The times., 1899-09-03
dame RUNOR RUNS ANUCK
Recent Story of Syndicate 0ppcsi-
tion Grossly Improbable.
Manager Painters New York Theatre
Likely TO BE Built by Press Agents
Trust-A New Projection i'm Dra-
matte JournaIism-0ther Things.

Theatrieally unimportant Washington |
was allowed the privilege last week of |
giving a final stir to the kettle of rumors !
that has been swinging over a fire of |
| feverish anticipation during the past |
month. Theatrioally lunimportant Wash |
ington-or that part of its population rep |
resented by a select eoterie of amateur |
| and professional repotters-succeeded in |
| conducting the operation with so much |
| energy that the entire concoction narrowly |
escaped spilling. Whereupon that portion |
| of the city's denizens just mentioned re- |
treated in haste4and gently Rugged the |
| silence" 2m
! Briefly and comprehensively, the local |
| Rialto and that of New York jointly teem- |
ed on Tuesday with the news that Manager
Uriah Painter, of the Lafayette Square
Opera House whose opposition to the fear
some syndicate is no longer secret, was
| to head combination of capitalists formed
with the plan of constructing handsome !
| places of entertainment in several neigh
boring towns, and thus establishing a cir
cult which would prove an insurmountable
barrier to the ambitions of the amusement
monopolistS This statement primarily
reached its conclusion apparently through
| three faets-first, that Manager Painter
really did bid for Daly's when that pop
| ular Thespian temple was offered for sale;
second that there were runlors of trouble
| between Nixon & Zimmerman and their
colleagues; third that the proprietor of
the Lafayette controls a bill posting busi-
ness here and in Baltimore. Just exactly
what this final reality had to do with the
matter is not evident but the journal men
toned seemed to attach great significance
| to it, The article cited told gravely that
the venture would have its headquarters
in Gotham, where a marvelously beautiful
theatre was to be erected as soon as the
! space p''-chased for it on Herald Square
had been cleared. After, or even before
the enterprise, there had proven well-ad-
vised, like structures were to be put up In
Philadelphia and Baltimore. The aforesaid
firm of Nixon & Zimmerman was TO drop
its holdings in the syndicate for the pur-
pose of aiding in the experiment, which
was TO be commenced and continued on
a thoroughly independent basis
In Washington this elaborate report ex-
cited very, little comment of a serious ma
ture, those interested either being or pro-
Tossing to be unbelieying from the start.
New YORK, however, was considerably
wrought up over the story, which was
copied extensively in the dramatic papers
1t was not until the Herald of Wednesday
pronounced the tale improbable and Nixon
Zimmerman followed this squib with
denial of any knowledge of the affair, that
interest on the RiaIto subsided Still there
were principally those with whom
the wish may have been father TO the
thought-who still placed considerable faith
in the idea that Manager Painter was really
going 10 carry his war to Rome" That
theory has not yet been put wholly out of
the question, but STILL calmly and dispas-
irarr Il
gist of the garbled half-column first printed
here does not deserve credence
The building of three theatres at once is
an undertaking that few magnates would
care to handle Playhouses are not the least
expensive of structures. And again, in these
days of sharp competition, the erection of
| such building is one thing, and securing
attractions for it another. Even the most
modern of Thespian temple. cannot be con-
Quoted without proper bookings, and during
the last few seasons the alleged trust
against which Manager Painter is said TO
contemplate operating has controlled al
most every company Of note on the read
every star excepting Mrs. Fiske and every
producing director Of any Importance.
Francis Wilson. Julia Arthur. Richard
Mansfield, Robert Mantell, James O'Neill,
and others who have at this time OF that
decided upon doing without the syndicate,
are all safely back in the fold and hence
power Unless he can persuade these and
several more prominent folk to enlist in
his cause, an undertaking in which even
Harrison Grey Fiske failed signally, the
method by which Manager Painter is to
run his circuit does not appear.
The statement that the Washingtonians
would receive help from Nixon & Zim-
merman was early met with the denial of
those gentlemen. From various reliable
/. sources The Times learns that the firm is
plighted to its colleagues for some years to
come. Accounts of trouble between two
factions have been more or less credited
often of late but have never come TO any,
thing 1t is not unlikely that most of them
e gained circulation from the fact that the
a Nixon & Zimmerman business has in
i creased recently so that the two men have
been obliged TO carry on much of it without
the aid of the partners in their primal
j, ventures. II this probability and the Nixon
G. Zimmerman disclaimer count for any
> thing one of the incentives to such action
as Manager Painter is supposed to have had
in contemplation is already gone
The second of the plans said to have been
e held in view was undoubtedly the more
feasible. In case the expected help did
, | not come from the Quaker City it was an
a | nounced. the Washngtonian would begin
. rummaging Europe for plays and players
p with which and whom to make his own
productions. If the Philadelphia and Bal
timore theatres materialiZed these Offer
ings were to be staged for runs in New
= York and then sent to the other three
> houses to, be under the direction of Man
: ager Painter. Jacob Lift is believed to
have planned his campaign at the Broad
0 way much after this fashion and to have
1 already been assured of success. But even
V such a scheme has drawbacks in plenty
5 The syndicate has never had any diff
Guilty in monopolizing such of the work OF
authors and actors as has seemed desir-
able and it would be all but impossible
! for an outsider TO break its hold at home
: local fnancier were to go to the expense
3 of building a trio of independent places
n of amusement and of staging material for
I them; the seven or eight weeks he could
y give his companies on the road without
= the assistance of the alleged trust would
L not fill out the shortest of seasons no mat
ter how well begun in New York Mr.
), Lift, several of whose attractions are popu-
i, Iaq- priced is forced to rely upon the syndi-
- cate when he leaves Gotham--even if he
does not do so m the metropolis-and ii
q seems unlikely that Manager Painter could
avoid doing likewise. Fur cities cannot
be made to serve as route for any preten-
T tious organization
d Altogether it weuid appear that taking
e it for granted that there was the slightest
h foundation for the article which was print
IS ed in the local daily Manager Painters
plans for opposing the combination cannot
r. outlast "a second thought over the matter
. In such an undertaking his one real
n chance of success would arise with the
7 hope that those of the countrys stars who
% object to the iFrohman Hayman- Klaw-
Erlanger- Nixon Zimmerman yoke might