Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-30
AT THE THEATERS
.nont,nned trnm pnre one,

al0ufluDeu IfflFu kHAS oa7f
gave me both. He needed a press
agent Had / ever done that sort OF
thing? / guardedly answered that l
had always wanted to. The bargain
was made, and l dined that night at
the Planters-rather elaborately.
soon learned that a safe way to
the hearts of many st. Louisans was
TO mildly deride Kansas City. Tlley
do say San Francisco has similar
weakness toward Los Angeles. or that
I cannot be certain, being new
conner, chary of ancient feuds. IN the
metropolis of Missouri, however,
found this a handy means of making
my calling and election sure began
With the most shameless piece of work
which [ shall ever have to confess 10
in the progress of this narration. 1t
is hard to set it down in cold type,
but here goes.
1t happened that in the current play
at "my" theater there was playing
an actor who had begun life as
stone cutter (He really made mis-
take in abandoning his first love, but
that is neither here nor there). 1t
also CHANGED that he had actually cut
innumerable chips from the pedestal
on which now rose the militant form
of German hero of the civil war in
a prominent west side st. Louis park.
And, by the too happy luck of things,
there was just then raging in the st.
Louis press bitter controversy over
the true sculptor of this statue. Will
liam Marion Reedy claimed it for
some obscure son of south side abo-
litionist sires. That was the conserYa-
live view. Others ascribed it TO
woman sculptor of whom less seemed
to be known than is suspected regard
ing the poet Sappho, The general
fHag =
line for the papers, for the lid was
momentarily on and news was dull.
l decided to settle the controversy.
1 decided that my actor stOnecutter
had done the job. II was quite bad
enough for his chisel+ anyway. Then
came the delicate work. st. Louis
should not have this yarn. In utter
malice mailed the story of a surpris-
ing discovery of the real author of the
park monument-to the Kansas City
papers. How poor actor had ap-
peared to claim the honor, how he had
been instantly recognized as the true
artist by the st. Louis public, how he
had admitted the truth in his dressing
room at the - theater, where the
'stupendously successful comedy OF
the season was then running Shorty
to be seen in Kansas City)-al this L
related with minute mendacity. Every
paper in Kansas City paid hugely for
the story and the next day 1t was "fea-
tured' as a surprising coincidence by
every wideawake journal, east ana
west.
Then began the fun. Every St
Louis paper besieged our office WIN
indignant protests at this favor to the
enemy. l met them all with polite
surprise I had never heard of this
astonishing thing. An enemy had soWn
these tares. To prove the utter I'M
possibility of the story | referred them
to the park authorities. OF course they
denied the truth of the account, as dld
the actor himself-although this part
of the job was rather difficult He had
actually almost come to believe II. IL
was simply a Kansas City lle 1 eN-
Dlained urbanely, and referred them .
Manager Pat" for confirmation of my
unimpeachable integrity. Never nav
ing known me previous to that Week
he responded instantly, assured the
visiting delegation of honestly indig-
nant city editors of my utter veraclty
and quietly raised my salary the
next morning. He never asked so
much as word of the actual facts
of the case. Strange 10 say, l never
volunteered that word.
The local papers printed the official
denial and gleefully telegraphed 1t TO
Kansas City. What happened IN that
enterprising town on receipt of the
news of my deception / never accu-
rately learned. [ have been east and
west several times since, but l always
avoid going through it. Something
tells me that it's atmosphere might
have the tendency to thin my blood.
And it's newspapers are so unreliable
that I have acquired natural preJu-
dice against the locality. One lives to
learn,
[ began to feel prosperous and to pat
1he newsboys kindly on the head at the
busy street corners. I studied the lives
of millionaires and felt satisfied with
Missouri and Manager Pat" Here
was gui1eless simplicity bending its
willing head to receive the AK. For
several weeks I confined my eXertions
to routine work and smoked long and
terrible havanas. What foul schemes
the haze of their fumes impaired to my
brain I shall try to relate next week.
A customer has just entered the office
whom 1 may persuade TO buy some of
that choice Nevada grazing land, and
literature must give way before the
claims of my duty to famishing live
stock.
ITO Be Continued)
MELODRAMA OF THE RING