The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-18

American currency, is about as fol- lows: Stalls or orchestra seats, $2.52; front seats in the circle, s1.8O; back rows of the circle, S1.44; upper circle, 96c. pit, 6Oc.; gallery, 24c. Thus the best seats cost more than in corre- spending American theaters, while the rate for the cheaper seats are a little less.
 "The audience enters the top gallery on level with, or one flight above, the street. To get to the stalls. the circle or the pit, several flights of stairs must be descended. Owing to the rail which divides the pit from the orchestra seats, only two or three the- aters are provided with aisles running lengthwise of the auditorium, so in- gress or egress must be had through one door on each side and by climbing over other people who happen to have reached their places first
 Men ushers are not yet known in London, The duty of seating the au- diences still falls to young women, survivals of the orange women of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen turies. These take the reserved seat coupons and point out the location of the chairs as best they can from the aisles. They are not averse to taking a tip, and they always exact six pence (twelve cents) TOT each pro- gram. No stated number of girls are employed, but instead the force is in- creased or cut down in accordance with the volume of the patronage. There are no head ushers.
 London has not yet countenanced sidewalk ticket speculating, but it is as badly imposed upon as New York by speculators in another way, if more polite form A dozen so-called libra ries control, if they wish, practically the whole supply of theater tickets The theaters openly acknowledgc their business relations with these H. braries and furnish all the seats they demand, which the latter sell at ar advance of from q slxpence to fou, shillings ($1) above the regula prices, but never below 1t. Londol seems to prefer the library" systen 1 even with it's exorbitant exactions, ol account of the convenience it offer the public which is able to open run 1 ming accounts with the library pro i prietcrs.
 Every theater in London has it bar, where all kinds of drinks are sold i but few theater managers are in con trol of this department of the play house. The privilege is sold to out side. persons on an annual or leas basis. The revenue it furnishes eac theater however, Is a considerabl item, ranging from $25O to $50 weekly, In the case of the must halls this revenue is nearly double and it often pays all the running ex penses of such playhouses, exceptin of course the stage. The proprietor of the bars also control the program privileges and pay the ushers and the likewise are responsible for the serv Ing of tea and the sale of candies be tween the acts.
 Many managers would prefer { supply their patrons with program
 free of charge, but the system is S well established and bar proprietor cling with such tenacity to the prt gram privileges that the theater manf
 gers are powerless against them, e7 cept on the opening night of play when by common consent, program are supplied free of charge.
 There is another individual in tt London theaters who is unknown similar places of amusement in tn country. He is called a packer" H business is to watch over the pit ar
 see that its occupants are crowded il