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THE INTER-MOUNTAIN REPUBLHastings Clawson of Salt Lake Who Has Spent 10 Years inSouthern Climes Writes Interestingly ofHis Troubles.Among- the adventures which have befallon Salt Lake men In South America, not the least Interesting ore those of Hasting Clawpon, eon nf Dr. Stanley H. Clawson, of Cl Seconr n venue, who foi' tho last ten year has been managing theatricals belon the equator, through South ami i.vr*tral America, Mexico and thr West Indies. The following of Mr C'hvn-eonTs experience* wero related in letter received by his father last \\lt; - K’’What Would the average American actroR* think of making a trip of, 1,000 miles on mulclwck as part nf her tour awni^from Broadway? W»OM such ft ’stunt' a couple lt;»f V* *«••*ago In South AinorfcnT and consider. \it all hi tho month'* work.We had come Into Bolivia fimn Bern and found ourselves at ha Pax. We wanted to get Into Argentina, bin dtd not relish a voyage around thread of tho continent and through Hi-Strait of Magellan. There vn« o quarantine on the coast against tlw bubonic plague, and wo were afraid of .being lied up for weeks ai s'wsuspect station.■’There iuw one way out—a trip, ncrora country on mulebaok. The way ■ led t6 Potost, tho old Spanish capital of Bolivia, and then across tho plains to the Argentine frontier. Thero wore | few possible show points along tho line, but we were far ahead of tho game and decided to make the trip, “potchd was our' last big town inBolivia, and there were experiencesthere that will bear telling-. Tho theater. for instance, was an old church which had'been*abandoned for a new* one. It was lighted with 500 candles.y. HASTINGS CLAWSONfuso to drink wJlh mo,' I offered byway of mitigation. 'Como along and have u little of the real American red water that I've found at the cafe. It will give you an appetite like a horse.* “lie came, and on tho way I foundthat lie hud never tasted rye- I ppured out a generous iloso for lilm.4 t‘Tastes Itko a cordial, doesn’t it?’ When wc wanted a dark theater for j said the colonol, smacking Ills lips.one of tho magic scenes tho ushers went around and blew out candles. When a light house was required they shnplv relighted the candle*. Tho Audience waited patiently during thiscandle-lighting operation, which took Borne lime.You have to carry your own oilI-Onco moro tho city fathers ad-“I gave him a second dipper, and when that had taken effect I got a permit. A rival show was refused because It was a block too far away from tho police Mat Ion.Wo waited patiently for tlmt revolution. Finally word came that theboards In South America, ns there aro i revolutionism wm*e advancing on tho none of a rIjcc largo enough to hold j town by train. We took refuge on the American ’paper.' ingly expensive, and;o enougn uvm i iuwii uy num. wc iuok roiugo on meLumber is exceed-J roof of the American consulate. The id while we were streets wero full of soldiers, and thoygathering mules and outfitting for our wero banked around the station. Tho long jaunt across the plains I secured train pulled In und the revolutionists permission from the mayor to storo got off. They shook lmnds with the our precious billboards In the theater, soldiers, and all adjourned to tho “When it came time to depart 11 neighboring cafes.went for tho billboards, but they were nowhore to be found. I complained to tho mayor.’Go back and look again,’ ho said. ’Thoy must be there.*A eecond search uncovered no billboards, and again I went to the mayor.** 'You really looked again?’ said the xnttyor, in Spanish. Til liava to tell yon the truth, you poor Americano, rv got thos© boards up at my house and I’m making window sashes out of them. What aro you going to do about It?’“We sot out from Fotosl finally with forty-live mules, thirty-five of which»iwero loaded with baggage. There wasoaklittlo Or no accommodlallon along the trail, so we had to carry provisions, betiding nml a couple of largo tents. It made quite a respectable caravan,and I folt like an explorer as I set off atitha head of the train.In even' South African town a show must have a license. It can ho had for nothing if It Is worked right. Agent Terrible was of no use when jl came to gelling license*. Ho thought it cheapened tho show not to pay for them, I generally paid In passes. In one town I failed. As usual, I sent passes to the mayor. Then I went around for a frco license. Tho mayor hold out for the full amount.** 'All right,’ I said, 'hero is your money, but you glvo me back those passes.