davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
THEATRE TRUST MAR.
The LNDOMITABLE BELASCO CIV
ING THE SHOW COMBINE A
FIGHT FOR ITS LIFE.
Threatened With Extinction, He Has
Organized an Opposition Which
Has Attracted Some of the Bright
est of the Theatrical Stars.

David Belasco for a number of
years has been waging a war against
the theatrical trust. He has been
assisted in years past by Minnie Mad
dern Fiske, the wife of Harrison Grey
Fiske, owner and editor of the Dram
attic Mirror. This year the Shubert
Brothers broke off ali business rela
tons with Klaw and Erlanger, the
moving spirits of the theatre trust,and
now a combination with a capital of
$1,500,000, of Belasco, Harrison Grey
Fiske, John c. Fisher, Frank L. Per
ley and the Shubert Brothers has been
formed, acquiring about thirty thea
tres, extending from Boston to StLou-
IS, in which they might produce theat
rical productions without the dictum
of the trusts.
David Belasco, ever since his sever
ance Of relations with the trust has
made strenuous efforts to acquire a
theatre in the nations capital, as he
has found that the cosmopolitan ma
ture of its people assists him greatly
in determining whether new produc-
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
ENVIRONMENT A MOULDER OF
CHARACTER.
BY ii. S. BlGELOM.

The other day | saw a group of boys
| carefully scanning a theatre poster.
| The picture showed a man in the act
| of plungiDg a dagger in the throat of
woman. The boys did not run or
scream. But their eyes were big and
the intensity of their faces showed
that the horror of the picture was not
| lost upon them. Near by were two
younger children playing together in
the gutter. Their faces were smeared
with the mud made by the dish water
running over the sidewalk. and the
children were amusing themselves
floating cigar stumps in the disgusting
pool.
Rejecting upon that sad sight there
came to mind other childhood scenes.
There stood out in memory a little lake
that nestled among the hills where
sweet-breathed cattle browsed and
where the branches of great trees were
mirrored in crystal waters. There
were the boathOuse and the swimming
hole and the spring board; and there
were summer nights, too, when the
leaves were still and stars were bright
and the spirit of the child looked up in
silent wonder.
In the race of life, in the contest Of
physical endurance, in the moral tests
that come, that child has not a fair
chance who has sprung out of the mud
of the streets.
To know the breath of lilacs and the
rustic of autumn leaves, to be up with |
the lark, to wet ones feet in the dew
Of the pasture, to go to bed with the
song Of tha whin-nOor-wiII-t bpca MON. |
Dries are like guardian angels.
The children whose horizon is d
brick wall, who must play on cobble
stones and go swimming in the canal
and be chased by the police, if they do
lot grow up to be ideal citizens, shall
We, of holier memories, sit in judg-
nent upon them? Shall we not remem-
Der their bonds?
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Worse Than Tobacco Cigarettes.

London is reported to be in the throes
of a new vice-a vice which is not only
getting society into a turmoil, but is
also attracting the attention of the
medical fraternity. 1t is the tea-leaf
cigarette habit-one in which women
are becoming the chief adopts, and
which they find great difficulty in over
coming. Once the taste for the new
weed" is acquired, it is said the SEN
sation of smoking tea cigarettes is
quite pleasant. Dizziness is caused by
constant smoking and the victims
clutch madly for invisible and
imaginary objects to support them
selves. They finally drop in an ex-
hausted and stupeied condition, and
then follows that wild state of dream
land said to be as varied as that caused
by powerful narcotics.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Fortunes in Church Steepres.

