The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-28
STAGE ALWAYS|S
 ALAND OF MAGIC Misrepresent Amount of Actors Salaries | UNIQUE POSTOFFICE Arab Presides Over Office in Century Theatre-George Bockus Used to Be Real Bank Cashier
By JAMES GRANT rHURsroN

 place it is as natural for stage man or woman to exaggerate the amount of the pay check as it is to eat. Another thing is that the weekly salary must be large In proportion to that in other lines, for with few exceptions the actors season of work Is short and the earnings must be great enough to tide over the idle time.
 However, the first cause mentioned Is probably the main reason for the mis- conception about stage wages. Probably more falsehoods are spoken and written about the weekly wages of our footlight favorites than over other matters of uni
 versal interest. Not only does the actor preyaricate to his next door neighbor and his casual acquaintance, but he also tells the tale in a way that financiers may well envy.
 We do not hear that MT. Dash draws so-and-so per week, but we read it In the daily, weekly and monthly press-mulul- piled by seven.
 Of course at the bottom of things there i5 no sane or earthly reason why anyone should know or care what an actor or ac- tress earns save themselves and their inn mediate dependents.
 Does every member of the bar, stock exchange, dry goods store or factory shout his earthly salary from the house. tops. No We may say, between our selves that whats his name must be getting $500 a year." but we only guess. We have not been told in confidence by the gentleman himself, or read the inter- esting announcement in cold print. If ore believed half one heard ,or read. more than nine-tenths of the actors now gracing the boards would be drawing over $250 d week.
 As proof of what can be done in the way of clever fake arithmetic, here is q case that occurred recently. A lady who had done a certain amount of good work but had teen out of an engagement for some time, signed a contract to appear in a certain production at sl00 per week. The contract was duly drawn up and signed by both parties. Every Friday night as long as that play ran, the lady vas paid her salary, by means of two $50 notes, enclosed in the usual envelope. And every Saturday morning the manager re- ceived a registered envelope returning one of those $50 notes. \ The lady was ac- tually only drawing $50 a week, but her contract value was s100 and was faith fully paid to her every week.
 The object of all this hanky-panky was simply that the actress contract value should be high, even though her actual value was not. In seeking futue engagements she was able to produce a previous contract for $100; if she lowered herself by accepting $75 she was in reality increasing her in- come by s25 a week. That sort of thing has been done on more than one oc- casion; and among members the eX- pression contract value Is significant. Why Is that, despite the large sums alleged to be earned on the stage, ac- tors never leave fortunes? Indeed they more often leave bills. Of course they are notoriously generous and charita- bie. Also money made on one play is lost on another But the whole thing Is most easily understood when it Is realized that their earnings are not one quarter as large as they are said to be.
 There are of course some notable ex- captions but they simply go to prove the rule
 In this connection recently came across a statement made by the Boston com pany in 1799 complaining that the wages of his company were very light. In sup port of this he gave his pay roll as fol- lows:
 MT. and Mrs. Hodglinson, s100; MT and Mrs. Hallam, $50; MT. Cooper. s32; MT. Jefferson, s25; MT. Martin. s25; MT. Tyler, s25; MT. Fox, SIS; MT. and Mrs. and Miss
 
 Melmoth, s25; Miss E. Westray, $25; Mrs. Brett, s14: Miss Brett $14 Miss Harding, s10; Mrs. King, s6; MT. Harding, Jr., SIS; MT. Perkins, SIP. and Miss Perkins S20. A branch postoffice, not listed in any of the bulky volumes that Uncle Sam issues in order that the world at large may keep l tabs on his employees, has been installed | in the lobby. of the Century theatre. New York, in ofSier that enthusiastic patrons may write their friends, upon specially | provided picture post cards, how great Is 'The Garden of Allah" and have their effusions stamped and mailed without ex- | pense to themselves. A gigantic Arab presides over the post box. He does not understand a word of English, but has mastered the sign language sufficiently to know when young lady desires a fountain pen and when a pencil will do. Tn his own country this Arab is considered a great poet, and his tribesmen fear that | his present task will unfit him for his vo- cation. Contempt for women and wom- | anish things Is an ever dominant note in Arabian verse, but already this stolid | Berber has been observed to respond in kind to particularly engaging smile. | George Backus, who Is playing the | part of the elder Emerson, president of
 the Emerson Banking company. in "The | Gamblers, was once a bank cashier in | Columbus, O. The stage bacillus
 wormed its way into his system a
 number of years ago, and one day he timidly approached the president of the
 bank with the information that he in- | tended sacrificing his banking pros
 poets for the risky fortunes of the
 stage.
 | The old gentleman was aghast fol
 an instant. but after catching his
 breath he said, "Wel, if the seeds jr
 you there is no use trying to retard
 development and growth. Go and be | dashed" And Backus went.
 l His employer had never been a the | ater goer, nor had he ever seemed tc
 take an interest in theatrical things Backus often wondered what the presi-
 dent thought of his foolhardiness, and l if lie had forgotten him entirely. He
 was therefore gratifed as we'll as sur prised one day to receive from for
 mer bank associate letter with this 1 sentence emphasized: You ought tt
 see the old man. Since your debut Inc
 has subscribed for three dramatic pa pers, and if your company's route isn't printed each week he's as ugly as z
 bear and talks about writing you to | come back to the old job
 1 Then came a night when Backus ap peared in Columbus as real actor. | The house was full of his friends, and b | the first of the orchestra seats, hi l family stretched on either side, sat th' | president of the bank. He stayed throug' the performance without applauding, bu | with his eyes glued on Backus. After thu | play was CT he went around behind an, pushed open his protege's dressing room
 door and seized Backus' hands. exclaim