New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-03
T7HE job Of jobs in this world is trying TO land

&c IS: r: r: +: : . xvi. II IL. a
1EC59ZS many thousands of them; 50 YOU Will
IZLAZN not have to look very far or very
bWI'bTNIS long To get a play on IS the arnD-
lWEg9z|NI ton Of almost every third person you
N#1t5IW meet When a boy IS seven years
WEyZU old his ambition in life is TO become
WvzAT a prize fighter ike John /. Sull-
= 3: =. : e: {. ..: +. !.
he might even rest content with
being r;n policeman and at ten, due TO his father
and mothers constant suggestions ana influence, |c
hope, % become President Of the United states.
BIZ, from ten on he disrnis5cs all these ambitions ana
want I'd become playwright. In many instances ne
does become pIaywrght. only MS pays HCyc. H. ~,
produced The managers, he tells you from ms cil1I
wear IN 10 his fftcth are down on hlm-ani ne laI
so far wrong at that. The theatrical manager, taxing
him by and large, is down on every "hr5t play IltJ
come into his Office Girls are following the boys III
their p.aywTItIng ambitions In the Ht'J uo"e.. 81
more and more women have taken up the "TluI6 Vi
Being one Of this vast phalanx who got the "play
bug as il is cOlDqually called, directly aiJcT inc I
bDn % become chief executive Of the nation VlalcI'
am going % tell NV story And if you do not agree
with me, when have finished that Landing one "'S1
PLAY is cute little iJJ say the least snail nave "
believe that you either an uItra-muapp ui.9O Vi
ora theatrical manager am not gong 10 be hJeI'uy
in telling nv tale and am not going % gloss II over.
The facts are painfully simple, and IN themselves ouS'O
10 b. enough % prove my point.
In..nuch as / have finally landed my first play ana
had produced after many years OF writing uhJh my
hand aclcd walking the fiagstDnc5 OF Broadway uilJI
my feet achcd and gone through disappointment iIeF
Disappointment until my head achcd, to say nothing "l
hcartchc from more disappoIntmcnts and stona1ncne
from hunger when following the elusive theatrical goa
dcss Of coin and fame and nasmuch IS am no" max
ing about q thousand dollars week out OF my ToyIc2
from two companies doing my Introductory piece,
certainly may not be called sOTchcad. My perspective
is tempered with kindness and mercy now; but II IS
there an the same and its sharp outlines Will 90 IhcT
own sllhoucttlng
TWAS first assalcd with the play bug when ! was
working as stcnOgraphcr for a broker on wall street.
getting twenty dollars week. The temptation to write
play came TO me out Of clear sky just rs 1t has come
and Is coming TO hundreds Of other men and women
every day The play bug is hard to explain as Jne
typhoid germ. 1t just gets you and works ITS deadly
wCr-and that's all there is % II. The only thing that
kept me from writing play the spot when the temp
tatiOn got into my system the grim fact thtt
didn't know anything about writing play Don
think though that let little thing like that stop me-
No hopeful playwright ever does. But, unlike some OF
the others, made up my mind that had better get
at least look back Of the stage and the way things
worked there before tackled the proposition As a
matter Of fact, didn't know at the time even how
curtain was pulled up But the bug was getting more
and more deadly every minute.
Sncakcd away from the Office one day when my EN-
ployer of at q baseball game, and presented myself