The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 11, 1899, Page 1

VOLUM PRICE FIVE CENTS, ONE WOMAN LED THE WAY FOR BIDDERS AT THE AUCTION Mrs. A. S. Townsend Was the Fairy Godmother Whose Magic Wand Transmuted the Boxes for the California Volunteer Benefit Into Piles of Gold. HOW THE BOXES WENT. Purchaser. Box. A. S. Townsend . Z Price $1,000 = Mrs. A. S. Townsend . X 1,025 James D. Phelan A5 c A Gu B4 E A6 Fiasse > Orpheum fed on the occ fund for »ming Cali thing would fill a had the power to fi big > of theatrical managers, ing rangement of the benefit, t front; looked large, as is se who would induce arger; and things, even 1t raising $5000 agination than a 4 1self how the rs felt after the auc- Th felt that they stently did the people r the good work vay down in they felt, al- that than they . admit i mor 1d promised Hard as the ma rked every day since their ent on the committee, they worked day. They had a sor drill at their respective houses to get things in shape to run by themselves, in order that thes ght devote their siness of the bene-! r verfeld and Morrisey cast the last cursory eye over the inte- of the Orpheum and saw that everything was in shape; Fred Belasco | got an extra close shave and “Doc” | Leahy patronized the same Figaro for the latest in Vandykes; “Sammy” Friedlander made a demi-toilet that as a wonder and had his halr dressed to the dead center. Mark Thall and | “Jake” Gottlob and Melville Marx paid extravagant prices for rare plnkg,i time fit. Ma | plan of management At last, the managers filed out P Ny En M M M P PR EG RD e M A AA A KA KR ok kA A AR AR AR AR K KA AR ARk AR A KA A KK KKK ARk kA KA A KK KA AR A A AR Ak k kA Ak kA kA kA AR Y 4 b33 08 S eting and two to each aisle, they tioned themselves half-way down, beneath signs reading, (hese Seats teserved for Bidde Policemen were put on the doors, i ular corps of doorkeepers, ushers were placed in readiness for the oncoming crowd and the signal was given, “Open the doors An answering yell from the outside Pellm came millinery ealskins and summer din, st the few men who had the nerve to in such a crush and going falrly over the heads of ushers, policemen and onto and beyond the managers half way down the aisle. For one short minute the elaborate for the auction seemed to sink out of sight, never to appear again. It was only for a min- ute, however, an extraordinary and un- looked for minute at that, but the well laid plan triumphed and bobbed up se- renely, smiling at the steady onpour of prospective buyers that followed the first rush. Every plan made to add to the com- fort of those attending the auction and everything devised to avoid con- fusion worked as if on wheels. Man- agers, ushers and policemen were equal to the occasion, and in less time than it takes one woman to say good- + Jim DUNNE™ addition to the reg- | | your eves rested on parterres of pretty | by to anoth 111 were seated for whom there were seats. The incoming others were provided with the choicest possi- ble standi oom, until even that wa d a still large but ai of late-comers took outside to await an inside. ¥ scene than they presented has ever T Ra 2O P O N T I O M T e T e B 5T U R U ML Y B T X ek ek ek ok ek e o ko ok ok k ok ok kok ENJOYED THE BIOGRAPH caPT FREESE GoT Two SEATYH FOom Al PRINCIPAL FIGURES mhB-'eEMHEREHI&!‘!&H-EENB&&P&-NH--"’ been witnessed at any popular gather- ing in the city. This was due undoubt- edly to the fact that a good three- quarters of the crowd was composed of women. Look which way you would faces banked with summer flowers. The faces were all smiles, and flashing orbs above rows of pearly teeth that made you envy the ripe, red melon that would tempt them to bite. It was a dream of fair women—ons of those rose gardens of girls you read about, which once led an anonymous poet to exclaim: Cover Me over With showers Of flowers; Heap Them deep My shivering, Quivering Body above, For I am dying of love! Had he been at this auction what a pretty accompaniment his poetical paradox would have been to the “Going, going, gone!" of the auc- tioneer! The sprinkling of well- dressed men in the audience in all probability would have shared his despalring ery. It was several minutes past the noon 0 ple, «nd standing-room for >. You can figure out for elf that there were fully 3000 peo- le in the house by noon. No prettier