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Show j & a CHANGES OF TIME. A writer ,in 1840, commenting on the state ?f 1 the drama, asserts that the first blow to the de- struction of the great theaters "has been the ex- i traordinary increase in the demands of all kinds 1 of actors;" and to illustrate the injustice of the 1 salaries then given, gives the following statistics 3 of the salaries paid to actors of a preceding gener- I atlon: "Munden, Fawcett, Quick, Edwin, Jack i Johnstone and their class received $70 a week; 1 William Lewis, a superb comedian, $100 a week; fj Matthews, in 1812, wrote, 'Now to my offer, which j I think stupendous and magnificent, $85 a week;' ? Mi3s O'Nell, after achieving a good provincial rep- utation, received $75 at Covent Garden, and never 1 more than $125; Cooke was paid $100 a week; Mrs. Jordan $155 a week; Dowton, $00 and never f more than $100 a week; Miss Stephens, $100 a week. All those actors were first rate. But, look- Ing down the list, we find Macreary, in 1839, re- , ceiving $125 a night ; Power (1840), $000 a week; Farren, at the same period, $200 a week; Liston, who began at $84 a week, ended by receiving $100 a night; and Miss Ellen Tree, 'certainly n pretty and popular actress, was engaged, b'y tho Drury Lane manager, when lessee of both thea I tres, to play at both, for $75 a week. She then 1 went to America, returning after two seasons, and 1 even after this rustication, she comes, demands, I and even actually obtains, $126 a night." The I same writer says that were it not for these heavy I demands upon the treasury of the management, 1 H the dramatic author would reooive larger sums H for his plays; and instances the money paid to H authors in the days of Kemble and Suet by quot H ing Coleman, who received $5,000 for "John Bull;" Morton, ? 5,000 for "Town and Country;" Mrs. H Inchbold, $4,000 for "Wives as They Were;" and H Reynolds, for two works in one season ("The Blind Bargain," and "Out of Place") $5,000. H Of course, the prophet of 1840 was altogether Wm in the wrong Perhaps he viewed the matter jB from a managerial standpoint; certainly his wail Bmust hive been inspired, for theaters have gone Bon multiplying and salaries of actors have gone Hb" increasing. Among the American actors who fRtire receiving t onlay more than twice as muoh as any of the actors mentioned above, are Nat C. KGoodwin, W H. Crane, William Lackaye, Kyrle B Bellow, DeWolf Hopper, Grace George, Maud H. Adams, Lillian Russell, Fay Templeton, John Drew, E. H. Sothern, Eleanor Robson, Eftiel Bar-Br,ymore, Bar-Br,ymore, Willie Collier, Anna Hold, Marie Oahill, HpJenry Clay Barnabee, Cecelia Loftus, Lulu Gla-Bser, Gla-Bser, Joseph Weber, Lew Fields, Frank Daniels Hand perhaps a dozen others. B & & & H Raymond Hitchcock, star in Henry W. Sav-Kage's Sav-Kage's production of the comic opera, "The Yankee Consul," was some years since connected with a B'troupe" which had a rather precarious existence HHmd it moved from place to place sometimes with jjHjthc trunks of the members of the company as Hpecurity for payment All the leading actors of Rhe American stage have had similar experiences KDd Hitchcock delights to tell of those days, and in this connection he has one story worth the repeating. re-peating. "It was in a little town in Connecticut, Jewett City, I think," Hitchcock, "where the hotel proprietor had little use for anyone save himself, him-self, and of all persons who came to his hotel actors were the least thought of. I went in there on the day of our arrival," says the comedian, "and announced my intention of remaining overnight over-night 'What are your rates?' was my salutory. 'Two dollars and a half up, was the answer. 'But What is your business What line do you sell?' Drawing myself up to my full height, and this was In the days when I first aspired to become a comedian, I announced, 1 am an actor.' 'Oh,' said tho host, 'an actor, eh! Well, we have a special rkte for actors.' That sounded good to be bo-cause bo-cause I wag' short of real, tried and proven good money, and I asked him, 'What is the rate?' 'Three dollars down,' he answered, and at that I spent the'iiignf there " t The eight little jockies in "The Runaways" company were in great distress one night last week just before the performance. Their greatest great-est pride Is in the neat little jockey trousers which they wear in the racing scene, and it was discpv ered just at the time to dress that their trousers had not returned from the cleaners, and as it would have been a little unconventional to appear in skirts everybody concerned was anxious. By holding the curtain a few minutes and sending a hurry-up call to the clean ng establishment the difficulty was surmounted and the raoing scene was Saved. |