The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-22
EccENTR1cIT1Es OF EARNINGS.
Curious Figures About Authors, Lee
turers and Cooks.

Pail Mall Gazette.
Figures were given to us by a wise and
benef1cent Providence to enable US to OBJ
scure the truth and conceal the state of
our affairs. Their value ought to be in
stilled into the minds of all young people
in stage Of pupilage, so that when they
chancellors of the exchequer, income tax
collectors. company promoters and certain
class of auditors. The reckless use of fig
ures is too often apparent in Journalism
1t is the piquant continent which wakes
up the dry, matter-of-face paragraph IT
makes readers stare, it makes gossips talk
favorite 'savory'' of dinner. 1t is the
Worcester sauce of our daily life.
This reckless use Of figures has lately
been shown in three cases-in the case of
an author and dramatist, in the case of an
author and lecturer and in the case of a
chef and a maitre d'hotel. Mr. j. M. Bar
THE Little Minister" now being charming
ly performed at the Haymarket. Whatever
his profits may be, they are fairly earned
by the sweat of his brain. He is an lnky-
handed son Of toll and is worthy of his hire
No man, woman or child would be otherwise
than delighted to know that his profits on
A leading and responsible journal says so,
making a general statement and avoiding
details. The 10 per cent. authors fees on
gross receipts-a rate of payment which the
picked dramatic authors of England owe
to the whole dramatic authors of France
may be taken as the maximum payment
ty thousand pounds would be the 10 per-
centage on the full gross receipts Of the
are, of course, the provincial fees and the
rewards from New York (and America),
where the piece is generally as we'll acted
and is as inteligentiy appreciated as It is
work them out with counting. house
methods, throw in a bonus here and there.
and see if the figures reach to one-half of
the newspaper statement.
There is the case of lola and the omer to
lecture in America. The offer is stated at
figure figures, ii is about $1,000, or ESQ lecture
Each lecture, we may assume, will last one
hour and forty minutes, or one hundred
a payment, an honorarium-call 1t by what
name you will-of eS minute. This may
not be much in country, where DR.. EN-
mems has discovered a high-pressure meth
cd for squeezing gold juice out of Mexican
dollars, but it seems a good deal for Eng
land, and even more for France.
The other case is that of the new chef of
the Savoy. Here the statement that Joseph
is to receive $4,000 a year for his valuable
ment that out of this he is to pay his ''subor-
dinates." This is how the leading toreros
Of the Spanish bull-rfng are dealt with, but
1t is probably new to those who fight the
bull and his kindred in pannikins. Joseph
came from a place where figures were not
sufficiently respected The great Cafe
Bignon would be alive now, under a great
Anglo-French company, If the two pro-
prietors had been more careful about their
bookkeeping. Inelr receipts were enOr-
their private expenditure was in proportion.
OF this latter they kept no adequate record,
but dipped their hands into the till when
they wanted money, with the result that
the examining accountants could not agree
upon a balance sheet. Joseph started for
himself, obtained the patronage of the
Prince of Wales. which means even more
in Paris than it does in London, and is now
at the Savoy, With a chance 1 of r a;malg g
ing his Cafe MarivauX In Paris With the
Savoy and the New Claridge's.s