Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

agents; for, to make the public accept his
star at two-dollar valuation, the hireling
must not display her for nothing.
If part of the cages were not kept closed
during a circus parade there would be fewer
thousands scrambling for seats at the Red
Wagon. If Miss Adams had paraded Broad
way every day, "Peter Pan" would not have
run for years. If Dazzle had not danced in a
red mask for two months, she would not be
getting twelve hundred dollars a week now
If the white house across the street opened
its shutters every day, no one would point
at it, whisper, and wonder what mysteries
it hid. Many murder stories would never
have sent shivers up and down Our spines
had they not been aided by incognito ladies
dressed in clinging black gowns and heavy
wells
The press agent must have imagination
but he must realize that the public is SINH
larly equipped, and likes to make use of the
equipment. This latter statement needs no
illustrations; but in the interests of the imagi-
native apparatus of the poor publicity pro-
moter | should like to tell story.
SOME years ago big musical comedy
~ came to Broadway after weeks try
out through New England. 1t had some
tIneful music and raft of pretty girls, few
of whom had been seen before on the metro
politan stage But it failed to catch on, and
by the middle of the second week the wise
ones put it among the seasons failures.
Confronted by the possibility of no salary
when Saturday came, the agent of the show
sought dark corner where he could think
quick and hard. An idea finally arrived,
and he visited the leading lady in her gorge
ously furnished apartments. To her he read
,f,,1 MI
She went to the telephone. called up num-
Der in the Wall Street district, and after a
short and honeyed conversation came back
with the announcement that the scheme was
o. K, that she would have the check at the
theater that night and that she was game"
for anything. With bundle of hitherto TN
published photographs of this life-saving fe
male under his arm, he jumped on car and
hustled to Park Row.
Next morning the front page of every
New York paper carried an account of how
this pleasure-lo loving leading lady, rather
than be deprived of the opportunity to see
the Brooklyn Handicap, had presented her
management with her check for twenty
of the theater for Saturday afternoon, and
would visit the race track together with six
of the prettiest girls in her company. They
would be her guests, and there would be no
show. Pictures of the leading woman and a
reproduction of the check accompanied these
stories.
The stunt, as thousands of New Workers
will remember, was actually carried out
The bevy of beauties and they were stun
ners!-left on the top of a four-in-hand
coach. Photographers snapped them en-
route, and the pictures appeared in the
evening papers. At the race track the party
was the center of crowd of twenty thou
sand spectators. The exquisite faces, fig
ures, and gowns of the professional beauties
captivated every eye. Camera artists ran
out of plates in the effort to make lasting
records of Broadway's victory over Fifth
ave.
When the races were over and the septet
returned to town, half the gilded youth of
Manhattan and many of their bald-headed
fathers and uncles tagged along to the the
alter. The house was sold out to the 400"
before shutdown, and most of the orchestra
and box seats for the next two weeks went
like hot cakes. The piece remained on
Broadway seventeen months and made
more than half million dollars, simply be-
cause a press agent thought of scheme
whereby lot of society men could not
avoid being attracted by bevy of pretty
o;r1c fo,,r of f1,oco rr;~1.. ,,,or