Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06
ODD THINGS HAPPEN

"The man in the box office of theater
sees some odd occurrences" said MT, Joseph
Luckett, the well-known theatrical mana
ger. He is apt to form the conclusion that
Observation-Disclosures is the dominant charac-
teristfc of theater- goers. A few evenings
ago a friend of mine came perilousiy close
| to losing out on his prospective happy
| home through queer freak of absent
| mindedness.
| He brought his fiancee to the opera. 1t
was three-act opera When the curtain
fell on the second act he wandered out
here into the lobby for smoke. He met
In the lobby one of his pals, an enthusiast
over the game of billiards. My friend is
| pretty keen over billiards himself. The two
| fell to talking about the competition among
the amateur billiardists in progress in New
/ York this week for the championship Of
| the United States.
Say. they're getting returns of the
scores down at the Raleigh said my
friends friend Let's hop down there for
a minute and see how the game stands.
| Hop down to the Raleigh they did
They found group of billiard cranks down
| there waiting for the returns and COM
menting on the swell shots Of famous play
well, when the opera was over and
| everybody except the house employees had
| gone, / noticed my friends fancee standing
near the entrance. She looked far from
pleased. Without saying anything to her
sent boy hot foot to the Raleigh to
gather in the delinquent-I had heard bis
boy brought him back in jig time. I am
| bound to state that when he made his APP
pearanee his fiancee's eyes flashed in a bale
full way that would have caused me to hunt
for cover had / been their target My
| friend Is squaring himself yet. He came In
here on the following morning. looking
! gloomy. and requested me. as particular
| favor, to beat his head Off with piece Of
| gaspipe. He had forgotten all about the
| opera and his waiting fiancee in his interest
| In the billiard returns.
| ct told her that I'd never play another
game of billiards long as I lived and
breathed.' he said to me, sepulchrally. II
she'd Just let up on me and forget It, But
| she took the memory cure not long ago,
| blame the luck!
"a couple of weeks ago the wife of an
| other friend of mine came to the matinee.
| She was to meet her husband In the lobby
| She had the tickets. She had bought them
| about week before. After she had waited
! in the lobby for a good three-quarters OF an
| hour, and the performance was well under
| way I caught sight of her. AS she looked
| puzzled. I asked her if I could be of any
| assistance to her.
| ''She told me that she was waiting FOR
her husband. And he must have remember
! ed that 1 had the tickets for this matinee,
| for l mentioned it to him no later than day
| before yesterday, at breakfast she added.
| We'll that put it up to me- Fact is, han
seen her husband entering the theater
| few minutes before she arrived Ana ne
| wasn't alone. He had an exceedingly hand
| some young woman, whom mad never seen
| before. with him.
| Il thought of that maxim respecting the
| gilt-edge character of silence. and so
didn't say anything to her, except TO sug-
gest that he would probably be along pres
emily. and to invite her to be seated in my
| office
"Then 1 hustled into the theater and
! found my friend I made a funnel or my
| hands and solemnly whispered to him, SO
that he only could hear the words:
| "Low bridge. there. old man-your Vile
| is out in my office, waiting for you. ohe
| got the tickets, you know, and you were 10
meet her. Member?
II expected to see him fall out of his seat
OF something like that, but he didn't
by George, that's right clean forgo oe
| about it. he replied. SIS addressing the
| handsome young woman with him, Lucy Is
| outside, waiting for me. | guess she won
be sore on me for standing her up. was
| booked to fetch her to this matinee, you
| know and forgot all about It,.
| well, it was all too deep for me, but L
| stood by, waiting to see what was going to
| come off He hustled out to the office with
| me- and greeted his wife with an enthusf-
| astic and vociferous apology.
| "'Cool boy all right 1 said to- myself
when l saw him do that. Got the nerve Oh
| a bulldog straight enough.
! But 1t all right. The handsome
young woman inside was his sister. He
| had met her on F street. She had two
| matinee tickets, the girl friend who was to
| accompany her to the matinee having been
| forced to remain at home on account of a
| cold So she invited her brother to take
in the matinee with her, and he, forgetting
| that he was to take his wife to that
| matinee, had accepted the invitation.
II breathed profound sigh of relief
| when it had all Strengthened itself out in
| this cheerful way, wherefore my friend,
who heard the sigh, turned upon me one
| of those you-wrong-me gazes. But the
| next morning he sent me box of cigars.
| accompanied by note, In which he ad-
| dressed me as Johannes-Right-The
| Therea bouts. l wonder what he could have
| meant?
! Lots of folks get their theaters mixed
and stand around in the lobby disconsolate-
| ly waiting for people who are waiting for
| them in similar state Of gloom or i'm
patience at other theaters. The first mat
inee of the week in my house is ON Thurs
| day. you remember, instead of Wednesday,
! the usual day at the other theaters. A
| couple of weeks ago demonstrating man
came into the lobby Wednesday after
noon and took up his stand near the door.
| A heavy advance sale was in progress, and
| lots of people were coming in and going
out. This impaired an air of liveliness to
| the lobby. The man had entered the lobby
| about half-past 3. Along toward o'clock
| he began to stamp up and down in front
of the entrance, pulling on his mustache
and looking hostile. At o'clock I went
up to him and asked him if there was any
way in which 1 could serve him.
| nave you got any tunS TO 90 Win tnIS
| Internal theater? he demanded of me.
| 81 told him that did chores around the
| place.
well. then he fiercely asked me, will
! you be good enough to inform me when the
| COMPOUNDED show is going to be over or
| have l got to clomp around here all night,
| waiting for my wife?'
II edged back as to get out of the
| danger zone, and then L informed him that
| there was nothing doing at the Columbia
| Theater that afternoon.
| Dye mean to tell me that I've been
! hanging around here like a fat-head for
two hours for nothing. he bawled at me,
| and that this Sergeant Peggy" Cor
| poral Kitty show, or whatever you call it,
| isn't being played here this afternoon%
| II moved back few more steps, and told
him that such was the identical situation
| and that the performance he had in mind
had been on view that afternoon at another
! Washington theater, although, I added, the
matinee had probably been over about
| three-quarters of an hour before.
| He stormed out, the Misunderstanding in
| dividual I've seen going through swinging
| door for a long time.
I THE last time mothers congress was
| held in Washington-eh. no, not at this
| theater-a weakened, Misunderstanding little
| hi civ lie ctra to-