The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-20

sHOwMEN's TRICKS.
Various Devices Employed to Dupe
the Confdins Public.

From the New York Tribune.
When Mr.. Joe Gargery made his IA
nous visit to London, Dickens assures
us that the first of the sights" to at
tract the estimable blacksmith was the
large shoeblacking establishment which
had long stared at him from the lid
of the box whenever he polished his
boots. We are also informed that the
pilgrim was disappointed. finding that
it had been "drawed too architectoloor-
al 1t is habit of designing persons
to draw every picture too "architecto-
looral" and mankind is generally dup
ed by the dodge; wherefore, remains
a mystery. OF all people who avail
themselves of this weakness to their
profit, those who most perSeveringly
keep up the game, and who find 1T
most likely to catch the unwary, in
spite of it's admittedly ancient charac-
ter, are the managers of cheap theat-
rical companies. The worthy patrons
of cheap houses, which grant admit
lance either free or for a few cents,
are always ready, apparently, to be
captured by the stalest of bait, else
why do the managers keep up the trick
with such optimistic fervor?
Just at present the Bowery is enliv-
ened with huge rainbow colored pos
tiers announcing, apparently, the adj
vent of highly sensational melodrama
at one of the low class theaters. AS
matter of fact, nothing of the sort
is in preparation, or is so asserted to
be by the paper" The posters are
merely what remains to tell the tale
of an expired realistic drama of the
horrors of darkest New York, with
microscopic legend pasted across set
ting forth that the Slaves of Opium
Burlesquers'' will appear on such "a
date "Slaves of Opium reads large
| and clear, while few but the wary
would discover that it was not the
play but the "burlesque" named after
| the melodrama that is announced.
Slaves of Opium has met the fate of
many another of it's kind, and left its
manager with large quantities of i'm
posing paper" on his hands; the man
ager of some cheap vaudeville show
has bought the posters for a song, and
| trusts to luck that until fairly in the
theater the difference between what the
| flaming sheets set forth and the enter
tainment really before she audince will
| not be noticed. The trick is not
new one, but it apparently serves its
purpose. Once past the box office, the
money of the most dissatisfied patron is
as good as that of the most enthusi-
astic applauder.
Another form of the same trick is so
common that it really seems to be kept
up from force of habit rather than for
the sake of any advantage to be gain
| ed. A stranger, a green" stranger,
| that is, might be surprised at the ex-
| ceeding beauty of the singers whose
faces, on large posters, grace the out
side of the free music halls in the
Bowery, where the managers pay sal
aries and support themselves on the
profits of the scent glasses of beer
drunk. Anna Held, for instance, was
featured" in front of one of these
places for several weeks. Not a line
said that she was really within, but
the stranger who knew no better, II, in
| deed such innocence is to be found in
the Bowery, might we'll have gone in
side and enriched the Golfers by 5
cents in the hope of seeing the lovely
creature.
This trick, however, is not confined
to the Bowery. 1t is one commonly en-
| ployed, with more reason, by cheap
travelling repertory companies. Pa
| per" is bought wholesale, representing
attractive leading men and gracious
heroines, and these are pasted all over
the one night stands possibly attract
| ing large bucolic audiences. Outside the
theater itself it is a common practice
| to show the Photographs of we'll known
| New York actors who played the parts
| originally, although what benefit this
can be among people who have never
been in New York it is hard to see.
! Stock companies, too, exhibit photo
| graphs of actresses who are not with
the company, and the manager, II ask
ed by some friend who recognizes the
young woman, and wants to know If
she is now playing. will reply, mo.
! but we hope to have her with us Ia
ter" although the actress in question
may be at the other end of the coun-
! try.
An odd variation of this trick was
| played by a well-known manager who
would not lightly be accused of resort
| ing to such devices. A second COM
pany' toured the country while the
actress who had made the reputation
of the play continued in this city, but
the posters read after this fashion:
Miss Mary Smiths 'Rosamund," pre-
| scented by a select company" with
MARY Smiths 'Rosamund,' printed
in huge letters, and the note about the
| company in very small ones. The result
was that even we'll informed persons,
seeing the posters, would exclaim.
"Why. here's Mary Smith, who made
such a hit in New York" and would
| rush to the box office and secure seats.
merous tricks, each and all delicious to
those who look on from affair; but one
of the funniest is that of emptying the
| house whenever the management thinks
II needs fresh material The lights will
| all go out, and the audience will leave
but no sooner is the last man outside
the door than everything is bright. and
the walters win explain: Them fellers
wasn't orderin' no beer at ALL" The
climax of resourcefulness is reached
when a manager sells out a house to
somebody. which happens only occa-
sionally. Not long ago a youth APP
| peared at a cheap resort and expressed
himself as DESTROYS of seeing one of
the stars" of the house. She couldn't
be seen until II o'clock. maintained
the manager. whereupon the youth
| wanted to know how much the posi-
bilities of the audience might be In the
| matter of beer The manager modestly
estimated II at "a couple of dollars or
So" The young man offered S. to have
the house closed then and there The
manager gleefully accepted. and the
actress and her admirer walked away
4 NJ