1t is the opinion of Rev. DR.. Forbes
Secretary Of the Board of Extension
of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
that enough money has been expended,
or it may be said wasted, in building
steeples, to pay off all the church debts
of the country. Besides, be says,
steeples are a relic of barbarism, and
money used in their construction can
be more usefully expended. A good
many people will hardly agree with
the reverend doctor in his opinion that
church steeples are useless or serve no
good end. Grace and beauty are lent
to thousands of otherwise common
place looking towns and cities by the
spires rising here and there from their
midst. Everything cannot be strictly
unitarian, and If a thing serves to
please the eyes and senses Of hundreds
or thousands Of people, 1t is far from
being useless
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
THE REAL HEART OF THINGS

York faced for weeks coal famine
that paralyzed her activities and al
most killed her poor. Manufacturers
could not secure enough fuel to run
their plants and women on the "east
side"paid ten cents for as much coal
as would fill quart pail. The suf-
fering In this city was out of all pro
portion to that of the rest of the coun-
try.
All food products come from the
outside. New York uses three million
eggs every day, and beef arrives in
whole train loads daily. The city must
go to the country for its building ma
terials, for wool cotton. everything
that is needed to run it's factories,
stores and banks.
Dependent on the Country.
The reckless expenditures of the
city dweller are continually giving rise
to the question, Where does the mon
ey come from?' From the country,
of course. Every wildcat scheme
that is Matched in New York, from
Wall Street to Madison Square, in
augurates its proceedings by send
ing circulars into the country, to
catch the dollars of the farmer.
The operations of the stock ex-
change are all based on the condi-
ton OF the country. A short wheat
crop, slump in the production of
grain, or the prospect of one, turns the
floor of the Exchange into pande--
monium. Year by year the eyes of the
moneyed interests are turned to the
earth, figuratively speaking, and the
keenest minds OF the metropolis are
specializing as to what success the
farmer is going to have with his crops.
The results OF that speculation involve
millions Of dollars All the country
knows what happens in New York
when the cotton crop fails. The beef
strike last year caused meat to van
ish from a million family dining
tables In New York city. In summer
eggs at 35c dozen are too expensive
as an article OF diet for more than half
the city's population.
Material and money she gets from
the outside; and rarely, indeed, does
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Prehistoric Sculpture.

An idea of the small brain capacity
of primitive man can be gathered
from a crude stone head, now on ex-
hibition, which was recently found
in field at Moriches, Long Island.
The head, while crude in its work.
manship, is pronounced by ethnolo-
gists as doubtless true to nature
a representation of some savage and
prehistoric people who lived ages ago.
The head is not particularly pleas
ing bit Of sculpture, as it calls up
vision of men and women with small
brain development and huge repulsive
jaws but degree above the other
animals.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
AFamous Theatre Site.

Lafayette Theatre is comparative
ly modern playhouse, and occupies the
site on which formerly stood the Sew
ard mansion, in which Secretary Sew
ard of Lincoln's cabinet lived when
an attempt was made to assassinate
him the same night President Lin
coin was shot. In later years the
house was occupied by Secretary
Blaine.
Last year David Belasco found all
theatres in the national capital with
closely barred doors. He was arrang-
ing to make the initial production of
"Adrea," Mrs. Leslie Carriers latest
success, and found no building in
Washington suitable for a conversion
into a theatre, except Convention Hall,
probably the largest auditorium south
of New York, and in years previous
used for an ice palace, for six day BIZ
cycle races, athletic meetings and
other institutions requiring great
space. This had hall some $50 feet
in length by 125 feet in width, with a
roof carried on huge semi-circular ar
ehes rising to a height of nearly fifty
feet above the floor. Such barn as
this Mr.. Belasco in a few days con
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20

main clearing house for the whole
country. All the mighty spectacle of
commerce Is merely the dramatic and
gorgeously staged representation of
the nations money, material and men,
which build up the metropolitan mech.
anism and set it in motion.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
REAL HEART OF THINGS.
Its Found Not in the Great Cities /;
But in Country Homes.


