The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-03

doesn't-well, he's in Walters fix with his ill-starred Discovery of America The managers hate to take expensive plays by unknown writers and gamble on their success or failure. It is so much easier just to slip across to London or Paris and secure American producing rights to a sure thing that has already been tried out abroad. This is the real reason why American playwrights find it so hard to place play unless they are willing to defray its initial expenses. Back of Tyler with his colossal productions of Garden of Allah and The Daughter of Heaven stand the Lieblers and vanderbilts. Back of Maxine Elliott is Pierpont Morgan. Back of pretty Maude Adams. the Froh- mans.''
 Continuing she said:
 Do you know all these big men--the Frohmans, Belasco, Lee and Sam Schu- bert, the Harrises, Tyler, Leibers, Klaw, Erlanger, Ames, F1ske, etc.-are public school boys and newspaper reporters with the exception of Ames-a Harvard man. They are Hebrews too, with few exceptions, and are from the middle south and west-Kentucky and Ohio chiefly. Their native force, business senst and newspaper training, have enabled them to make good in New York. To attain and hold a point of vantage among the swirling millions of such great city is a mighty achievement. And to me the personalities of these big managers, who thresh out, sift out and pass on to the rest of the country the marketable best in the drama are of keen interest I was fortunate in having friends who could help me know, meet and see these big bugs-namely, Roy McCardel of The World Qes made good most emphat- ica1ly in New York. Remind me to tell you about him as soon as I finish my drama experlences). Nelson Mead of the Tribune, MT. Alden of the Brooklyn Eagle and Talcott Williams formerly editor of the Philadelphia Press. now the head of the Pulitzer School of Journal ism at Columbia) Any and all of these men can have access at any time in the name of their respective sheets to any of the big managers. As I was desirous of seeing them with my own eyes the way was smoothed for me to do 1t. Personally I liked Tyler best. He semed so honest-but they are all wonderful-Charles Frohman's life reads like a fairy tale A long stride 1t Is from office boy on the Tribune to multi-millionaire owwnership of the Empire. Lyceum, Garrick, Savoy, Knickerbocker theatres in New York, and tho Comedy, Globe and Adelphia. Duke of York in Londoni Taere Is small doubt that his. newspaperstrain- ing gave him the wide range of inter- ests, the quickness of perception and the Judgment that have enabled him to put on annually in two continents co or more plays. using each from 10 to 200 players. I found that all the man aEers and many of the playwrights had this newspaper training, the power of which is set forth so wonderfully by man I know that I'm going to show you something.
 Rising, she went to her desk and brought me picture and clipping.
 Its from a man worth knowing" Mrs. Rivers said. 'Talcott Williams, director of the Columbia School of Journalism (made possible by Pulit- zer's generosity) He gives the repor- ter his dues as follows:
 Among the sons of men there is none who really knows great city except the man who has been re- porter in it. He has sounded its depths. He has come to know the house of crime, the house of worship, and the house of festival. He is fla miliar with the church and with the neither world. He has seen the greater and the lesser wheels of administra- tive machinery in motion.. He has learned how to reach that supreme pcteptate. the police sergeant behind his desk, and how to unravel and knit together the varying tales of bystand- CTS. The streets of the city are known to him. barred in the gray morn. when