The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-04-01

i AeN IIUS, 061u the uIld1lC4STs
'Yousee, we don't mind giving loans
on such. property, but it would never
do for us to advance money on a theat-
er. What would our policy holders
sayr
fool, and he has since admitted to me
that he was in the argument he put
up. Since that time he has offered
to loan me money several times, but
have never accepted his offers
These two instances show the pre-.
judice existing in the minds Of moneyed
men against theatrical managers. II
is a. wonder to me that the theatrical
! business is on as high a plane as 1t
Is to-day This discrimination is all
due to few crooked managers who
have done their best to make the
business discredited.
! Want Aisle Seats,
But to get back to the playgoers.
Every man who buys seats wants the
seats on the aisle. When he can't get
them on the aisle he always suspects
! that the man in the box office is hold
Ing out on him. Nine times out of ten
he tells the box office man so. Then,
after this gratuitous insult he wonders
why the ticket seller treats him with
GOODNESS.
Some men want seats away down
|
the middle of the house, while a COM
paratively few will only sit it the rear
Of the house. Every seat can't be an
| aisle seat. 1t the seats can't be obtain
| ed where they are wanted the buyer
| Is sure to make some sarcastic remark.
4 suppose you have sold all the
good seats to the SPECTATORS one
kicker remarked yesterday, as he start
ed away with a pair of seats within
~ ho <A1 +AAr
| THAT sort of kicker is the one
who waits to the last to obtain his
seats. Then he wonders why he can't
get what he wants.
Maybe the box office man sells seats
down near the stage to some one who
appears to be delighted when the pur-
chase is made. Then let US jump to
! the night of the performance for which
! those near the stage tickets have been
| sold.
Most people forget that the tempera-
ture on the stage and that of the body
| of the house differ sometimes as much
as 20 degrees. It's impossible to keep
! the stage warm in cold weather. There
| is always a draft on the stage because
there are so many doors and skylights
The minute the curtain goes up the
| temperature in the front Of the house
changes and those near the stage feel
it.
They Immediately begin to find
fault with the management for selling
them tickets so near the stage. They
hustle out to the box office and declare
that unless their seats are changed
| they will have pneumonia They want
other seats. They can see that there
are no vacant seats, but what diff
ference does that make to them?
IF you sell person seat behind
q 01F VvNpS onIp - IL So
life. Some people won't sit on either
side of theater. They declare they
can't see the stage or that they have
to look at an angle.
Blamed by Box Buyers.
'You wouldn't think those who can
afford to buy boxes would be fault
| finders but they are. Alphabetically
boxes are impossible. The two or three
people who sit in the front Of a box
| can see everything that goes on on the
stage. Those behind can only see part
of what is happening. They think they
ought to see everything. They say
they never sat in such poor boxes.
Take the people who sit on the sides
of the house near the exits. They are
| subjected to drafts because there are
no curtains or portieres shielding the
| exits
THE playgoer notes this and begins
| of it for not having curtains. He never
stops to inquire why the curtains are
not there. If he were informed that
| theaters are not allowed to keep cur
tains near the exits he would probably
denounce the manager as a liar as well
as a cheap skate.
| "Of all the kickers deliver me from
the women There is some chance of
| getting back at man by answering
| a h,yt N
that to a woman. You simply have to
| take the women's talk and look as If
| it pleases you.
| 'They invariably find fault with the
water served between the acts. It's too
hot for some and too cold for others.
If it Is Croton water they complain
Of it's impurity and II it Is mineral
| water they find harmful qualities In it.
mo one could rig up women's re-
! firing room to the satisfaction OF a
dozen women. They call the manager
| cheap because he doesn't supply the
| things that some of them have not
| in their own homes. If they are sup
piled. the women think nothing of
carrying them away. I buy the cheap
est soap 1 can get. I used to supply
| expensive toilet soap, but it was too
| costly, so much of it was carried away.
Hardest Kicks Of All.
And the kicks I get about my at
fractions are the hardest to bear
What will please one person will dis
please another
| II have had in my theaters the best
! shows produced in this city, and I have
listened to people complaining about
| them. All complaints are directed at
the head of the manager.
"Playgoers think he is fair game for
| their spleen, and he seems to be. He
can't afford to fight back, for he does
not want to make an enemy of a
| theatergoer.
Sometimes it gets wearisome and
it snakes a man think if it is worth
| while after all. Not only does he have
! to put up with the Ill nature of his
patrons, but he has troubles and wor-
| ries connected with his stage.
"A balky actor or an obstreperous
| woman star is apt to turn up any time
| and always at the most unfavorable
period. A managers burden is no light
! one. II you don't think I am telling
| the truth get into the game and see
how it feels to be abused by every one"
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