head of the first mu hour when the cian p ip from under the sta | tollowed kly by a number Herr k*’;**’k*’(fl! KKk organ, of th Tt = finished and duly ap-¥ plauded audience had about tenk seconds, which it put in with a general ¥ _PINCUS JoLLiED EVERYB TEN XA RN AN lin a hunt for the bevy of siage beau- | flashed on the screen and so | ties promised for close inspection. Not|cheered that it was flashed on again one was in sight. The shrewd theatrical | to the encore. The wife of the colonel | managers had planned as v ely in ““"i was in a box to hear the cheers for her |as in all other arrangements and had | hero. assembled their stars on the stage be-| In quick succession followed spirited yond the gaze of the uninitiate until| pictures showing deeds on the field of | such time as they should be sprung, |battle for which California is preparing | full panoplied, into their midst. | such a rousing demonstration for her | A sudden darkening of the house, a | returning sons. Part of a regiment of hissing, sputtering sound and a bright | New York volunteers was shown marching from the cars at Tampa to glare of light on the curtain announced ! to the audience that the biograph was | the transports. Then came one, “What Our Boys in Manila.” A Spanish {in action. A picture of Brigadier Gen eral Jim Smith, the colonel who led the | admiral's' flag flying met the gaze of boys away and has since earned his | the audience. In a moment the head of | promotion, was flashed on the scene |and drew forth a burst of vells and| handclappings, the harmony of which |.of the foe. was marred by the-sputtering of thelthe Stars and Stripes and, hammer in up the pole and tore off the emblem an American tar showed as he shinned | | tised owners | of official auctioneer, she is known as a semicircle, after minstrel first part, Wendell @aston, the J. Martin, decoration AT THE ORPHEUM AUCTION. ¥ ) [ a ¥ [ L] El ] ¥ ] " 7 4 ] ¥ ¥ £ L ¥ ¥ ¥ L] ] ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ L) [ ¥ [ ¥ ¥ [ B ¥ L [ craning of necks and turning of eyes|calcium. A bust of Colonel Duboce was | hand, amid the plaudits of the specta- loudly | tors, he nailed it to the mast. Pictures showing the work of the Red | Cross, were full of action and loudly | appreciated, the show closing with 2 rapid firing charge which showed all the grim realities of war. | The house lighted up, a second cur- | tain ascended and there on thé stage | was the beauty show. All the adver- cEE M EE R M R T PR Ru PR M By Bu | there, as was Mrs. Ernestine Kreling, proprietress of the Tivoll, always a figure where funds are to Edna Wallace Hopper, petite and pretty in white, with the perfume of the new mown hay of her anch clinging about her; Livermore Miss Juliet Crc the wife of Fr y. who in private life 1 Belasco of the Alca- M Howe and Elspeth Mc- ther Neill of the same theater; Miss E Jacobs, a concert singer from York, who will soon appear in public: | Junoesque Mary Van Buren of the | Frawl Compa Delia Stacey, Mar °k, Hattie le Ladd, Helen Henry Irene Everett and Beth Franklyn—all As hgad of the finance committee M H. de 'Young was the ing bc -take y of this that dentifrice. r Phelan, his etary, Colonel William P. Sullivan , and J. J. Gottlob and S. H. Fried- lander were there and Henry E. Me- Pike, who, besides being the secretary the executive committee, is one of on 1 mots with \ager Gottlob He thanked- the peo turnout they had made in response to the. invitation of the managers and he appealed to their patriotism to make the benefit a success by digging deep into their pockets. He then introduced Mayor Phelan, who was greeted with bers of the Executive Commit- tee, Ladies of the Profession and La- dies and Gentlemen,” said his Honor, ‘1 desire on behalf of the executive tee, which was formed for the purpose of welconiing our California Volunteers and all other volunteers to this city, to thank the gentlemen who represent the theatrical profession of this city and the artists who appear on | the boards, who have generously con- tributed their services to make the re- ception of the troops a succe: “The e: utive committee, I may re- ark, is osed of the editors of the e leading daily papers and it i more than a coincidence that the dra- matic profession now comes to their as- sistance. You will remember that be- | fore the days of newspapers the