The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-19
NOTABLE ADVANCE SALES
OPENING BUSHES FOR SEATS ARE
DETRIMENT TO THEATRICAL
ATTRACTIONS
"MoGY" EXECUTES NEAT COUP
EIarshnIs Horde of Newsies and Buys
Up BOyd's Theater at Omaha
Other RecOrd-Break-
ing Sales.

About noon last Thursday a pretty
young woman rushed into the lobby of
the Metropolitan and pressing her flushed
face close to the copper bars, asked
with every indication of expecting a per-
emptOry negative:
Are there any left?'
Plenty" said the young man inside.
She gave a sigh OF relief. She had
not thought it possible. A pretty woman
in distress is always interesting, but
sometimes wnen she is gone and one re-
verts to her distress minus pretty woman
the most gallant cannot help thinking
it somewhat ridiculous.
She was in quest of Mansfield seats and
they had been on sale but three hours
She did not see three twentieth century
cavaliers just behind her in the shadow,
but they fell to discussing the topic Of
advance sales.
One of the trinity was Mr.. Mansflelds
personal representative, He has stored
away some interesting experiences on adj
vance sales.
THE great rush to get seats early for
Mr.. Mansfield does much narm in an In
direct way" said he. 1t gives the i'm
preston that all the seats are to go as
fast as they can be taken, whereas
the rush for any great attraction is short
lived. The word goes forth that there are
no more seats for Mansfield or all the
many who would like to come, and keeps
hundreds away.
Spectators hurt the sale of tickets
This is to be deplored. Different ex-
pcdients nave been tried in many cities
some with great success, though the
remedy was curious enough. In Buffalo
for instance, there was an advance evil
dence Of an Overweening desire to see
Mr.. Mansfield. The line began to form
ffty-two hours before the sale was to
open. Mr.. Sterling, the manager of the
Star Theater, hit upon a plan to kill off
the spectators in line and make way for
his patrons to get their seats without
premium. When he opened the ticket
window he announced that the number
of tickets to be sold each purchaser would
be unlimited. You can imagine the glee
of the spectators. But-and very large
but it proved to be-every purchaser
would have to be identified as to who he
was or for whom he was purchasing If
he didn't give satisfactory explanations
no tickets were sold to him. A book of
names and addresses was kept with the
seat numbers opposite each name
1T was a tedious clerical job on the
box office men, but Mr.. Sterling got his
reward. After the first rush was over,
and people who wanted the fifth row on
the aisle-yOu know everybody wants the
fifth row on the aisle-couldn't get it,
they began TO cry 'speculating,' and ac-
cuse the management of holding back
seats. Whereupon Mr. Sterling display
ed his directory of who had what This
system prevails in European theaters to
considerable extent.
Last week iE Omaha, Manager Burg
ess of the Boyd theater, made an effort
to prevent set of spectators from post
ing gamins in line for days before tho
opening Of the Mansfield sale. He posi-
lively refused to say when the sale would
open. No one knew. not even his treas
urer He announced it in the advertise
ments the morning of the opening. He
supposed this would give his patrons an
even chance with any SPECTATORS to get
early choice. But there was a sDry
young man who threw his calculations
out of Joint
This young man has another name.
but he is known all over Omaha as
Mogy. Now Mogy Is a kind of a news
BOY syndicate all to himself He has an
army of newsboys under him to whom
ne sells papers, and his loaflng place Is
the press room of the newspaper offices.
Whether by design or accident Mogy got
hold of a railroad edition Of the morn
ing paper, which went to press at mid
night. He saw in the advertising columns
that the sale of seats for Mansfield in
Henry "" would open in the morning
Perhaps Mogy blew a magic whistle or
did stunts with q wand. In some wav
between midnight and morning he gath
cred up forty-seven boys, and there they
were at the door of Boyd's when the
theater was opened for the Mansfield sale
1T has happened that the house has
been sold out for Mansfield without ever
opening the box office. Fosters opera
house at Des Moines holds that record.