The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-07-28
SHOWS IN LONDON
Crowds That Gather to Secure
Seats In the Pit.
A LONG WAIT FOR TICKETS.

A LONG WAL FUR llCkElS.
The Line, Orderly and Well Dressed,
/ Begins to Form as Early as O'clock
In the Afternoon and In Case of q
Popular Play Even Earlier.
In the better London theaters 1t
costs Is. Cd. to go into the pit. which,
relatively speaking. is Il good sum to
pay. for half dollar in NJ York
isn't much better than shilling in
4 London when it comes to purchasing
value.
The pit crowd begins to assemble as
early as o'clock In the afternoon and
In cases of great success even earlier
than that. My FIRST experience as
pittite occurred In London one summer
night two years ago. when. after vain
efforts to buy. borrow. beg or steal
stalls for popular play, writes Adolph
Klauber in the Green Book. | finally
decided to see 1t from the pit. When
arrived at the theater, about O'Clock
one Saturday afternoon. l found there
was already long line of men and
boys and women, the foremost with
face glued TO the pit door and the line
extending far beyond the narrow pas
sageway to the street in front of the
theater. Now. with every desire in the
world to send my New York constit-
uency some news of this great reign
ing success and rot without some Gu
riosity Of my own was still far from
willing to cool my heels for the best
part of three hours until the doors
should Open
turned and found newsboy at my
elbow.
"I'll old your place for you. SIR" he
repeated. What time i! you be back 2"
1t was then that discovered for the
first time this London institution. the
place holder at the door Of the pit, one
of the many means by which one Of
the struggling unemployed or of the
: poorly paid seeks TO add few shil-
lings to his meager, frugal income
4 There was no risk involved. The boy
). was quick to note the foreigner.
It'll be all rofght, sir" he said in
his cheerful cockney way. rs the
/, lady coming too? Me and me friend L
J. stand In line. and all you'll have to d.
= will be to change places with US wher
= you come around tonight. Only {
ID shillin' apiece. It's worth 1t, sir. no
IS to have to wait"
d At Z O'Clock we were back in TIL,
n narrow court. but long before hat
d been able TO disentangle my boy from
the dozen or so others, all looking yer,
much alike, his cheerful tones greete,
me with :" Ere you are. sir. ere yol
Al are, and you and the lady III get in til
first row IL you look sharp when yol
70 pass the door,
- "Gee-rusalem." I muttered as "
= dropped into the interstices left b.
g the departing boys. "a good half hou
- to wait-or more"
:. But, after all. found the waitin
= far from tedious.
- Hawkers of fruit and chocolate pass
:. ed along the line. finding ready buyer
=. among the waiting patrons of the phi
:. and every few minutes some ney
o. vaudeville falser out of work woul
come along to entertain the crow
if with tumbling. dancing. singing or i'm
Mt tations. First juggier appeared. an
ly when bobby sent him spinning taste
I'd than his plates and balls a contortior
oil list took his place. spread ragged cal
at pet mat and began to turn himself ir
d. side out while the newsboys and sho
lr- girls going home from work shoute
ar encouragement and appreciation. f
ed nally the bobby ordered him to "moy
on" but not until a generous shove
ne OF pennies had fallen on the mat. Th
I'd next man to appear carried wallis
IA from which he produced wigs. GRIN
% pied hair and several false noses. Eli
m entertainment consisted of imitation
II. of composers. famous he Gale
nc them. but infamous" they really wer'
nj He was not encouraged. either. for til
AZ pit line knew good from bad an
I. wasn't to be parted from its pennie
70 without proper value in return.
i, The crowd was genial orderly. we
- dressed. and when the doors wer
=, opened finally / expected a headlon
- rush. But there was not the slightes
suggestion Of a scrambled little col
gestion naturally at the narrow Ell
trance. where a smiling. good nature
:. bobby remarked quite pleasantly:
.. Now. then. go easy-just the sam
:. as you went into church last Sunday
- If you did GO
q Then short passage up fight G
narrow stairs, past a little cubbyhol
81 where the tickets are handed out aftt
~ you have duly deposited your two-ant
ne six. into the theater and ready for tn
play.
Nine Points In Law.