The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-29
NEW YORK TOPICS
VIEWS, NEWS AND COMMENT FROM
THE METROPOLIS.

Value of Ideas in the Big City mt
the HudsOn's Mouth-How a Sux-
gestiOn Regarding a Play Led to
It's Change and Great Betterment.
1t Also Led to a MOve-up I'm the
World of the One Who Made the
Straightforward Enterprising Mo-
torman Who Hopes to Reap For
tune Through His New Idea rs to
Hand Brakes-ApprOachin Mar
riage of Reginald Vanderbilt and
CathIeen Nelson.
New York, March 2S.-There never
was a town where or a. time when ideas
were more in demand than they are in
New York now. Here is little story
apropos.
The other evening a young woman,
who has been earning her own living,
and a pretty good one, for some years,
accepted the invitation of a friend to
be present at the first performance of
a new play. At a certain part of the
second act there was a perceptible
slump" in the action of the piece. and
the audience, which had manifested
much interest, showed marked disap-
pointment.
1.-The author of this play" whispered
the young woman to her friend, will
have to change the action of the piece
right here. Now, if 1 had written it
/ would have things go so and so,'' in
dicating a radical change. Her friend
agreed with her and after the per-
formance was over went back of the
scenes and repeated the young wom-
ans suggestion to the manager and
his play purveyor.
They were both so taken with the
young woman's suggestion that the
next evening the change was made,
greatly to the betterment of the piece.
Before a week had passed the young
woman received a telegram from the
play purveyor, asking for an interview.
81 want to add you to our force"
said the theatrical magnate.
"Are you sure?" queried the young
woman, almost losing her breath from
surprise.
Perfectly" was the reply. THE sal
airy will be $4,000 a year to start with
and your financial advancement will be
a question of time only, unless I'm
much mistaken
Those who believe in luck may get
some comfort from this incident. The
young woman's idea would never have
been heard of if she hadn't happened
to attend that particular opening, nor
would the manager ever have known
about had the young woman not been
blessed with a friend who knew him
well enough to draw his attention to
the matter.
But the fact remains that it was the
idea that counted. The suggestion
made the play so much more valuable
as a drawing card that the increased
box office receipts of a few days only
will pay the young woman's salary for
a twelve-month. She is a good invest
ment if she gets half a dozen ideas
of the same calibre in a whole year.
Half a hundred such stories might
be told if only they could be gathered
up, every six months, in New York.
Every big corporation. every bank,
every railroad company, every manu-
featuring concern is ready to pay
good money to the man or woman
with an idea
There are pessimists who hold that
not half the people with good ideas
ever have a chance to make them
available because they don't know
but the chances are that sooner or later
nearly every one whose ideas are
really worth while gets his oppor-
tunity.
In the case of the young woman
mentioned, dramatic authorship has
been the goal to which she has aspired
ever since she was a little girl She
has studied successful plays and I'M
successful ones, without ceasng, for
years. She has even eSSayed the writ
ing of dramatic pieces and two or
three of her short stage sketches have
success. Thus she is pretty we'll
equipped for the place she has now
won.
Over in Brooklyn there is a trolley
motorman who has been nursing and
struggling for a long time with an
idea which he and his friends believe
will bring fortune to him.
Somewhat more than three years
ago his car got the better of him on
a slippery down grade. His brake
chain broke under the strain he put
on it in trying to stop. The result
was a collision with a loaded truck,
horse with a broken leg, and a truck
driver with a broken arm, while the
motorman himself sustained disagree
able hurts.
Its a wonder both the truckman
ana L were not killed, SdlO the no
torman day before yesterday, but we
weren't, and from that day on I be-
gan to study out a better hand brake
than any now in use. After a while
/ got the notion of it, but it took me
till about a month ago to get 1t in
good shape. Then l filed 'caveat'
on it, so as to protect myself, and
then 1 took it to the super of the
road. He liked it well enough to rig
up a car with it and my patent will
be granted soon.
1--WE had an offer for the invention
already and I'm hoping my motoring
days are over. The super offered to
give me a better job right now, but
the condition was that l should put
the patent into his hands when L get
it. I'm only a mortorman by trade,
but l couldn't see it in that light, no
how. 1 want to reap the fruit of my
own notion myself and I'm going to If
any one does. It's taken all my spare
cash to get it through, though, and I'll
be mighty glad when the money comes
back to me, / can tell you"