Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-10
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that he was going TO run the legal end OF
| MS case without the aid OF counsel
| Ihats all right, Judge" cried Oscar,
| Wnen ne observed the Justices perturbat ton.
| yers."
| Mayer, manager of the English actress
| Mrs: Bernard Beere, who had sued him for
| SSS3o. half the amount of the bill for
suite of parlor furniture used in the stage
| setting of las in Looking Glass" in which
| play Mrs. Beere had made her debut at
oscars then new theater. his first Manhat-
| tan Opera House:
Were you ever on the ffth floor OF my
theater. and was It the 5th. 9th or the 18th
day of the week that you were there? An
swer me-"
The court room roared. Marcus lawyer
objected.
Stop that objeeting!' yelled Hammer
stein. What right have you TO say any
| thing? This is my witness now"
This time the court Joined I'm the laughter.
| and added. when Marcus lawyer made an
other objection, "oh, let Mr.. Hammerstein
| go on"
| He went on till he exhausted his ques-
| tons. Then, with a self-complacent smile
| he took the witness stand himself
nouncing to the court as he did so, II am
pretty good man. l own three theaters"
Early In his various clashes in and out of
court Oscar took to writing open letters to
his opponents. They have probably al
| forded as much amusement his spoken
ant style, and his pen is ready 10 write
| what its master thinks as his tongue is to
| speak II.
The last person to date to receive one OF
these epfstles-or rather series of them
! is District Attorney Jerome The latter had
| several subordinates looking about for vio-
lations, Of the theater safety law; They
| stepped into Oscars playhouse, the Vic
toria and hence the epistolary vitriol
| Perhaps the circumstances that he failed
| to get a rise" out of Jerome is respon-
| since then. Previously Oscars eplstolary
| efforts had never failed to draw replies.
| ana he secured a great deal of inward sat
| isfaction in observing that his wordy shots
| had hit. But from Jerome he drew not
even peep one way another. Oscar
! was much grieved thereat, and SO angered
| that he went so far as to threaten to make
mincemeat, or something of the sort. OF
| the district attorney should he put foot in
side the Victoria.
A Remarkably Versatile Man.
A smile and laugh-provokIng man in
many ways is Baron Oscar Hammerstein.S
And yet for all that he is an amusing lite
tie cuss; he is a man Of wonderful talent
and ability. Perhaps man now living
has recovered from so many failures as
he. When his big Olympus Theater was
taken away from him in the late nmeties.
thereby causing him the loss of a million
dollars. even his best friends doubted that
he would rise from crushing blow.
But it was only matter of months before
| he had built his Victoria, and on the open
ing night was gleefully receiving the plaud- :
its of crowded house of admirers
This rapid recovery is the most spectac-
ular thing IN his whole career. Next comes
his feat OF couceiving the plot, writing the
words and music and designing the scenery
of a one-act three-scene operetta In forty
eight hours. This he Undertook to do on a
wager. The subject was furnished by the
other fellow. Oscar was locked in a room
and kept under guard while accomplishing
the unparalleled task. II has been asserted
that he did not enter into the contest for
advertising purposes, but II gave him a
great deal of publicity just the same, and
up to that time to direct the publlcs at
tention to the mans astonishing versatility.
Cigar manufacturer inventor Of cigar
making and theatrical devices. playwright,
composer, capitalist, theater builder, theat-
rical and music hall manager. architect
publicity expert, scenic and costume de-
signer, novelty introducer. architect of his
man more versatile? Now he aims TO be
an impresario a grand scale. One OF his
songbirds will be Melba, whom he vainly
endeaVored to secure when he longed TO be
an impresario on a much smaller scale.
VIII he succeed in his grand opera ambi-
lions this time and at last? The answer
will be plain next winter. In the mean
time everybody who loves funmaker and
a plucky fighter should pray that Oscar
nations gayety while handling his stars.
and In the financial end of his latest ven
ture in which he stands to lose Rll-and
more too-than he has gathered into his
strong box since last he bounded irrepres-
sibly back to the top Of the theatrical heap.