But in Country Homes.
'In time the great cities may be-
come dominant, but it will be many
years hence, and would be sorry
should l live to see the day." said
James j. Hill, President OF the Great
Northern railroad. THE national well
fare depends upon the prosperity of
the farm lands, the mining districts,
the lumber camps-not on the growth
of big cities. The agricultural inter
ests in particular represent the great
est strength of the country, and will
for many years to come.
Yet men stand appalled, at the spec
tacle of a metropolis. Let us take
New York, as our most striking eX-
ample-where the visitor gapes at the
crowded markets, the endless traffic,
the hurrying throngs, the skyscrapers,
the roaring factories, the hustle of
commerce, all the urban reek and
riot, and needless of what lies behind,
the hidden motor power, cries:
Here is the heart of things; here is
the pulse of the national life; here the
life blood of the nation centers, life
blood which, flowing through the veins
of commerce, gives vigor to all the
land" New York, the heart of the
country? Rather New York the par
as'+o-the blood sucker
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20

to actor and manager The success
of this plan opened a larger vista Of
profit, and the securing of all the thea
tres in the country has led to the de
struetion of competition with the two
formidable exceptions noted. In the
other theatres the manager has be-
come the ''janitor," while the syndicate
dictates prices, attractions and other
features
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20

tions will be a success or not. In Sep
TENDER, however, announcement was
made that he in communion with the
Shubert Brothers, had acquired con
troll of the Lafayette Theatre in Wash
ington, and also had taken up 90
year lease on the ground on which the
theatre is built, giving them absolute
possession of the property.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
MARY, MOTHER OF WASHINGTON
Handsome Monument Erected by
Patriotic Citizens.

Patriotic Citizens
The monument of Mary Washing
ton, the mother of George Washing
ton, stands on the western side OF
Fredericksburg, Virginia. almost und-
er the shadow of Marye's Heights.
of bloody Civil WAR memory. Mary
Washington died of cancer, August %.
1889. 1t was in April that year, that
Washington rode from Mount Vernon,
to say farewella final farewell
to his mother before starting for New
York to be inaugurated first Presi-
dent of the United States In a let
ter to his sister Betty Washington,
who lived in Fredericksburg, Wash
ingtOn wrote, after learning of his
mothers death, when / was last in
Fredericksburg l took my final leave
of my mother, never expecting to see
her more"
Neglected Tomb.
For a hundred wears the grave of
this good woman lay unprotected. on
what had been part of the farm of her
daughter Betty Washington. but
which became a common of the city
of Fredericksburg. For half a cen
fury the grave was marked by little
stone slab but this disintegrated,
and disappeared. Various fruitless
efforts were made to build a monu-
ment, and in 1880 a New York bank
er, Silas Il. Burroughs, offered to give
an elaborate monument. The corner
stone was laid with imposing cere-
monies by President Andrew Jackson,
but Burroughs met with financial re-
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Loosing the Docs OF War.

But it is now war to the knife be-
tween the two forces, trust and anti
trust, thrust and Antitrust Wheth-
er the trust will be successful and
absorb the Independents, remains to
be seen. Probably not, so long as it
has to deal with men who know their
actor proteges, know the method of the
trust, know how to produce a play
with unsurpassed taste and know that
the American people will pay admis-
sion to witness an Incompatible pro-
ductiOn all the more willingly because
of the herculean efforts made to pre-
sent it to them. Belasco, in the new
combination which he has organized
seems to have gotten his knife well in
between the ribs of his antagonist and
is beginning already to twist it vigor-
ously.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20

verted into modern playhouse
through the magic touch Of gold,
which he has found to be the most Of
fensive and defensive weapon against
the combine.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20

she even produce the men to handle
them. A glance at biographies will
tWt captains of industry,
merchant princes, men of art, profess
sions, laborers, are country bred, from
A. T. Stewart Ito go no further back
to the Rockefellers, Clewes, Depews
and all the rest of the present day
leaders.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Money Scent Ike Wafer.

