Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-24

to the work of the advance agent, we'll in other
ways the theatrical business has changed. To-day
the man who goes ahead of the show has his work
pretty we'll out for him. His attraction is not
booked in opposition to another of the same callber
character and. furthermore the public is longer
attracted by "circuS methods, as they used to be
called A crowded house could not be drawn to Julia
Marowe to-day by dressing dozen girls up as Viola
in Twelfth Night, and marching them through the
Streets placarded Yet remember of this scheme being
used, at least in Chicago, to advertise Madame
Modjeska. The public is wiser and takes its theatre
Gals more seriously.
In the old days the who went ahead of the show
began to cudge his brains for the most aston
shing plan to attract attention and interest.
And astonishing events the result l
remember some which even may be recalled by
the reader who can bark back decade or two Many
perpetrators of these wild schemes prominent
theatrical managers who would to rely such
methods for booming their stars companies and
would similar practices by the young
men they employ as advance agents.
Man Overheard
T REMEMBER morning in Detroit in the fall of
1894 People along the shore of the river had seen
terrible sight A boat containing two men had been
observed in the river The evidently fishing.
Suddenly they began quarrel, and, the horror of
the spectators of them leaned and struck his
companion with an The unlucky man, apparently
knocked unconscious fell into the river, and his
panion rowed to wharf and disappeared before any
body could catch him.
The police summoned and preparations
mace 10 drag the T1Ver, winch was very swallow at
the point where the crime had been committed. Crowds
tronged the nearest bridge and the banks of the river
while the police went about their horrid task. At
last the body brought to the surface 1t a
dummy, and on the back of the white jumper
it the words, Eddie Foy in of the Earth,
Whitney Opera House..
The next week Chicago treated to a second
specimen of the advance agent work for Eddie Foy;
the advance agent, of who had concocted
the terrible river murder. 1t so lugubrious
as the first but just as efficaCious
The ahead of the show had several thousand
dodgers printed for distribution in Chicago announcing
the arrival of his star, who at that time great
Chicago favorite He arrived in Chicago. to find the
dodgers ready for him. but also ready ordinance
passed by the city fathers prohibiting the distribution
of dodgers about the streets. Here was obstacle,
and the agent thought seriously. Finally he hit
plan for distributing his dodgers and at the
time saving money.
Hiring couple of men, he arranged with the super
intendent of the Masonic Temple to allow him to take
the two big boxes containing the dodgers to the roof
of the building 1t cold and busery day. and
the ind was blowing typical Chicago lake gale
directly the town. The agent and his assistants
took the dodgers of their wrappers and laid them
bundles along the edge of the roof of the building.
Then they went down stairs
Before they had reached the ground floor it had
begun to dodgers The air full of them. and
they being carried everywhere they would do the