The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-31
Worlds Fair Amusements.
Prospects and Possibilities for the Theatrical
People in St. Louis in 1908.

other scope parlors will dot the city: pos
sibly there will be panoramas, and CYCLIC
ramas, and other kinds Of 'ramas, until
The visitor cannot rest for the noise of the
bankers therefor.
l doubt not that there will be 'wild
West shows. and c%ircuses. and other
things Of a like interesting nature.
Then there will be races, and baseball
games. and other sporting tournaments, Of
which it is not within my PROVINCE to speak
further.
But the principal subdivision Of this class
of amusements will be the theaters. 1t
would be the veriest speculation to say
that new theaters will be built. or will not
he built; or TO predict where they will be
located if they are built. Therefore, that
matter is not worth considering in q news
paper article. The public. 1 fancy, is rath-
er more concerned in the probable things
hat may be seen than In where they may
be ~seen-whether in n new playhouse or an
old one. downtown or uptown. The attrac-
zion is the thing.
The experience Of the managers in Chi
caso made it plain that there is not much
money TO be made by the theaters in the
hot months. unless there can be found a
way to make them more comfortable than
nv ave OttH Will Iue thermometer
struggling to reach the top Of the tube,
In Chicago. none of the big theaters be-
San TO make money until the cool weather
began. l do not want to be understood a,
saying that they lost money: my belief is
that they did not at any time fall much
below expenses. if they did not, in fact, al
ways have a bit Of a surplus at the end Of
the week. Bat l mean that 1t was not I'M
Ill the latter part of August that they real
~ began TO gather in riches, and pile I'D
enormous profits. There was q time. early
In the season, when that famous produc-
ton. America was very close to being
taken off the Auditorium stage. and some
thing else substituted. America" was dis
tinctively n fair play, dealing with a Co.
lumbar incident. The, crowds that came
10 view 1t were for aNlong while 80 far
below the expectation of Abbey, Schoenel &
Grau that they began to seriously dis
cuss its withdrawal, and at one time the
weight Of a hair would have tipped the
scale from the point of hesitancy to that
of determination to put the great spectacu-
lar production on the shelf.
1t was just about then that the current
of popular favor turned toward America"
Perhaps the wherefore of 1t cannot be ex-
planned. 1t is not profitable to look too
closely into such things: 1t is wholly sufl-
cient to know that they are so. A spell
of cool weather coming along at this period, |
America became the most popular Of the
fair theatrical attractions.
L positively do not know whether the
Olympic and Century theaters will be open |
during the hot months of the Fair. That
Is a matter which Mr.. Spalding, owner of
the houses. has not discussed with me as
Vet. Perhaps some means for cooling the
houses will be devised before that time: |
wonders can be worked in two years. Per-
hans We shall have a ~refrigerating system |
that VIII supply the necessary amount of
fresh. cool air. without a draft. and make |
the theater in summer as comfortable as in
winter.