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Show THEATERS WILL ANSWERTHE PHONE What the Managers of the Salt Lake Playhouses Have to Say. NO MORE PLUGGED TELEPHONES IN THEATERS Officials of Phone Companies State That Order of Theaters Has Been Modified. The story appearing In The Trlhune of Paturrlny rnlllncr attention to ihr fart that It Is pra.'tlcall an ImpoBslhillty to got telephonic communication with th local theaters not only during performances, perform-ances, but almost any other time, and on: phuslzl ng the Importance of persons being be-ing sole t get the playhouses r wire in case of emergency, nas stirred up the res-Idnits res-Idnits and the theatrical managers. Tho statements of the theatrical managers nnd the uflklalt) of the two telephone companies are somewhat at variance. In connection w ith the culling ot the piaj -huses by telephone, especially after ti" opening of performances. Jjut tho fact r mains that for a long time the phones In the playhouses have been ph'gged and patrons who have believed that they could be reached quickly from home or of-tlee of-tlee if their presence was desired In a hurry, have labored under s delusion. Reitc-rnte Statement. The telephont officials state, as was printed In The Pribune Saturday, that they received strict Instructions not to ring" the theaters after 7 Ci o clock at night The theatrical manag. th emphatically em-phatically deny that they have even given such Instructions, and declare absolutely ab-solutely that they desire to be of service to their patrons In calling the latter to the telephone during a performance, when summon 1 In r ase- ,i m -rgeucy, such as sickness and accidents, and in the cases of physicians who attenil the theaters nnd who are desired Immediately. Notwithstanding Not-withstanding th.- denial of the theatrical managers, the telephone Officials t.ller-ate t.ller-ate that they had been Instructed not to ring" tho theaters after 7 30 o'clock In the evening. It was stated by tho telephone tele-phone olHctals Saturday night, however, th..r the order had been modified that day ry the theaters, the telephone companies being Informed that the theaters would answer "calls after S N o'clock p. Ill The Tribune luir- taken up the matter of the Importance of thv public to get the theaters at all times and It mulntalns that the pulrona of the theaters, while attending th performances should bo afforded protection, by telephone service, should iinv tie summoned to the telo-phone telo-phone in cases of the sudden lllru-'ss of members of their families remaining at home, death, lire, and other Instances of emergt nc . As stated above the theatrical theatric-al managers k press a great willingness to be of service to th lr patrons In this direction but until The Tribune called attention at-tention to the matter little wus done toward to-ward furnishing the public this in .sslt Manager Pyper's Statement. When ceeri b .i repr.-seiita tl '-e of The Tribune Saturday Manager (j urge I P -per of the Salt 1-a.ke theater said The Salt Lake theatei telephones are cut off When there Is a heavy line of people at tho box ofllce window, waiting to pro-euro pro-euro tickets. Almost Invariably the calls at these iimes are for s.ata, or a request for some Information as to plays and prices of admission. The sals of tickets at the window Is usually th. heaviest during dur-ing tho afternoon nnd around the time of the opening of pr-rformanr -s In th waning, wan-ing, and wo make no aim to respond to telephone .alls at such periods, 'T am sure that I have never given Instructions In-structions to the telephone companies not to ring this theater during a performance. As I Stited, however 1 Have Instructed th.-in to cut out our wlr.-H during the aft.-rnoons when a heavy sale of tickets Is In progress. It seems, however that my instruction- ha ri -.-n uilsii n.h i st ,. ,, and that the tel.-phom company's people have Interpreted my orders to hold good throughout the night as well u.s In i1 i dav time. This matter has been rectified, as I have today given notice to the telephone tele-phone companies that phones will be answered during all performances, in order or-der that wi ma) be as accommodating to our patrons as possible." What Manager Bistes Snys. Manager Bistes of The Orpheum, said "1 have never Issued Instructions to the telephone company riot to ring mir wlr-s after s o'clock In the evening The sale of seats for the performances Is about over at that hour and we answer the calls Prior to I o'clock, however, when the people are buying seats, we have no time to respond to the calls. "In the matter of calling to the telephone, tele-phone, physicians who are summoned by some sick person, or our patrons who are Deeded at home on a count of some at Cl-d.-nt or sudden Illness of members Of their famllv, we 'are more than glad to 1"- of Service, In our programmes, we riv. notice no-tice to physicians expecting to be called to leave the number of their scats at the bo: office, Iii order that they can DO found without any delay I have frequently summoned people from the au.lien. whi n called for iimt the phone" Manage Smiley Is Heard. Manager BmilSy Of the Grand theater said. "1 have never given Instructions to elth-r phone company not to rln; thS theater at any time. There are tlnn-v however, when the line of people ill the window just iief.iri- the "p.-iitiiK ol a performance per-formance Is large and when there is no one In the office but the ticket seller, and he cannot then glvi nun h attention to the telephone culls When there Is no rush we answer all calls and do SO for the reason that It may be a messagi summoning summon-ing home some member ol tin tdience, on at count of slckm s to some relative or tie- kt Manager Moss Speaks. Managi r Moss of the Kyrlc theater said nlv. iys inswer the phones whenever when-ever we posslbl) can. No Instructions haVC IV.T hl-ell Issued to the t.lpho!ie companies not to ring the i.yri. The onl) time we uo not answer the calls Ik when thi-ru Is a lint "f peopll waiting to bin seats at the Imx ofllce, nnd th. i. Is onl) one person In the Office Th'-n It Is a physical impossibility to gic much ait. n-tlcn n-tlcn to the calls The rush Is always ovt r bv STa and aft.-r that time the .alls are always answered Wc wish to be of service ser-vice t ir patroi s when they are called by phone on a . mint of sickness or at Cl dents at their homes, and we have called peoph h anno. lie HiK ipim the siagc that th are wanted si the telephone in Interviews with officials the telephone tele-phone companlei last evening, the statement state-ment was again nit. rated that up to storday ths instructions they have from the theaters was to plug the phones yesterda) this order yvas modified by the theaters and henceforth service ser-vice OVCT the 'phone with the theaters will be had the same as with other places One "f the leading lawyers or the city, In discussing the .picstiou Saturday, said "The telephone companj is a pubih institution in-stitution and there is no question abOUl the legal obligation resting upon it to answer even call and io all in Its power to raise any number asked for. No employee em-ployee of the compuny has the rljchl t,, refuse to rliiK n certain numb, r "The theater U a quasi public Institution, Institu-tion, and while then might i some question ques-tion about the legal obligation of the theater employees to answer th.- 'phone when called there Is at h ast a mora obligation ob-ligation UP'MI them to do SO The cannOI escape this unless thoj tn i K. their creed 'I don't can what happens to the rest ..f humanity so long as 1 am nol bothered ' " |