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Journal Courier, Jacksonville, III., Aug. 25,1985 aORVILLE SPURRIER’S REPERTOIRE COMPANY — Joe and Alta Eisch (center two in back row) pose for a promotional photograph of this traveling theatre troupe which took its productions all over Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.(Continued from preceding page)the Dubinskis saw the end of vaudeville coming. Quick to cut financial corners, they limited vaudeville to weekends — which was about the only time the now-scarce acts could be booked — and the Hollywood became a movie theatre.Again cutting corners, the Dubinskis asked Joe and Alta to manage the theatre when they were away on business. One afternoon, while Alta was overseeing another Dubinski theatre, Joe went down to the basement of the Hollywood to turn on the air compressor which cooled the building. He pushed a button and the compressor exploded, critically injuring him. He died two hours later.Alta ran to the theatre, having heard there had been an accident, but she was not allowed to see her husband.’ “In my heart, I had so much anger against those Dubinskis,” Alta said. “The machine was defective, I know. They brought down some men from Chicago to investigate, and they decided he pushed the wrong button — they say. I know that wasn’t right because there was a safety that would have stopped that (the explosion).” The Kansas State Legislaturecaught wind of the much-publicized accident and brought forth a bill that made it illegal for anyone other than a licensed operator to operate air compressors. Alta testified before the legislature, which later passed the bill, now a law in the state of Kansas.Meanwhile, the Dubinskis offered Alta a lifetime job at the theatre with the stipulation that she never go in the basement.“I know they were afraid I would sue them. By law, I had two years to do it, but I didn’t.”She worked for the Dubinskis for two years, managing the Hollywood and accompanying the vaudeville acts which were fewer and farther apart. At times, her grief for the loss of her husband was too much to bear.“For two grief-stricken years, my heart was full of rebellion against the forces that allow such tragedies to occur,” Alta once wrote of this time after Joe’s death.Once the two years were up, the Dubinskis, not surprisingly, announced that there would be no more vaudeville in the Hollywood and that Alta must take a 50-percent cut in pay since she would no longer■ Continued on next page
Newspaper Details
Jacksonville Journal Courier
Jacksonville, Illinois, US
Sun, Aug 25, 1985
Page 74
Full Page
Clipped by
Cole O.
NA, 08 Feb 2023
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