New-York tribune., 1901-11-24

in modern civilization In these colDrnns fros'
time TO time tribute has been paid tc his csr-
fulness and his sterling qualities. and sorTcw
has been EXPRESSED for his faults Now. though
the public knows something OF what 'he press
agent does. Il knows little Of what he would Tx"
to do because 1t is often convenient sl1 hSces-
.ary that the press agent should stano oerweeh
the directors Of enterprises and the newspaper
man so the newspaper stands between e-e
press agent and the public
1t is the purpose Of this article to consider only
one class Of press agent the theatrical ana 10
disclose some of the secrets OF tbs prison house
I, fs the purpose to lay bare his nlonstrous, his
hideous his constituencies, his colossal mendacitT.
It has been suggested that II would aiouse INC
readers OF the paper II some Sunday. Instead o.
printing the usually carefully prepared column OK
theatrical notes. should prinr fully and accurate
" lust what the press agents send n TO Dc
printed. There has never been time. however.
when the paper had page and a half TO srsTs Tor
that purpose. and 1t would take about that In
stead Of thfs there will be offered here few
SAMPLES Of the efforts OF the press agents TO get
the paper to say things. chosen as typical from
examples covering considerable period In most
cases the attempt Will be raa6s TO conceal the
idant.ty OF the theatres and pays as scfae CT the
nress agents have now take, up ether occupations
ard are trying Ieea better l,ves II should %
said too that rnany times tne Pres< AGENT hno"s
better all the time. but manager VINO does not
know better insists lis sending to the papers
fuIsone boasts which 10 sehresPectins pspe'
would think Of printing. Even then tc> Will 10
lie is the managers ahd the ski!i 10 hs Is 'he
press agents. TO begin wiki something simples
here is d Of plain lying;
- is uncuesttonGbly the most remarkable
work both as a piece OF literature and ~ a pay
that has been given the world IN tnis generation
and ii is more than probable tnat ID WIZ taAe It's
place among the classics.
The play concerning which this written
remarkable chiefly for its unattractiveness. and II
was an abject failure, 1t deserved to be- Ot
course the commonest form of press agent lying
is plain exaggeration
AT the time OF the marriage Of Miss van
derbit to the Duke Of Marlborough there was
play in town which had a ballroom scene
and the press agent desired the papers to say
that the scene cost much as the Vatoeroiit
wedding. 1t nobody's business wnat the "eo-
ding cost. but it was Variously estimated at iioi
100000 to $4,000 The production of the play IN
question, ballroom scene and all, may have cost
$4,000. and that is a very expensive play mere
is another bit OF exaggeration The name OF the
play does not in the least matter 1t VIII NC
noted that the press agent doesn't care at all
for Shakespeare and Goethe and Hugo anu an
those other fellows:
That scene in the second where Lord =,
desists from his temptation ruin young and
pann5lsnes have eonduered the evil inclinatons
set people 10 talking and Will VIII De hS sii odds
the strongest situation ever presented In d Pldy'
And here is truly touching bit;
Who will sing at the Madison square
Garden concert next Sunday evening is remark aTsd
the attention of Milan pr who who made mac se It's
norma fitted away from him to fame and fortune
it is said that he slowly pned away Yet ne never
breathed word of love to her in his life The
gifted singer is said to keep his death mask among
her rnementos. She has a peculiarly haunting
voice and a marked individuality.
1t may be remarked that the singer for whom
the poor Milan professor thus pined away never
had any fame or fortune. that she never was heard
of before. has been heard of since and never
ought to have been heard of at all The question
suggests itself if the professor made the perfection
of her voice the study of his life how old must
she have been when he got through? Here was a
press agent with a for keen observation and
philosopaizing:
interesting to watch the audience o in theatres
where farces are being r. ne Of the annes
pieces ever seen here Every night a different
Usually the same lines win arouse exactly the same
amount Of laughter Thus goes to snow r caat 70 the ne
successful must be as carefully and scientifically
The Joke of this was that the farce IN question
was of the worst ever seen and closed In about
two weeks the managers having lost whatever
they put into It,
The following was sent to the paper for pubiica-
tion at a time when the business department was
trying In vain to collect q bill for advertising
from the colossal amusement concern;
1t may be hard to believe. yet it is nevertheless
true. that it requires an al round ma managen1aI eda
vile Entertainment enterprise. The large and va
ried managerial experiences of - - nave
been actively utilized in his management or the
- Roof Gardens this sumner. HIS dlrectlon OF
this colossal amusement concern mas oeen nishIy
sIccessful and has launched this latest ana
largest Of entertainment enterprises on the hlSh
wave of public popularity
One of the tricks of the trade is an appeal to
the love of mystery The press agent wishes the
newspaper to convey readers that 1t Is using
superhuman efforts to find out what the coming
play is about but In vain. For example:
There is to be . new melodrafnauc sensasJ 1ht