The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-01
TRICKS IN ALL TRADES
BUT THE ADVANCE AGENTS BUS
mess THE TRICI1IEsT or ALL.
Some of the Startling Sensations De-
vised to Boom More or Less
Worthy Attractions.
New York Press.

New York Press
Recent episodes in Paris show that they
have been adopting some of the Yankee ad-
vance agents methods in that gay city.
Only short time ago a singer appeared in
Paris about whom the enterprising agent
had circulated the most wonderful stories.
/ According to these, she was the most beau
/ tiful woman on earth, and her husband was
/ jealous to the point of madness. The OPEN
ing night arrived. In one stage box sat the
/ fair singers jealous husband and in the box
or the opposite side of the stage sat a dis
/ tinguished looking man, who plainly was
impressed by madame's beauty. The next
night the same boxes were occupied by the
same persons, and the of distinguished
/ appearance applauded in a most marked
manner and threw a beautiful bouquet to
| the singer On the third evening the hus-
band and the stranger came to words, and
almost to blows about the fair singer, and
the newspapers had taken cognizance of the
interesting affair. Madame confded to a re-
porter that the admirer was a foreign mar
quis who had followed her and annoyed her
with his intentions.
All Paris was interested and the theater
was filled nightly. Just at this critical time
somebody was cruel enough to see the three
! persons who were enacting the little drama
breakfasting together, and the story came
out. The foreign admirers name was on the
pay roll of the ladys manager, and the fra
cas- between him and her husband was re-
peated in every country they visited.
At another theater in Paris a young wom-
an acrobat was announced to appear. On
the evening set for the performance the
manager came forward with telegram
stating her inability to be present. The
audience howled in disapproval, but were
quickly silenced when young woman in the
audience offered to take her place. There
was some hesitation. but the demands of
the audience settled the question. The young
woman was allowed to ascend to the trapeze,
where she began to disrobe and it was
then discovered that the performer was
CharmiOn, who has been repeating her per-
Torrance ever since.
While both of these schemes were re-
| markably clever, yet to the American the
atriCal agent must be given credit for think
ing Of more plans for arOuSing the interest
of the public than his European brother.
Some of the methods employed displayed
wonderful ingenuity, and some others de-
manded a display of check that charac-
teristic supposed to be peculiarly Amer
CLEVER BUT NOT CATCHY.
When the play DIR Bill was introduced
a few years ago a number of women more
or less prominent in society received note
on fashionable paper, and apparently writ
ten in the angular chirography that at that
time was conceived to be the correct thing.
The note was extremely personal in tone,
and after tenIng of a shopping tour and
infinitely describing the articles bought it
went on to say: by the way, Tom has
secured seats for Monday night for DIR.
Bill the new play that has made such a
success. [ wish you were going with US"
| This was signed Lillian" or some other
| girls name. The curiosity of the woman
! who received it was aroused but it prob
| ably spent itself in wondering who Lillian"
was, and it is doubtful if the attendance
at the play was increased thereby
aged Minnie Palmer's tour in my Sweet
! heart" is credited among theatrical people
with originating some of the cleverest adj
! vertising lodges. One of his schemes was
! to bill town and paste his paper" in
/ some spot where it was prohibited. If he
was arrested he paid his fine cheerfully,
| Yours Merrily' was merry indeed.
/ Another advertising dodge which is due
! 20 ROgers's fertile brain was a balloon as~
! cension. When the balloon was up few
| hundred feet thousands of small handbils
| We're thrown out, and, OF course were
! waited over the entire town. and some
( times, if the breeze was fresh, over the
4 surrounding country as we'll Shortly, how
! ever, when his fame as an eccentric adver-
/ tiser had spread, Rogers found himself I'M
! able to obtain license for balloon ascen-
! sion in any of the Western towns. The au-
J
/ tered with paper advertising his show.
! Prima donnas have ways of their own for
! keeping their names in print To tell even
/ a few of them would require more space
! than can be devoted to the subject in q
/ newspaper article.
One well-kDovn singer has even been ac-
! cused Of seeking advertising through her
! numerous matrimonial ventures. George
| Thompson, of Brooklyn, a ''palmy-day'
! actor and advance man, always succeeded
! in attracting attention for the show he was
| representing, but it frequently was in
| strange ways.
! Thompson once was in Cincinnati and.
| realizing that public attention must be at
! tracted, he cudgeled his brains to produce
! sensation.
HIS SCHEME A CORKER.
| That night when the streets were most
/ crowded two men were seen struggling
fiercely on the theater roof. Crowds began
! to gather and shout of horror went up
when one man was seen to lose his balance
and fall to the sidewalk Two employees
/ darted out from the doors of the theater
and, hastily covering the quiet form with
| a sheet, carried it inside. The excitement
was intense. Police officers and newspaper
men soon besieged the box office demand
! Ing the details of the crime. The box office
| man knew nothing. Then Thompson APP
! peared, smiling, but with his clothing still
| showing evidences of the struggle on the
THAT'S the MANI That's hin! shouted
! the crowd. The patrolman seized him.
! Thompsons smile brOadened.
! Come inside" he said, land view the
corpse" The reporters were taken into the
! theater and the sheet was raised at one cor
| ner from over the object
Sold said the reporter who had in
vestigated. Come on, I'll set 'em up"
The man who had fallen from the roof
! was made of straw; but the local papers
! all printed the story just the same, and
! that was what Thompson desired
| When "Trilby was produced in Toronto
! it failed TO attract attention to any great
! extent. The audiences were interested in
| the heroine's bare feet and bestowed upon
| them humorous comments that were dis
| concerning to the actress After few
| nights of bad business the advertising agent
| proposed a scheme.
| That evening when Svengali hypnotized
! Trilby she fell to the floor instead of obey
| ing his commands. The curtain was rung
| down and the agent informed the papers
| that the weird power of the actors eyes
| actually had entranced her Business i'm
| proved Immediately.
| Tody Hamilton's methods have been told
| of so frequently th2 Utmost every one has
| been lost in admiration for the man who
] keeps the big circus before the publics eye
! and firm in the publics affection When
/ any of the animals in the circus menagerie
/ have to be killed, either on account of sick
| ness or because they are too ferocious to re-
/ main in the exhibition, Tody Hamilton en-
! gineers the reception which attends their
| execution. All of his newspaper friends are
| invited, and as many as can attend do so.
! The killing is the least part of the affair
although no spectacular accessory is
| omitted; but the feast to which all the