The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-05-11
JAKE. WELLS THE. TIEATRIC
NAPOLEON OF THE. SOUTH
Local Oscar Hammerstein
Tells of His Rise.
HARD LUCK AT FIRST
as g: csaudeville house. this being Jan
uary 10Th, 1899.

as g; vaudeville house. this being jan
uary 10Th. 1899.
AWFUL TIMES.
We'll 1t would MT be fair to say that
the first two or three weeks were bad in
the matter Of attendance. They were
awful. There IS no expressing it. The
first weeks bill had Press Eldridge.
Bloclsson and Burns and people like that,
cur avowcd salary Of $700 being fractured
III this case because it was an opening
sD!urge. OF course we lost money, some
s],700 in the first three weeks. which was
swift enough for me. About this time
Barrow lost his father and two brothers
and he sold his interest to Mr.. Mckee.
Then on February 18th came q blizzard
It was all sorts Of a blizzard. We had
to close the house. I know we had
Wormwoods monkeys in the bill. That
was the only act that could get in to the
city, the others being snowbound at va
rious points.
st had borrowed $3.50 on the outside
and that was gone quick. And then
those blessed monkeys. not being from
the arctic regions, tried to freeze to
death. Two OF the last dollars Of the
$3.50 went to buy a bushel Of coal to
keep those precious monkeys warm.
Then after we got the monkeys thawe6
out bit Mckee and went over and
the house. We could hardly get to It..
It was half covered with snow.
DECIDED to QUIT.
'"lnere we talked the matter over and
decided to divide up what little we had
among our creditors-and, Oh Lord. there
were enough of them-and quit. Then it
developed that Mckee had two hundred
and fifty real dollars. almost took it
away from him an dthis gave us g, sort
of fresh start Then we gave a benefit
for the poor and destitute. largely with
local talent. We netted $47S.20 and gave
it to them That must have been our
mascot, for from that point things be-
gan to happen to- us. But we didn't
know it. I wired to New York to can
eel the following weeAs show, and the
answer came from 1turtig and Seamon
saying it was too late to cancel, to play
the show and do the best we could. And
our profits for that week were $500. It
shocked us. We made $500 on the
season. The following year we spent
So, 500 ref1tting the house, ard I won't
tell you what we made. Then I tried
the Jefferson Hotel roof-garden. but it
wouldn't do, and then l got hold OF the
Casino with an agreement with the
street railway companies which shut out
opposition.
FOLLOWING this we formed the Bijou
Company with $4,000 paid In capital.
We built the CRANKY in Norfolk. bought
this property, and spent $4,000 in Inn
provements. Last year I took Ocean
View and since then have taken houses
in Lynchburg and Petersburg. Then fol-
lowed the Biiou Comedy Company, the
taking Of the Atlanta house. Roanoke
and straight on to the present"
The Lynchburg, Charlotte and Peters
burg houses were secured by Mr.. Wells
for Mr.. Thomas G. Leath. and Mr.. Leath
will book these houses. Meanwhile the
plans are always being widened; the ul-
innate achievement will be the control
OF the South at popular prices in the
hands of a. man who four years ago
knew nothing of the show business and
had about the same amount of money.
Mr. Wells, as a tribute to what the Bijou
Company is doing said he would not sell
his holdings in it for three to one.