Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-29
DOLL DANGERS
IN COURT TODAY
MUST FACE JUDGE WILBUR IN
CONTEMPT CASE
" Necessary the Hotehkiss Troupe
viii Repeat the Now Famous
Number in the
Tribunal

Kolb and Dill, the German comedians
at the Hotchkiss theater. Mrs. Char
lotte Vidot Kolb r. Jefferson White,
the manager of the house, and Mrs
Hotchkiss will appear before Judge
Wilbur in department eight of the SUI
perior court this morning and show
cause why they should not all be fined
for contempt of court because they
did not heed restraining order issued
several days ago and believing that
they were in the right continued to pro-
duce the doll dance of the Beauty Shop
The citations for contempt were
sworn out yesterday afternoon before
Judge Conrey, presiding Judge of the
superior court, who several days ago is
sued a restraining order to prevent the
Hotchkiss people from staging certain
doll dance which Harry James, man
ager of the travesty stars at the Ma
son opera house, alleges is part of the
burlesque of "Pousse Cafe" furnished
him for production under copyright.
kolb and Dill, however, contend that
there is not a single line of the doll
dance which is even similar to the doll
dance of "Pousse Cafe" and that there
fore they cannot be held in contempt of
court because they did not play any of
'"Pousse Cafe" but only their own
private doll rance.
Set for This Morning
But the citations were issued yester-
day afternoon and this morning the
principals of both show houses will ap-
pear before Judge Wilbur and argue the
case out 1t is stated by the manage
ment of the Hotchkiss that for emer-
gency causes they will take their en-
tire chorus to the court room with them
and also the costumes and will produce
their doll dance word for word, air for
air and motion for motion against that
produced by the original "Pousse Cafe"
and then let the court decide as to
whether the dances are similar.
Harry James of the Mason alleges
that the doll dance is a part of "Pousse
Cafe" for which he is payiig royalty
and which he will stage next week. He
will not produce the doll dance because
he alleges that that part of his show
has been spoiled and he asks damages
for the loss of business on that particu-
lar point.
Deposited a Bond
As in all cases of injunctions the at
torneys for James have deposited a
bond to insure the Hotchkiss people
against loss in case the injunction
should fail to hold.
This morning whe-I all the members
of the Hotchkiss company are absent
from rehearsal to appear in court they
Will all be fined $50 each by the man
agement and if the injunction fails to
hold these fines will probably be paid
cut of someone else's money.
The citations for contempt were
given to Deputy Sheriff Bert Franklin
late yesterday afternoon to serve. The
deputy managed to locate Kolb, the
long German. first. Kolb looked sus-
piciousy at the long blue document
and then read it over carefully.
I've will see about dot" he said sig
nificantly and promised to be in court
and explain.
Mrs. Hotchkiss was not in the city
and the deputy started toward Man
ager Jeff White.
Hello. jeff" said the officer, and
White extended his hand.
White Saw 1t First
"Give it to me-, he said, "I have been
receiving documents in this case until
L am used to them, so let them come
as fast as they like"
Then the deputy started for Dill, the
short end of the Dutch comedian firm.
Dill looked at the paper and said
things of a strenuous character, but
he chucked the impressive blue docu-
ment down in his coat pocket and re-
marked that there would be "someding
diddings"
Mrs. Kolb was the last and when
she received the court document she
retired to a corner. where all the
chorus girls surrounded her. and they
perused the document to great length.
'There is not a single line of our
doll dance which can be taken as a
line from 'Pousse Cafe,'" said Kolb.
"There have been dolls dances in
Vulnerable in burlesques, ever since the
beginning of theatrical history, so a
doll dance cannot be copyrighted.
Where Fight Comes In
1.-The words and lines of a dance can
be copyrighted and that is where the
fight will be.
"The beginning of the 'Pousse Cafe
doll dance is as follows: 4 am a doll.
1--WE sing, "A doll am L.
''Now, naturally, in singing about a
doll and in giving the audience an
idea that an autOmaton is saying she
is a doll, you would not have her say,
A sausage am l, or in speaking of
wouldn't have her say, I have a leg,
it's made of mud!'
I'VE will fight that case in court in
the morning, and in order to show the
7Udge just how different our doll dance
is from the doll dance in 'Pousse Cafe
we will have Lille Sutherland, who
was formerly with the Mason COM
pany and who has seen both dances,
appear in court and testify.
1--WE will go a step further than that,
and If the Judge consents we will sing
and dance that doll dance in court
oS-o-
a