The San Francisco call., 1899-04-16

THE jollity of the town is consid
erably enhanced these days by
row that is on between several
I newspapers and several theaters.
Perhaps you have noticed that
the Evening Report and some of the
weeklies are giving 1t hot and heavy
to the shows at the Columbia, Alcazar,
TivoH and Chutes? If not you have
missed some precious reading-the
richest since the old days when the
Examiner waged war against the Bald
win and toasted every show, good, bad
and splendid, that was housed by that
theater. 1 used TO think that yours
truly was sometimes rather difficult to
please in the matter of plays and play
acting; but since the managers of the
Columbia Tivoh. Chutes and Alcazar
have conspired to withhold their ad-
vertising patronage from all of the
weeklies and one Of the evening dailies,
and most Of these papers have retail
ated in the true commercial spirit, l
have come TO regard myself as the
most docile and good-natured person
who ever sped a pencil on the subject
Of the playhouse. The News Letter
and the Argonaut and The Wave have,
10 be sure, kept calm and critical even
in the face of their great loss, which
1 understand amounts to several dol
lars a week to each paper. But the
Wasp has a thousand stingerS out for
the unadvertised attractions; Town
Talk is simply sulphuric in its indig-
nation; and the wrath Of the Report
knows 10 limit. Town Talk toasts not
only the shows but the managers as
we'll Mr.. Leahy, who controls the ar-
fairs of the TiVOn. is reminded in that
paper Of the time when he was merely
the manager Of q furniture factory.
The Wasp says. IF there had been
opera houses i'm Jobs day 1t CGolden
LOcksO would have been a beautiful
thing to try the respected old gentle
mans patience on" But the critics of
the weeklies are press agents compared
10 the relentless scribe who swings the
lash for the Report. Listen to this
from Tuesdays issue of that paper:
Stevens or the Yellow Wig otherwise
billed Beautiful Golden Locks, con-
tiuues 10 keep audiences away from the
TiVoI. AS that place Is a dangerous fire
trap. the piece at least serves one good
purpose
Even the ancient and honorable order
Of Bostonians is not beyond the aveng-
ing hand Of the Reports critic:
Grown bold from the patient manner In
which the public has made shift to stand
the dreadful production of Rob Roy" for
the last two weeks, the Columbia will
insult its patrons by the production of
the sCurrlous opera, THE Serenade."
And the same fierce hand penned
this.
Those who We're lured by free tickets
or deceptive advance notices to The
Charity Ball' opening night al the Alca-
z3f We're treated to an exhibition of in
competency on the part Of both the com
pany and the management. The delicate
sarcasm Of The Call in saying of this
piece; The. plot is too familiar TO need
description" will be appreciated
don't believe that at any other time
i'm the history of the town there has
been such a rush of uncomplimentarv
dramatic criticism. Plays are slated
right and left, actors receive rebukes
beside which ancient eggs would he
sweet bouquets. managers are roasted
in and out Of their public lives relig-
lous sentiment is brought to bear
against the offending plays, and the
piayhouses are called everything
tempting. from pneumonia traps to
fire cages. And all because the man
ayers have ceased to advertise.
Naturally your sympathies are with
the manager, who in the best of cir
cumstances gets enough hard knocks
from the best-intentioned critics. But
the worst part of all this is that il will
confirm the manager in. his belief that
there is, or should be, a nice agreement
between the box office and the theatri-
cal columns of the press. The modern
newspaper has made possible the mag
nitude Of the present theatrical bust
ness. No other branch of art-Witb the
one exception of prize-f1ghting, which.
fortunately. is not an every night oc-
currence-receives so much gratuitous
attention from the papers as does the
stage. The theaters advertise Yes.
But one healthy dry goods establish
ment will spend more money in a
newspaper in a day than all the thea
ters Will in a week. The dry goods man
writes his ad, sees that it is inserted