The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-22
s MCKAY co.
THEATRES IN EUROPE.
Interesting Statistics About Various
Houses for Entertainments

houses Tor entertainments.
The greatest theatre proprietor in the
world is the czar of Russia. No thea
trical manager pays so much money for
the privilege of owning places of
amusement. He owns no fewer than
seven big theatres in st. Petersburg
and Moscow. Next to the czar the
largest theatrical patron in the world
is Emperor William, who assists two
theatres at Berlin and three in the
provinces, which together cost him
about 9150000 per annum
These statements, says the London
Mail, are made on the authority of Mr..
Edwin Q. Sachs who, with corps of
assistants, has spent much Of the past
eight years in collecting data.
Mr.. Sachs has devoted considerable
time to securing diagrams Of all the
principal theatres of the world. and
these diagrams give an excellent idea
Of the comparative size of the latest
European places of amusement. With
in the National Opera House, Paris,
D'Oyly Carte's theatre and the Shak-
spere Memorial Theatre could be cozily
slowed away on the stage and audito-
rum, and there would be ample room
1OA tAAS CCol IlGdllt. ClOdu6 square,
In the grand staircase, and probably
the Duke of York's in the principal
foyer.
me theatre maintaining the largest
permanent staff in Europe is the
vienna Opera House, where there are
Io6 persons in permanent employ. of
Whom $50 are performers. The emperor
or Austria gives the two court theatres
at Vienna about $4,000 per annum. The
prellcn government contributes the
same amount to four Paris theatres.
me most wonderful example of local
substituting of theatres is probably that
at Worms, in South Germany. At a
time when this was only a town NJ
zS'oOo inhabitants, &12000 per annuna
was raised by voluntary contributions,
the district council subscribed q 5000
and the Municipal Savings Bank loaned
$500 at nominal rate of interest The
balance of the G25000 was made nm AT
pazars, etc. The contributions Tins
amounted to over CT per head.
on the subject of seating capacitv
ana cost OF construction of the great
theatres of Europe, Mr.. Sachs eives
some wonderful tables. The great Paris
opera House holds an audience OF o1ee
ana cost &1,50O,OO0. The new theatre al
Wolverhampton holds exactly the same
audience and cost G13,S00. The Rude
Pesth Opera House cost e26O00 fo,. q ;,
audience of 1850, and the Vienna Hot
of 1855. "'' "uuieice
Ot recent London theatres Her Ma
lestys Theatre is put down at ESQ 600
DOyly Carries, now the Palace Va
riety is supposed to have cost the
most money! e., over Gi5O000
Drury Lane is supposed to hold $500
Covent Garden 2SO0, and the Palace,
Just referred to, was built to accom-
modate 1862
On the subject Of theatre fires. Mr.
Sachs records no fewer than 400 ca
tastrophes between 1897 and 1897. The
statistics show that the outbreak gem
orally occurs on the stage; that near
~ half take place during the night af-
ter the performance, while ONLY about
a seventh of the number happen while
the audience is in the building,
January is the heaviest month for
fires in the playhouse. Their number is
on the increase, FOR there were $50 in
this decade, as compared with 3o9 of
the previous decade, but the number
OF theatres is, Of course, rapidly grow
ing.
London heads the list of theatre fires
with thirty-five in twenty-seven build
ings, but the loss Of life has been nom
MAJ. New York has had forty-one
fires; Paris thirty-one.
The heaviest loss of life in any one
theatre fire in England was at Exeter,
Where there were about one hundred
ana sixty deaths.