The regulations of the District of
Columbia to protect theatre patrons
against the danger of fire, are ex-
tremely rigorous, and 1t was these
that the trust used as weapon to
thwart Belasco in his endeavor to
have this last production first appear
in Washington as have other plays,
which are known as general successes.
The burden of expense for this work
did not fall upon the owners of Con
vention Hall. but upon Mr., Belasco,
who paid. in order to make this hall
into modern fire-proof theatre, an
amount aggregating nearly $4,000.
The present theatrical combine or
trust" had first conducted legiti-
mate booking syndicate, charging for
the service five per centof the prof
it's an enterprise advantageous alike
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Even The People From The Country,

DIR. John II. Girdner, an eminent
New York physician, said recently:
Build a wall around New York city
allow no new men to enter, and in fifty
years the city will depopulate itself.
This city makes too many demands
upon those who live and work in it.
Thousands drop out each month. 1t is
the fresh country people flocking here
day by day that furnish the brains,
sinews and pluck to carry the metrOp
oils to its destiny. It's success in the
past has been due to this out-of-town
element and will continue to be-"
Men, men, men," is the constant
cry that New York sends out over the
country and the response is adequate,
eager and satisfying. 1t is in this fact
that assurance of the city's still
greater advance lies. Capital flow
ing in from the country made Wall
street a by-word to all the world.
Material drawn from the coun-
try has made her the greatest man
ufacturing town in the United States.
Men attracted from the country
have made her financial mistress of
the western hemisphere.
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
a Giant Exhibition.

-. best, New York is but a monster
exhibit of the products of mines,
farms, cattle ranges, mills and factor
les, and of the rural homes where gen.
ius is born, nourished and inspired.
What more speaking symbol of these
things than the city's skyline. In it
self that skyline of marvellous archi-
lecture, save as it excites wonder, adj
miration and a sense of enterprise and
activity amounts to nothing. What it
signifies in each ascention and depres-
sion is the comparative values of the
country's material resources.
COncisely, it represents capital la
Dor and raw material. OF these three
the city produces not one-in appreci-
able quantity, The raw material, the
men to handle it, the gold to buy and
sell the finished product, come out of
the ground and from the open spaces.
New York, Chicago, St Louis, or
any other city, has its inception in the
open country, and its existence is and
ever will be dependent upon the latter
None recognizes this more quickly
than the city man. He knows from
experience that the city suffers first,
last and most from any national dis
aster. To go no further back than the
coal strike of three winters ago-New
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
Cities Not SeIf-Dependent.

Not only is she dependent upon the
open spaces for men, material and
money, but even for trade. AS com
pared to the amount of money spent
in this city by out of town buyers, the
sum expended by its own inhabitants
dwlndles into insignticance. In recog-
milton of this, the Merchants Associa
ton of New York annually arranges
with railroads. for cheap transporta
ton, and with hotels for rock bottom
rates, and runs excursions to gather
in the out-of-town buyers.
During the month of August over
400 buyers from the south and west
were in New York, and during Septem.
Der this number largely increased
Reckoning under the average of pas
years each merchant spent more than
$4,000, and thus through the efforts
of the Merchants Association alon
more than $400,000,G0O is left in the
city each year. But this is merely a
fraction of the trade which the city
receives from the rest of the country
A conservative estimate places the
gross income at $1,250,0O0,00O.
Each American city is clearing
house for the rural or mining district
surrounding it, and New York the
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20
MONEI FOR POLITICS.
LEGISLATION TO PROHIBIT COR,
PORTIONS MAKING CANE
PAIGN PAYMENTS.
Question of Taxing Patent Medicines
to Be Discussed by Congress-One
Method Suggested to Meet Deficit.

There are prospects that two pieces
of legislation will be strongly advo-
Gated at the coming session of Con-
gress, both of which, however, will be
vigorously opposed. They relate to the
The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1905-10-20

practice of making political contribu-
lions and to the question of taxation
upon certain patent medicines, al
though this latter is but a feature of
the general subject of overcoming the
Treasury deficit.
1t Is expected that the President will
refer in his annual message to the
question of campaign contributions,
and it is known that there are many
Senators and Representative who
would favor prompt action in the en-
actment of prohibitive legislation.
The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-03-10

Government of college students by
boards of honor is succeeding. The last
report is of a Princeton freshman who
cheated at an examination and was
promptly expelled by the board of hon
or, all of whose members are students.
His name was suppressed in order that
he may not be permanently stigmatized.
This plan Of relying upon the honor OF
the students instead of the detective
ability OF the faculty has always been
in force at the University of Virginia,
and of late years it has been introduced
into Northern colleges. A system that
develops fine sense of honor is worth
more than all the text books can teach.
The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-03-10
ATHENA, MARCH -. 10, 1905