*“ ’Not while tho world moves/ returned the mayor.'Thero is nothing In tho law that says you shall have passe*/ I protested.'* ’It Is a law of my own/ smiled the mayor, and ho kept them.f IIf I had turned them down at the lie nenq of me tram. , , j door he’d have closed the show..YBuTiay diotibqUoygiMu^btit. ono.L.., Pv.gr. in . I-Jmn,. Peru, ?wb- encrmn--\lr''(T5g oru¥mf' more'■*tVfcfibTwtqrdd grUf t*,ofHriphilt;jruaoT t^^ThfcflchIdf*than anything else on the trip. It detective owns tnc • billboards.‘J3lle wag Just a puppy, but the leading lads I wanted $75 a day for their use. Iloved It and would not leave it behind. The dog was supposed to travel In a basket, strapped on a mule with some hand baggage. We would proceed a mile or two, when Petit— for that wag the brute’s name— would begin to whine. Thero was nothing for It but to stop the caravan and get out the dog.“When you’ve put a pack on a mule with tho diamond hitch you can’t got out as much as a hairpin, without undoing the hltcli ami unpacking tho mule. Petit would bo satisfied to ride for a mile or two in. the arms of tho leading lady, then he would whlno for his basket. That meant more unpacking,- until ho could be Injected into the basket. I’ll wager th^t dog cost us two days in timo wasted doing and undoing cjiamoud hitches. _‘‘We advertised the show as ’The Heal Devil’ and had a. red Satan on our handbills. Thero was no theater in Tup Isa, the last Bolivian town wo airuclc. The .priest was going to lot us have his church until he hoard what the show was. Then he said ho was sorry, but we’d have to take the real dftvll some place else. We finally showed in a school with an earth lloor. Tho only musical Instrument in tho town was a piano which had only a docen strings left- The natives did not seem to mind the discord, but it was hard on the performers. It was nearly as bad as an Indian orchestra that wo heard in another place,Ak if I did not have troubles enough, tho liehrt magician was a camera ficml. He took pictures all day and sat up half tho night developing his plates to make suro that he was got-'Ung everything.On© morning we wcr© all ready to start, .when I discovered that tho professor was missing. Finally I found a note from him. Some pictures ho had taken tho day before refused to develop, ITo had taken the back trail to rophotograpli tho scene. The entire company was held up for twenty-four hours.The delay caused more trouble. The streams In this region run over beds tf sultpeter, and the water is not lit to drink. *\Vo had been subsisting on ’chichi/ which wo purchased from 'Indian venders along the trail. Thorefused to pay. That night ho rounded up twenty small boys and provided them with paste pots and bill lithographed in red with while letters:” ‘Go out and pastor/ I ordered.“ ’Suppose the police stop us/ said ono of tho boys.”’Ask the polJccmhn If ho thinks It likely that you’d be pasting up bills without the permission of the municipality/ I suggested. 'Next morning that town was a sight. Tho Uttle devils had pasted rc-gardness. All along tho main street you could see the people out with wet cloths soaking off our bills. Hundreds of tho posters were not touched, and wc wero tho best advertised show In Peru.»pI ran across tho chief detective i about noon. He had been hunting for f 1 mo all morning.‘.You’re arrested/ said he. Vome before the judge.’“Tho judge was exceedingly severe In his talk. He becamo ultra patriotic, and you’d have thought I was somt f arch traitor.’“You have trampeled tho Peruvianflag in tlio dusL You have ground our j sacred emblem under your feet You have bespattered -our beautiful city * No punishment could bo too severe for1 you. I sentence you’—I really expected he would say boiled oil or nomo such delightful punishment and perhaps I trembled white he paused for breath.“ 'I sentonce you/ ho went on im- s presslvcly, *lo pay a fluo of $20 •’I told you I'd get you/ growled tho chief detective as I was departing after paying my fine.“But, you sec, it la cheaper to get ar- ' rested than pay for advertising hi South America. For small towns wo« carried an outfit of flags and bunting, with which to decorate the InevilablT1 plflzft. would do tho decoratingufior midnight, depending on getting official permission the next day. The people would wake up to find the cen-! ter of the town decorated, and would think that some new flsta had fallen u^11 , . Generally decoratingwithout permission could be settled with a drink.company within an hour, and coon the roof of tho theater was swarming with linemen. Thoy found the telephone wires noutly mul freshly cut In a most unlikely place, and tho connection wag speedily restored. TUJm Just shows you the sort of tiling a manager in South America has lo ] contend with.