The Hattiesburg news., 1910-08-08
SHOWS in LONDON
Crowds That Gather to Secure
Seats In the Pit.
a LONG WAIT FoR TICKETS.

The Line. Orderly and Well Dressed,
Begins to Form as Early as O'clock
In the Afternoon and In Case OF a
Popular Play Even Earlier.
In the better London theaters it
costs 2s I'd TO go into the pit. which,
relatively speaking. is Il good sum to
pay, for a half dollar ID New York
isn't much better than shilling in
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 a
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. l finally
decided to see it from the pit When
arrived at the theater. about b o'clock
one Saturday afternoon. l found there
was already a 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 not 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 a newsboy at my
elbow.
.T'n old your place for you. sir" he
> repeated. What time III you be backT
1t was then that l discovered for the
|, first time this London institution, the
i place holder at the door of the pit, on'
|, of the many means by which one O.
: the struggling unemployed or Of thu
poorly paid seeks to add a few shil
:, lings to his meager, frugal income
- There was no risk involved. The bo.
was quick to note the foreigner.
d "Itn be all roight, sir" he said i
his cheerful cockney way. "Is tn
lady coming too? Me and me friend
stand In line. and all you'll have to d
will be to change places with us whe
you come around tonight. Only
shillin' apiece. It's worth 1t, sir. NJ
:. to have to wait"
At 7 o'clock we were back in tt
:: narrow court. but long before I ha
:. been able to disentangle my boy fro
:: the dozen or so others. all looking vel
much alike, his cheerful tones greets
me with ERE you are, sir, ere ye
io are, and you and the lady II get in Il
te first row if you look sharp when "
ID, pass the door,"
"Gee-rusalem." I muttered as '
dropped into the interstices left
IN the departing boys. "a good half no
to wait-or more"
But, after all. found the waitil
far from tedious.
Hawkers of fruit and chocolate pa.
W ed along the line, finding ready buye
among the waiting patrons of the p
and every few minutes some NJ
vaudeville faker out of work wou
come along to entertain the croN
with tumbling, dancing. singing or II
tations. First juggler appeared. a
WQeu u DODDy SCnt cpihhihf AUS
N than his plates and balls contortit
list took his place. spread ragged C
pet mat and began to turn himself
side out while the newsboys and sh
a., girls going home from work shout
encouragement and appreciation.
ac nally the bobby ordered him to "mc
an on" but not until generous shov
of pennies had fallen on the mat ]
led next man to appear carried val
. from which he produced wigs. cri
pied hair and several false noses.
entertainment consisted of initiate
Iof composers, famous" he cal
them, but infamous they really We
He was not encouraged. either, for
pit line knew good from bad {
wasn't to be parted from its penn
without proper value In return.
The crowd was genial. orderly. v
dressed, and when the doors W
opened finally l expected headl
rush. But there was not the slight
suggestion of scramble-a little {
gestion naturally at the narrow
trance. where a smiling. good natu
bobby remarked quite pleasantly:
,ure Now. then. go easy-Just the 81
de- as you went into church last Sunds
en- If you did 60"
Then a short passage up flight
,,, narrow stairs, past a little cubbyl
where the tickets are handed out a
lnce you have duly deposited your two-t
hen SIX. into the theater and ready for
bout play.