In the opinion of the governor and
other state officials the referendum can
not be taken on items of the appropr1a-
tion bill, but must be taken as to the
whole, or not at all. For instance, the
appropriations for the normal schools
cannot be attacked alone, says the Salem
Journal. AS the whole proceeding is to
be under the initiative and referendum
amendment of the constitution, it would
be held by the courts that the normal
schools could not be siagled out alone
to be held up, and their appropriations
would probably be recognized as legal
as any, and they would be warranted in
asking for certificates for claims, and
would run just the same as any other
institution. That would be followed by
litigation that might result in giving
them legal status that they are not
entitled to, and defeat the very object
the present agitation is directed against.
A movement by the initiative to abolish
two of the normal schools, and put the
other two under one board of regents
would stand far better chance of ac-
complishing results than the present
referendum of the whole appropriation
bill. Hanging up the whole bill to
punish the normal schools is too much
like burning down the house to get rid
of an undesirable tenant. Even if 450O
names can be got to the petitions to re-
fer the whole bill, it is very uncertain
whether the bill would not be held up
by the people. A campaign would be
made and the number of men who would
attack educational appropriations on the
stump before the people is very small.
1t would be shown that even little Idaho
is paying more for her educational in
stitutions than Oregon, that California
has six normal and technical training
schools, and that Washington gives her
three normal schools l25,O00 each, or
more than Oregon gives for support for
all four, voters will consider that this
state is getting off cheaply, and will
vote for the bill. The campaign OF
those who would advocate abolishing
all normal schools would not get very
far as it is contrary to all sound Judgment
in educational matters. There is not a
state in the Union but supports normal
schools and supports them more liberal
ly than Oregon for the training OF the
common school teachers. The common
schools can only be weakened, crippled
and rendered inefficient by cutting off
the normal schools and when the matter
is fully threshed out the people will
The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-03-10

The Oregonian gives the segregated
cost for clerk hire at the recent session
of the legislature. The total amount,
$27 1887 40, is as much as was required
as expenses for an entire session a few
years ago. The senate is by far the
most extravagant body, expending $11,-
7S0 for the clerical aid it required. Not
content with allowing clerks pay for the
entire session of 40 days, in its magma
nimity the senate voted the overworked
(?) clerks from 8 to 20 days overtime for
evening work. The sum expended by
the house for clerical aid was $9290,
while $6317.4O was the sum paid joint
committee clerks in the investigation Of
state institutions.
The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-03-10
Notice.

In the County Court OF the State Of
Oregon for Umatilla County.
In the matter of the es- Notice of final
tate Of Angus Nc acc cunt and
Donald, deceased. settlement.
Notice is hereby given that /, Hugh
Worthington, executor of the estate of
Angus Mcdonald, deceased, fled my
final account and report in the said es-
tate on the End day of February, 1906,
in the County Court of Umatilla Coun-
ty, Oregon; that Hon. H. j. Bean,
County Judge, thereuron appointed
Saturday the 4th day of March, 1905, at
the hour of 10 o'clock in the forenoon,
as the time, and the County Court
House as the place where any and all
objections to said final account will be
heard and the settlement of the same
passed upon.
Dated this 3rd day of Feb, 1905.
Will M. Peterson, Hugh Worthington,
Attorney. Executor.
The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-03-10
Notice.

In the County Court of the state of Ore
gon, for Umatilla County.
In the matter Of the Notice to Cred
Stone, Deceased. itors'
Notice is hereby given that l have
been duly appointed executor Of the
estate of Permelia Stone, deceased, by
the above entitled court. All persons
having claims against the said estate
are hereby required to present them to
me at the law Office of Will M. Peterson,
Athena, Oregon, with proper vouchers
as by law required, within six months
from first date of this notice.
Dated this 3lst day of January, 1905.
Will M. Peterson, e. H. Stone,
Atty. for Estate. Executor.