The Washington herald., 1909-05-23
The Press Agent.

The press agents lot Is not a happy
one His Ostensible business is publicity
IN other words. he must persistently set
before the public the merits OF his at
traction. through the medium Of the
newspapers. the magazines, the police. or
anything which is handy or likely to cir
culate freely IN fact. there is no limit
TO which the press agent viii not 10.
provided the publication OF other medium
VIII stand for IL
In Washington the press agent who
comes in advance OF some road attraction
has not nearly the hard row 20 hoe which
engages the New York publicity man
There every one IS on his guard, and II
is a fact that many things happen IN
the metropolis Of a sensational nature
which are set down as press agents
stunts when IN reality they are nothing
Of the sort On the other hand. q press
agent VIII pull Of something especially
good and the newspapers VIII swallow
the whole thing. hook. line. and sinker.
without so much as a ghost Of a sus-
piciOn that IL IS a fake, only 10 awake
the next morning with that feeling Of
chagrin which always follows being
taken in
The press agent Of show which
is appearing on Broadway IS obliged
continually 10 call attention 20 his play.
rot merely through the conventional
forms Of advertising. but through start
ling public episodes which set the people
TO talking about his play. Everything
goes, as Tar as the press agent IS con
cerned-
One New York press agent recently OF
ganize6 among the girls in his show ct
was a musical comedy what he called
The Ozone Club the members OF which
pledged themselves 20 do all their eating
in the open air. a friendly cafe proprie-
tor was induced to rent his roof, and
the chorus girls were placed picturesque
" about a table on which most tempt
ing viands were displayed. 10 say moth
ing Of the accompaniment OF champagne
bottles and the Ike - apparently the
health-giving properties OF the outdoor
air were TO c0Unteract the deleterious ef-
fects Of alcOhol-and at the appointed
time the unwary police and the reporters
were tipped off, and the affair made a
splendid story for next mornings papers.
Unfortunately. in this instance the news
papers declined 70 give the name Of the
musical comedy with which the girls were
connected. and the press agent accounts
his story as having fallen fat. for unless
the show. what was the need OF the storye
The same man hired taxicab and put
one Of the chorus girls into It for a drive
through Central Park Upon the conelu-
sion OF the drive the chauffeur demanded
his fare Whereupon the chorus girl. drew
from her pocket, OF wherever It IS that
chorus girls keep then purses. a bag
stuffed with stage money. She seemed
surprised. and so did the chauffeur. but
her explanation that she had picked up
the wrong bag from her dressing table
in the theateT assuaged not the taxTs
desire 10 be paid pro rata, while the taxi
meter clicked -nerTfly onward. The tear
ful girls wasSinauIed to the nearest Do
lice station. and again. with as much pub-
Hcity as possible, told her story. That
there were several reporters In the room
did not deter her from telling her whole
story Her manager was sent for. and
upon his arrival ne berated his emplove
and refused to loan her the ready money
for her fare. declaring that her salary
was already drawn in advance. Event
ually, however. and incidentally after the
episode was worked up TO an almost un-
believable pitch Of notoriety. he ad-
vaneed the money and the chauffeur was
paid Again the newspapers printed the
story. but also omitted the important de-
tail. TO wit. the name OF the musical COM
edy from which the beauty in distress
had strayed-
Imagine the temper Of the press agent
when he sees his elaborately conceived
and carefully executed stunt fail OF its
mission To circumvent the almost super
natural instinct Of the reporters 70 scent
out q fake in his one aim IN life. Occa-
sionaily he gets by with story that car
ries with It the title OF his attraction, and
perhaps the names OF one or two Of its
leading people. Then he is happy. and
his manager pats him on the back. and
he IS considered to have earned his salary
for some time TO come But his vigilance
never reiaxes-be is constantly on the out
look for something by which he can en-
blazon his production from the housetops.
And he must be sn original chap, too.
who can think up something new. in these
days when there are hundreds OF his kind
al keen and alert to make good in this
particular line.