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Show . M '" iisin-.i.n.. in lumen ... an r I 1 .., .ei.... hmm.ii.. . m...i il 4&i&&&& iii-i.aiij ,Uiii,iJUO "I irai nlMttii to miMi-'flt, Mr. Crane, liat " "Thai remind inn of a little Inter-change Inter-change of roni t' F'.i-n whir h look place between Harry Sullivan, the grat Kngltnh aetur. ami Manager Ilmkley of thn Halilwin theater. Snti Frnn,lrro on the opening nf Hint houno by Sii!-1 Sii!-1 1 van's roiii)ittiy, 1 a member of the company and waa ptandlnfc on the tage the aftrniiMin .Wore tho opening, open-ing, when the dialogue between tho two oerurred. Unckley wan a pom-miu pom-miu and con.elt.'d mar., and Hultlvan took a r rat dlttllkc to him from, the i;art. 'Thin,' nnld Huckley, looking around the hcauilfnl houne and speak-lug speak-lug In a tnoHt patronttiiK manner, i "t bis la tho third theater 1 have opened.' "Then lie stopped and looked at Vulllvan to neo what effort the an Ha Renews His Thanks. tiounrcmctit would have on blm. But Bulllvaji looked lilm straight la the eyee. " 'ladccd. air,' said Sullivan, 'anil bow many have ynu closi'd? "Mr. Crauu will you" "Tell you about "Jl iiimy' rowers? Why, I railed on 'Jlmiiiy' one after-tiaou after-tiaou ami aHked him to gu over town with me to n rehearsal or something. "'Can't,' hhI. I 'Jimmy.' 'I'm sorry, hut I've Rot to lake n singing lesson this afternoon.' "What wlih, Jimmy 7' I asked, anil be ilhln't speak lo tu (or nix months." "Now, Mr. Crane, about " "Well, III the iilil days of llin llnnlcy Block ci.mpuny. of which I wui a mem-tor, mem-tor, there win a young artor ramo ' along whosu stage name iiu William 11. Wilding. Hi- hail a good cummer-rial cummer-rial training brforo Im slurted In with us to become un n''inr. rii'1 sometimes he used tu ask mo lor advice, lift played tlie court rlrk In the trial scone In tho '.Merchant of Venire,' and that auric of small part. 1 told him often 1 thought him IimiIIhIi Id glvo up business, n wlUrh he had a lulr atari, fur such an uncertain thing as the career of uu uvtor. "To he frank with yon.' I mild to him one 'night. I rtnn't think you are fitted to become n greut actor. You aeeiu to lack the dramatic Instinct, and wittiout It you won't go fur. My t anil HI advice to you Is to no buck into business nml stick lo It.' 'The next tuy Wilding went nut and bUHtled for a Job lit a more, lie got a clerkship which paid hltn 1G a week. Ho had lieen getting $-T In the stock company, hut he gave that up at onro and w-ent I:, to vulvar trade. When he left the stare he gave up also hla stage nnme of WUIIiim II. Wilding and took hla own nuuio of John K. Mockett. "Tho other ilay 1 stopped over In Toledo, O., fur a few hours, and went up to call on Mockett. lie la now the owner of the largest and moRt auc-cesaful auc-cesaful clothltiK and furnishing store In Toledo, and one of the largest In tba slate. The name of Mockett la well known In trade circles. And whenever I see the man 1 put out of the theatrical buslnoss he renews his thanks for my part In the change, wblrh he has never regretted slnco be made It." "Mr. Crane, Ilavld " "That was the man I helped to Ret cut of tlie show business. Frank Franrla Wilson U ono whom I ad-laed ad-laed to stick to It and tnleavnhlnck faco fur BuninthitiK more leKltlmuta It Drcp Into Rob's Dressing Room For a Minute. Wbon I flrat met Wlluon he was play-lnft play-lnft In a black face sketch called Wash Day," with hln partner, tho Orm being Cronln & Wllaon. Hut ven then Fra.ik W1Ih(,u was an energetic ener-getic and ambitious man. In his leisure time when moat actors would have been Idllni:. or worne. ho wna studylnff Kretu-h, flermnn und tho law. lie and I had n Kond many tulKn. and I advlHed him to try leKltlnmin romedy paita. Ko he pave up $75 a week In neirro inliiitlrelsy nnd took a po. tlon with the t'luninut S'lreit thenter, In I'hlluilelphln. to pluv rernnd crm-iy crm-iy parts In the rtoclt company at U a week. Then Met'all came nlui K I , i.nd put Mm Into light opera, where he him bi t n ever ulnce." "Well, here's a letter from an Iowa mnn who wvuld like to know If I ehoiihln't loe to be playing Shake-sprare's Shake-sprare's 'Two Uroiolos' Btialn with Stiinrl KoliKon. I should think not. W.iy, a'l the time that I was mi the stage 1 was hound foot, hand and tongue. If Hobson had a cold In his head I had to have a told In mine. If HobHon had a felon on his little linger fif his right hand It was ncccipnry for me to rig up one. If he got the rheu-mntlum rheu-mntlum and had lo wrap up his knee l i a red llHimel humlaifc I had to do the same. It was iircnitful. I hail to think of Hohmm'a rheumatlRin, of Sbnlo't-peare, und of a hundred other things all the time. Homcttmcs I'd get all made up and ready to go. Then I'd drop Into Hob's room for a minute rnd observe that he had put a little more red paint than usual on his cheeks and nose. Tnen I had to bun" back and do the snmo thing. It was n dreadful experience." "Yes, Harum seems to he doing finely fine-ly sun In this year. Some of the critics say It Is likely to he a second 'Rip Van Winkle.' I shouldn't i:lJcct to that. Hut I have produced morn new plays I ti mi any actor now on the stage. Getting Get-ting a good play Is hnrder every year. Home limn sgo a well known dra-tiiutist dra-tiiutist read tuu a scenario that told a beautiful story. It was Just what I wanted. I accepted it and ordered tho piny, paying him $2..riiu as advance money. A month later he brought me around the flrtst act to read. It was based on an entirely different scenario, and 1 told him so. "'Why, thla. Isn't mi the lines of tho scenario you showed inc.' 1 said. " No, I know It,' he mid, 'but It's a great deal better." "I didn't like It at all. A week later he railed acnln. This time he wanted lo borrow (Ml. I let him have It, of courne, and he left a receipt for It. This Is tho way the receipt read, aa 1 discovered after he had left: '"Heeelved of W. II. Crane friO. to ho repaid out of thn tlrst royalties received on tlie pluy 1 am writing for him.' "That's the Inut I have ever heard Irom him. I suppose he simply needed need-ed the K.MUI In his buslueiis. Mr. Crane's tlresoer handed him a realistic rubber mole, which he pro- mm 1 "This Is the Third Theater I Have Opened." i ceded to paHtn on to the grlzxled and wrinkled cheek of David Harum. 'The last hoy I had Is In state's prison now. titole $1,800 and ran away. Hut that didn't hurt so much as what I found out afterward. It seems that the hoy had been spending spend-ing my money and my clothes and raising merry Cain In half the towns we visited. " 'Aren't you afraid that Crane'U find you out?'' some one asked him, "No,' he said. 'You ean't fool Mrs. Crane. But Crane why Crane's easy.' "And that really did hurt." H. M. II., In Chicago Vrlhune. |