The Connecticut labor news., 1922-06-02
COrmican First Loses Strike by Musicians and Stage Hands, Is Listed as Defaulter on Previous Wage Bills and Is Closed Up When Actors Fail to Get Their Pay.
Especial to The Labor News.)

New Britain, June 2.-After trying to establish a "non-union' fidelity theater here, which led first to a strike of musicians and stage hands, and then the "posting' of him as a defaulter in not paying wages due a year previous by the Hartford Music ians Union, Harry Cormican of the Lyceum theater reached the climax of his attempts this week, when the members of The Cormican Players" the stock company he had induced to assemble and carry on his shows, sued him for wages and put sheriff s tag on the box office and theater. The actors and actorines failed to grab off the box office receipts, how ever, as they were already under at tachment to satisfy claims of the Rosen Film Company of New Haven for money due,
 Cormican opened the playhouse as a stock" house six weeks ago and al most immediately got into his own Spotlight" in way he didn't relish. The light was so strong for awhile McMahon as the packer, but now got stung all he intends to- Satur- day night Cormican failed to show up with the weekly payroll and the company went after McMahon. There was nothing doing on the money line, McMahon declaring he was through.
 The antilmion plans of CormiCan got a bump almost immediately after his opening. He attempted to run his stage with short crew and the stage hands objected and demanded more money than he intended to pay. He refused and they struck and the musicians, having had trouble with Cormican before, struck also. This drew attention of Hartford where the union there placed Cormican on the defaulters list because of money due Hartford musicians for a year. The strikes were finally settled but before Cormican could get the musicians he had to cough up $I66.75 owed the Hartford men for a year. He was also due to go on the "defaulters" list again this week for failure to meet the second instalment of the bill due a week or more ago.
 During his second week Cormican brought Louis Mann to New Britain to play three of Mann's successes but a misunderstanding over money arose between Mann and Cormican, and Mann terminated his engagement after the second week Mann had at tached check drawn in favor of Cor mican by the local Masons for rent of the theater for the first three days of the month. In the wrangle over what was due him, Mann and McMa- hon got into a heated dispute in Judge Klett's office, and policemen were called to quell the disturbance. No arrest was made, as things had quieted down before the arrival of the policemen.
 For the past two weeks Cormican had great difficulty in keeping his company together here, and allowed them to take the box office receipts every night. Despite this fact, not enough money came in to cover the wage item on his expense list, as Is indicated by the amounts sued for by various members of the company.
 Last Saturday night Deputy Sher- fir M. D. Stockwell attached the box office receipts for Rosen, which made it impossible for members of the company to secure anything. Be cause the company has stayed on hopeful that Cormican's promises would be made good, several mem bers of the company, it is said, found it necessary to borrow money from friends to get back to New York.