The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1912-10-04


readers of experience In theatrical mat
tiers and another dozen who had never
tried to write play or had tread the
boards. When all was ready ! ad
verised for plays. They came in by
hundreds. had each play looked into
by an expert and an inexpert reader,
and those that seemed worthy of at
tention were passed along up through
the others till they came to me.
had had sufficient experience In my
business to enable me to take advan-
tage of Mr.. Starkweathers enterprise
to solve a problem connected with 1t
that had long interested me. l hired
competent person to pounce upon the
motif of each play-wherein there was
motif-and enter it In blank book
kept for the purpose with brief
statement of the machinery or the
story or whatever 1t may be consider
ed by which the theme was illustrat-
cd. had theory In my mind which
believed would be proved or disprov-
ed by this record.
Well, l was surprised to find that
though we were obliged to go through
great deal of chaff to get very little
wheat we did get some wheat Much
Of this wheat turned out to have been
produced by playwrights who had al
ready achieved some success, but what
astonished me was that we received
number Of plays that were based on
an excellent dramatic theme and only
needed fixing up by one familiar with
the technique OF the stage to make
them acceptable.
selected one Of these plays by an
unknown author and took 1t to my
father-in-law with the suggestion that
we put 1t on the boards. He was much
pleased with the result thus far of
his scheme and gave his consent to the
plays production.
The play was called 1.-THE Secret
Drawer" The plan turned upon the
finding Of lost will. There were
number of fine dramatic scenes In 1t,
the author had succeeded In present
ing 1t In form to hold the attention
of an audience, and was fortunate In
finding actors and actresses well fitted
to impersonate the different characters.
The piece succeeded and proved fairly
remunerative. Mr.. Starkweather was
delighted at the proof Of his statement
that to get plays managers must read
manuscripts.
The day after the production OF '"The
Secret Drawer" I received call from
a gentleman with long hair and beard.
wearing a rusty suit Of black.
"What do you mean, sir" he said,
"by stealing the plan Of my play, re-
writing 1t and putting 1t on the boards?
It was sent you In confidence, and did
not dream Of your appropriating 1t
without paying for It."
"To what play do you referp
asked.
ITO my play, The Lost WILL You
have called your version Of 1t The
Secret Drawer"
my friend" I said after surveying
him for some time thoughtfully, 81 am
only a passenger In this business. You
go to John Starkweather, No. 197 b.
street. and state your case to him"
"Starkweather. the leather manT
ayes"
Hes rich. II no doesn't come down
handsomely for this theft I'll sue him."
And he went out to find my father-in-
law.
A dozen accusations were made ell
Their in person or by letter Of our hav-
ing stolen the themes of plays submit
ted to us and declined. In several In
stances certain names In the plays we
accepted and produced were identical
with names In the plays we were ac-
cused of stealing. I referred all the
claimants to my beloved father-in-law.
Two different authors commenced suit
against him for appropriating their
thunder. Finally he sent for me-
went to him with the book containing
the record of themes and methods Of
their presentation under my arm.
whats the meaning of all these
charges?" he asked angrily.
'I'll tell you. There are hardly
dozen themes on which to base stories
or plays, and every author thinks at
least one of these themes belongs to
him. There are more than q million
authors and not enough themes to go
round"
opened my record book and began
to read.
"In 10000 plays examined 9.247 par
ents objected to the match. In the
same number OF plays the theme In
1.b42 turned ON lost will; 973 turned
on a match essential on account of
adjoining estates. s85 on a person as
Stunning to have committed crime to
save the criminal, COL on
"Stopw exclaimed Mr.. Starkweather
81 don't care to have any more of
these details They reduce the glori
GUS histrionic art to the level of the
leather business. 1t reminds me of
the causes for our bad debts. There
are but a few classes of these causes.
the principal one being bad manage
ment What do you think 1t will cost
TO compromise these cases of plagia.
rism, breach Of copyright or whatever
they are7"
"From 25 cents to $25."
"Whatr'
repeated
"Pay 'em Off and close the bureau.
I've had enough of this business"
YIN do II at once"
rs l was passing out turned ane
asked
do you still think. MFR. Starkweath-
err, that you were badly treated by
managers when they
saw him reaching for an ink we'll
and closed the door behind me just in
time to hear the thing crash against q
panel.