* *rr* t'O ho niM-1 *i ITransportation Is a constant nourro of lion bio. Wo wanted to go from Cordova, Mexico, to the west coast, where wo co'uld board a steamer forChill. Tho railway ni|iclnln declared i tlmt the new road was built through, so wo boarded a makeshift train and started on a remarkable Journey. Thai train was moro off tho track than on. It could Jump the track when standing *H11, Finally wo cnmo to a river of oon.Mderablo tdzc—tho Colorado, 1 bn-II- v-- they call it. There wag no rail-rojoj in blgo und until It was built Colo-. .i/To woa the end of the fine.■ Thi station master let the women-«! the company sleep In u freight housr. We men hud lo be content- -11, a lubOrfer'S hut alongside thei - K. XL was ns miserable n ntu-ii .in stand as Thespian ever made. •Thc next morning I hired u big!■ it;-lt; io freight thc company down to Ho - .mst. It was a beautiful day u hen w. .-et out. About noon tin- lninr** n, uulH up oil a sand bar and lutdutit-k it begun to vain. When It rains inrn Mexico, It comes down in 1.1 - ki-iruls, Thc leading Indy, whom- . mill'd as ‘Tho Woman Wlio Flies.' v mighty sorry she could not livej. jo ivr part literally. She tried to n.w.m a tent of some fast color Moxl-nii lu.mblt;»ts which she had purchased. !*?••• colors were fast In the wnn* lt;-f *og -puedy. In ten minutes sheis giddy as u bird of pared I**-, f-.: the blanket* leake'd every color -i thlt;* rainbow.\\ hen tho rain was oxer wo slipped | ofr tho bar, but 1 made the bargeman walk ahead and point out tho channel. When wo got to tho coast wo learned that there was a week’s waiting In store for us before a steam**!-wav due. I hired an vxpresatmm to tako our personal baggagetho lintel* lie was about to load up his wagon when a labor agitator com*-along.“ ’Those peoplo think you arc a slave.’ ho growled to our expressman. *rm no slave/ declared the manwith the wagon.*’ ‘Then why are you loading thenbaggage?’ hissed tho agitator.“Tlio expressman thought It overand then turned to us.” ‘If you put tlio baggage in the wagon, I'll haul it to thc hotel,’ ho said, ’But I’m no slave/There was no other expressman In sight, so tho head magician and I loaded Up his curt.“Tho South Americans love the tbc-atorj and arc none too well supplied with trending companion. They generally fitl the building to tho dooiv.. “But beware of tho judge of the spectacular! observed Clawson. “He Is an exceedingly troublesome individual In,any country, and especially so In Bolivia. I remombcr visiting one town, where wo rented the theater from one man, thd scenery from another, and borrowed the chairs from thc municipality. When tho house was half full thc judge of the epcctacular canto to mo and said:” ’Stop selling tickets. You have enough people in here/“ 'But tho liouso Is not half full!’ 1 exclaimed.“ ‘You may do that in North America, but not down hero/ said the Judge. ‘I say, stop selling tickets.'*’Of course, I was not.turning away any good monoy, and we filled the house. The next morning I lind a visit from two policemen, who read a long warrant for my arrsat. There was.a court jusm$ which resulted Indllnfiuvlanai‘“You were Tlbthg-'ioo much business/ said tho judge. ‘Pay the line or go to Jail.’“ -I’ll go to jail/ I said, with quickdecision. ‘Alt right, go to Jail/ said the judge, In disgust.■•£ walked out of tho courtroom, ami that was tho In*#t of the matter. Had I paid the fine tho Judgo of tho court and tho judge of tho spectacular would have divided the proceed?/'4Bum » v tlt; fiIt took more diplomacy to advertise 'The Hoal Devil* in a city likestuff is sour but not' unpalatable. 111 USflt;1 an nHto_19 a mllil intoxicant, but none of u« | 2,1? , on ejther1,'ia .hat aa-ah.at II. While tvnltme n,0 cha^toar’Hero'* where you break down/for tho professor wo went out to an Indian camp to see them make ’chichi/ Wo found iialf a dozen ohl’hucks Chewing up corn and spitting It Intoa pan. The chewed corn was tho basis of our drink. After that we simply had to carry water.