play ers disseminated the news from ham- let to hamlet, from castle to castle, from court to court, and Shakespeare, so dear to that profession, has said: | ‘Good my Lord, will you see the play- ers well bestowed? They are the ab- stract and brief chroniclers of the time. Better have a bad epitaph than their ill report.” “Far from having .their evil report, we have their good opinion and co- operation. And they, the original dis- | seminators of news, have come to the aid of our newspapers. They who hold in the hcllow of their hands the d tinies of our States, who fight our wars, ho fight our officers, who direct our atesmen, who are in fact omniscient and all wis have gone back to the dramatic prc on for assistance and it has responded nobly. am here in behalf of the news- papers to thank the artists and to in- | form you that they have undertaken a raising of $50,000. But, great task, it is for a e. It is our duty to wel- ave boys, not so much in the name an Francisco, but in the name of the nation, for it will be in this | city that they will set their feet again n soil for the fi time. nent is to be beginning at 12 entertainment the like of which has never been seen by the theater goers of San Francisco, experi- enced as they are in wonderful things. Many of you have your favorites now appearing on the stage in this city— the men have their favorite actresses and perha the ladies have their fav orite actors. (Laughter.) And there is | a differe; opinion among many of as to the histrionic merits, ability a rm of these people. There will be a competition right here on this | stage next Thursday, in which each actor and actress will vie with every other to show the mettle in them. The press will be silent on that day as it is under deep obligations to the profes- sion, but you will be able to expr yourselves on the merits of the profes. sionals. They will, therefore, be upon their best behavior and do their best to win your approval. Therefore, come one and all, but in order to come you will have to pay your way and as it is in & good cause do not be backward in paying. | “We have here Wendell Easton, who | will offer these seats. Apart from the ‘merils of the performance the sale of | | seats will enable the committee to give a fit reception to the boys who have offered up their lives in defense of their country. Therefore let your giving be | commensurate with the worthiness of the object.” | The applause that followed Mayor Phelan to his seat was a satisfactory evidence that the crowd was in a re- ceptive mood. Wendell Easton jumped | forward to clinch the na “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “on | behalf of my fellow auctioneers I take pleasure in saying to you that we ac- cept the invitation of the theatrical | managers committee to do our part of enabling you to knock these little black spots off the map, as the California vol- unteers have knocked those other black | spots, the Filipinos, off the map. We do not propose to d h talking. You understand the busin in front of us. This is a serious matter. This is war. “This house was not built for war. It was built for peace and I'm sure many of you have enjoyed a number of pieces here. We are not able to go down and face you even. We are going to attack you in the rear. We are going to come down and charge you face to face and re with our hands into Bt At A A A A A A S B B B B e ottt st s At S At At s S | | | | | feminine loveliness, | your pocketbooks.” with the exception of Blanche Bates | |and Margaret Anglin, were stretched in | the auct - manner of a|prospective bidders the fact that the the and W. chairman. of: the citizens’ | committee, in the seats of the end men. Appropriately, in such an aggregation | of loveliness, there were no ‘‘bones.” Mrs. John Morrisey, who enjoys the privilege and distinction of honorary From his blouse he drew | membership in the Elks, among whom ‘Tillfe,” was “Our »n then explained the plan of Mr. Ea n, impressing on the minds of they bid was only in the way money ! 3 ¢ premiums and that in_addition they Would have to pay the fixed price for each box and seat. “Now, girls,” he said, turning to the semicircle of beauty, “up and at 'em!” And at 'em they went, as Mr. Easton had planned, aiming to take the friend- ly enemy in the rear. Out through the flies and down into the pit in single file