The Washington times., 1914-10-18
Oliver Morosco Jumped Over
Hurdles of Tradition and
Made a Name for Himself as
Producer.
By GARDNER MACK.

One Of the reasons these progress
sive gentlemen who do old things in
q new way. or new things any old
way, involuntarily duck when the
cheering populace heaves laurel
wreaths in their direction. is the habit
they acquired of lodging brickbats
and tin cans during the weary days
before the self-sane populace learned
to differentiate between a cheer and
q jeer. The savant who discovered
that all the captains of the prophet
industry were compelled to move out
OF the neighborhood Of their nativity
to acquire their rank, knew also that
the course, Of training for leaders Of
al sorts is such that It is a long time
before they acquire the habit of -e-
gardins the approach Of old friends
bearing gifts with any other senti- 4
ment than one of deep, dark sus-
picion. The man who essays TO
Jump out Of the line OF march each
and runs up ahead of the procession
for the purpose of hitting up faster
marching step for all the others in
line, Is usually compelled to keep Gut
Of reach OF his fellows until he ar
rfves at the front of the line. And
II frequently happens that the faster
pace the others set when they catch
sight Of him, out in front is at first
prompted by a desire TO pull him
back TO their own funereal progress.
First Obstacle to Youth.
The first obstacle that the rising
generation finds in the way Of its rise
u usually that portion of the older
generation which is directly respon-
sible for II getting a start. 1t is a
very difficult thing for the old folks
10, realize that the only reason civili-
zation progresses Is that each new
Eeneration'is better equipped than the
old. To paraphrase the classic, It's a
very poor child who does not know
more. than his father. The difficulty
comes In convincing father of the
fact. And when father persists in re-
naming unconvinced no blame can
certainly rest upon the neighbors for
sharing the old gentleman's point OF
view. Hence when youngster at
tempts 10 make family traditions
turn a nIp-fop he not only finds the
collective foot of the family extend
ed from every direction to trip MIN,
but when he gets clear OF his natural
connection there are any number or
nciyhb0rs' who will volunteer to do
the job father and mother and broth
GIb sleltTS ldllcu 10
A case in point Is that OF. oliver
horosco. Of Los Angeles. An I'm
thinking persontuould probably write
the address New York or Son Fran
cisco. or some OF the towns that are
marked with a larger asterisk on the
map than the City of the Angels.
But they would never do it with
one OF the things that stamp this
young man as different. 1t was per-
tectly natural that oliver Morosco
should have made a name for him
Self for jumping over the hurdles or
tradition or somersaultiDg put OF the
regular order Of things. He came
into the world with a heritage Of
acrobatics already prepared for him.
His family had been known for years
as a family Of acrobats. From gener-
alton TO generation they had gather
ed renown in this country and Europe
for their ground and lofty tumbling,
and for certain kinds Of aerial work.
And when young Oliver was big
enough to stand alone his training In
a younester he wore fieshings and did
a number Of remarkable stunts with
the other members Of the family. II
might be said that he has never lost
his proficiency. and even now, when
he has nothing else TO do. he can
stroll out into the italian garden or
his perfectly appointed California
estate and turn f1ip-fops ana cart
wheels with nonchalance that
sstonishes the staid English butler
and the twenty-second girl, and
makes the first deputy assistant su-
perIntendent Of the garage think that
the boss is going crazy.
What Becomes of Acrobats.
The twin Of the question Of what
becomes of the pfns-like the matter
of where did the burlesque cnoruses
get their gestures what becomes
Of the acrobats when they are too
old 10 do so. Probably the query
will never be answered. II can be
definitely stated. however. that Mr..
Morosco used toe savings Of his life
tine 10 buy himself q thsater in San
Francisco. And Oliver Morosco. be-
ing a likely: youth, was made the
treasurer of this thcater when he be-
came old enough to count up the
house and make out a box office
Old man Morosco was q
firm believer in giving the public
what he thought II wanted at as low
r price as II Is possible to give IT,
He had some very set IDEAS as 10
Just what the public wanted and did
not hesitate TO wave them. around
in the faces OF his friends and
family One OF these views was that
tho public was not as highly cul-
tured as in the good old days and
thst troupe OF trained seals had
II all over o company Of Shake5-
pearean actNBs. when lit came TO
making the, money. %,
oliver acquired the habit Of nod .