“Of tho many strange scenes along tho trail an Indian wake was pernap* the most interesting. They aro glad when you die down there. It means ti big celebration. This wake wn« be-in^ held on a mesa near the trail. It had reached an advanced stage, ami an dozen drunken bucks sat about the! cOrpeo puLtlug down sour wine which their squaw* brought them.At last we crossed into Argentina and met tho advance man whom I had engaged for thu Argentine tour. I had never coon his name written out, and its apprnprlatcnoes for our particularshow did not strike mo until ho pro-44-He threw tho machine out of com* and. laklng a monkey wrench crawled underneath. Ho lay thoro for a couple of hour*, while tho show gotthe best possible advertising, IVo didthe same thing next day. hut thoy fined ub Jlu. Stilt, It was cheap at the price.At another big Argentine town I made tho mlstoko of renting a theaterthe owner of which did not stand inwith thc municipal authorities. When r went for n license I was told the mayor was too busy; to conio tomorrow. T was put off continually until tho day wo were billed to open.‘I can't glvo you a llconac/ the mayor sold finally. ‘You a how too much fire Jn your advertising/“J agreed to use no fire on tho alago.I cannot lot you have a license forRLLlfitV n. Cl,A It Kseated one of his now' cards. It read: . that theater/ the mayor said againCARLOS A, THHUIBL15. ‘The telephone is not in workln- o?IAdvance Agent 1 der/*4of “The Ileal Devil.”This was atowUpAt JJahia Blaca, tho first Argentine made him eliow it to me in th* •n which wo played, wo got mixed book. He finally found it. I with one of their lly-by-nlght ycvo- \ call up tho theater, and surenew law on me, rmd Istatute tried toLutiona. Thoy put the town under the answer came back from tho^Span?teU w *h nTlrv /rivl I „martial law thc night we arrl\*cd, and I hud to refund tho proceeds of a $500 advance -sale. Aftor waiting for two days nothing happened, and I went to see tlio colonel about getting permission to frhow. ,“lie wild it wan Impossible, and Iualti'd him io come and liavo a drink.ish spoaklng ‘hello girl/ ‘Out of or-darl’Tho ofilca of tho intendanto closes ut 5 o'clock, and It was then 1 in tho afternoon. AVo wero sold out for that night, hut could nothavo opened without n licence, t went aftor tho owner of (ho theater, who had pome infiu-| 'You bnvo Insulted mol* bo ex- imee cvlt;m though he was. 'In bad’claimed, indignantly.*' 'No American general wouldwith tho powers that ruled. He demanded repairs from tho telephoneBy Ellery. If. Clark. Illustrated by V.Graham Cootos. I2»ir, cloth, $1.50.rhe Bobbg-aierrlU company, Jndlan-apolla.The nanio of KUory lh Clark Js now on thc title page* of popular fiction, but known and ewtnbllshed for more than a decade in nlblctlo history. Not onco only, but Movoral timoB, Mr. Clark wo* the tiiio of chumplon all-around a till eto of America* This lova or outdoor sports Miow* Itself romantically In sceuofl of thrilling exclteinont throughout the pagea of ’'Loaded Dice. There Ib a horso rnco, for Instance, that make* you want to rise In your seat and cheer. Thero is a vivid 'luck hunting aplRodo that makes thc pulsos leap; Mr. Clark’*; particular penchant is duck hunting. There Ik tho best flat fight we’ve had since “Ilodney Stone.’* Thcro Is a hammer throwing contest full of amusement, and said to bn based oil actual experience. Tho first time Mr. Clark essayed to throw tho hammer ho in supposed to liavu landod Just 08 be describes his milter doing only ho lit on tho back of }rla nock, ami was too birny seeing stars to want to fight anyone.lint more Imprcssivo than raeo or contest is tho themo which Mr. Clark has chosou and the direct, straightforward way In which he works it out The. rnco of tho narrative Is act like a flint toward tljo climax. It concerns ono Ulchnrd Gordon, a man of massive strength and enormous energy. lie conceives of life and lo\'o as gainhluH and of immortality as the biggest game of all. lie will take hla chances oc future punishment If ho may but gain by whatsoever means, tho uttermost of present power. Ho plays hie red game with men and women for all it is worth, so nonchalantly thnt he seems 'tlio Gambler Incarnate, the very e«-seute of the Spirit of Play. And whether lw nr Fate holds loaded dice, the reader does not know until tho very end when that great climax, with nil the swell accumulated through long bus-peuHC*. break® upon him with Its overpowering wave.b116ntlerlt;bnnclElMMr. Clark display* j*uch originality such vigor, such bold handling of bighJ.Na1SiS'n7i»maSdiinbn81IV
Newspaper Details
Salt Lake City InterMountain Republican
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
Sun, Mar 07, 1909
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Richard H.
USA 29 Jan 2019
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