last long
in this city
Surely no criticism could be more pro-
nounced than this. And yet, when the
manager sees it. he is wild with delight.
ing for thirsty friends, and is as happy
as man drowning in barrel Of Ken
lucky whsky-or at least in equally good
spirits. That night he visits his ltho-
I grapher. and the next morning his men
are busy putting up thFee-Sheets with
the criticism on them in about this shape
The performance was worthy. Never