The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1907-10-15
THE TIPPING NUISANCE.
its Sway Within and Without tn,
Theaters of Paris.

happy idea of going to the theater, "
/ writes one of them, che has to run
the gantlet of a rare collection Of
nuisances and plunderers. First
there is the crowd outside the thea
ter, and then there is another gang
inside
'sHe must give one tip to the
coachman who drives him and an
other to the nimble person who
springs to open the carriage door,
even if he opens it himself Then
come the flower girls and the ticket
spectators and the programme ven
ders. They stand in his way and
impOrtune him. He has almost to
use violence to rescue his coat tails
from their clutches.
"At last the theater foyer swal-
lows him up. He Is saved from one
barking pack, but new prosecutors
are ready. There is, first, the re-
freshment counter attendant. Won't
he buy oranges? No, he won't
Then won't he buy candy for the la
| dy? No. Then maybe a sandwich
! to eat between the acts, and so on.
Next to this plague comes, second,
the programme peddler-only au-
! thorized and official programme, of
cour8e-and, third, the opera glass
man"
There is a fourth, too, but the
fourth interior plague Of the thea
ter takes a great deal of space and
i'll temper to describe it. She is the
ouvreuse, the official box opener and
seat finder, the counterpart of the
usher in New York, but displaying
an itching palm and u very unpleas-
ant disposition when not paid to be
genial. The ouvreuse Is the worst
parasite of the, Partisan theater,
and few indeed are they from whom
she fails to draw blood.
Her hand is not extended until
the close of the performance, but
she begins to get her fine work in
at once. Not that she makes any
pretense of finding the boxes or
seats that the tickets presented to
her call for. The kicker defies any
one in Paris to come forward and
swear that she ever found his place
for him. Nobody could make such
an affidavit without committing per-
jury, he says. But what she does Is
grab his hat and overcoat and walk
ing cane. These she locks up in 3
chamber of horrors which she calls
the cloakroom, and thenceforward
the victim is at her mercy. He can
not escape without paying tribute.
It is no wonder that the Ouvreuse
devotes more attention to collecting
her revenue than to seating the au-
dience. 1t is a serious matter for
her. Not only has she to make her
living out of it, but she must also
make up the quota of ''the house"
In one theater the ouYreuse pays Z
francs, or $40, a night for her
privilege. Sometimes it is more or
less, but always somewhere between
and 10 francs, except in two or
three of the best theaters, which
have tried to reform the system.
One or two go so far as to pay a sal
airy, but even in these there is such
a pleading look in the poor woman's
eyes as she surrenders ones light
baggage that no man with a tender
heart can keep his hand out of his
change pocket. He knows the wom-
an is under heavy expenses. She
must be extensively dressed in up
to date style to keep her job.
But occasionally a man will re-
volt. One tells how one June even
ing he went to a variety theater
alone. He lodged the ouvreuSe at
a busy moment, slipped down the
aisle, found his seat by himself and |
sat down in it with an expression of |
unconscious innocence. As it was
warm, he had no overcoat, and he
hid his hat under the seat. All the |
same, toward the end of the per-
Torrance the ouvreuSe appeared |
with outstretched hand.
"What for?" he asked.
''For service" she answered
"What service ?"
FNThe customary service"
"But you gave me no[S Why |
should [ give you anything
ooh, pardon" she explained in a
good audible tone. 81 did not rec
Ognize that monsieur was a dead |
headw
This brought him. to time, and he
gave her a franc.-New York Sun.