The result of his visit was an agreement on the part of Haverly to play his attractions alternately between the two theatres, thus giving the Salt Lake theatre one-half of their Salt Lake bookings. In the agreement it was stipulated that the Salt Lake Theatre must also float the Haverly flag, and while this contract lasted the old house was called "Haverly's Salt Lake Theatre." Here was an interesting situation; both theatres flying the Haverly flag. Haverly's name at the head of every bill and program. It was not at all pleasing to the Mormon people to have their theatre, in which they took so much pride, pass under the direction and management of a Gentile manager. Many of them didn't know but what Haverly had bought it. The Walker Brothers did not relish the idea either of their house being called Haverly's; but such were the exigencies of the theatrical business. To the Walker it was a great advantage, as without Haverly's prestige the new house would have had a hard time in getting first-class attractions.
These circumstances go to show what an immense influence Jack Haverly wielded in the theatrical business of this country at that time. He was almost as potent then as Klaw & Erlanger of the syndicate are today. These conditions did not last very long, as the managers and agents came to learn that the Salt Lake Theatre was the only one that the Mormon people would patronize, and they being so largely in a majority of the theatre-goers, the older theatre gradually won back the great bulk of the traveling combinations, and the Haverly agreement having expired, his flag was hauled down, much to the relief of a great many, to whom it had always seemed a reproach to have Brigham Young's Theatre called Haverly's. Jack Haverly had too many irons in the fire; his numerous theatrical enterprises were managed by a corps of lieutenants, too numerous for Mr. Haverly to keep in line. Some of them proved shrewder, more adroit, and less principled than their general. He trusted them too implicitly, and this was his undoing. Some of them managed his enterprises into their own hands, while he was giving his personal attention very largely to his mining interests. These, too, turned out disastrously, and Haverly's star, which had been so prominent and bright in the theatrical firmament, began to wane and in a very few years was totally eclipsed. After all his great enterprises, he became a bankrupt in 1898, and he died poor in 1901 in a Salt Lake Hospital. He was reduced in health and circumstances to such a degree as to be unable during the last year of his life to manage even a minstrel company, and others paid him for the use of his name.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Retrospectively considered, the building of the Walker Opera House was premature. There was one good theatre here, and not half enough of business for that one; but it served to enliven things for a little while, and did its share toward liberalizing and metropolitanizing Salt Lake City. The Walker had a brief and rather checkered career; it was destroyed by fire on July 4th, 1891, after a performance of "Held by the Enemy." The audience were all home and the company had left the theatre; the stage hands were lowering a drop, when a gust of wind blew open the front door and sent the drop sailing against a gas jet; in a moment it was all ablaze. The stage hands lost their heads and made for the exit, when a little presence of mind would have saved the building. The house, especially the stage, was well provided with water plugs and hose, and it seems incredible that any effort was made to extinguish the fire.
Mr. Will Burgess was manager at the time it burned down. It is a remarkable fact that two other fine theatres burned under this same gentleman's management within a few years afterward. The Farnham Street Theatre of Omaha, where a number of lives were lost, and The Auditorium of Kansas City. Notwithstanding these very serious drawbacks, Mr. Burgess is one of the wealthy managers of the West today.
After the burning of "The Walker," Malloy's Livery Stable, directly opposite the Walker, was converted into a theatre, when it was decided to build an office block on the ruins of the Walker. For some time it was known as "Wonderland," and was a two storied show; the upper story being a sort of curiosity shop—or Wonderland with specialties and the lower story having a small stage was devoted to vaudeville, and short plays. Afterwards the two stories were thrown into one room, and converted into a theatre with capacity for about six hundred people. It was called the Lyceum. Here a stock company was run for about a year with varying fortune. Some actors who have since won high places in their professions were members of this stock, notably Charles Richman, Ed Hayes, Victory Bateman.
The Lyceum soon went into a decline struggled along for a few years against adverse fortune and finally yielded up the ghost. It was transformed into a handsome saloon and wholesale liquor house, from which a greater revenue is derived than it yielded as a theatre. Before the Lyceum went out of commission as a theatre another theatrical venture was launched. This was the Grand. This theatre was built (or partly so) by Mr. Frank Maltese and Mr. "Brig" Pyper. The story of how they projected, planned and built this theatre is told as follows: "Brig" and "Frank" made a winning in a "policy drawing." They held between them a one-fourth interest in a fifty-dollar policy ticket. In a sporty manner they bantered each other as to what they should do with their big winning of $12.50. One was in favor of reinvesting it in the next policy drawing, the other for trying their luck at the "faro-bank." Finally, in a lurid flash of imagination one (which one we don't remember, but we believe it was Frank), exclaimed: "Let's build an Opera House with it." The idea was so absurd, they had a good laugh over it; but the thought took hold of them, and one of them suggested, "Let's figure up and see how much more it will take." So on the back of the policy ticket they figured up roughly what it would take in addition to their winnings to build "The Grand." The result was no doubt staggering; but undismayed they went about to see how they could accomplish such a herculean task. They owned some property, or their folks did, and this they decided to put in jeopardy in order to carry out their designs. They secured the building site, and got the walls up and the roof on—and then they were stuck. They had reached the end of their financial tether, and were forced to stop until they could make some new deal by which to complete the building. Mr. Alec Rogers was the party who now came to the front and put up some $16,000 to complete the building. We don't know just how much interest the boys Maltese and Pyper had remaining in it when the theatre was completed, but we opine it was little if any. The Grand opened with the house in the possession of Alex. Rogers and sons, and John Rogers was installed as the manager. He secured a very good company for the opening, announcing a season of stock performances. The house was opened on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1894. The personnel of the company was as follows: Jane Kennark, Blanche Bates, Madge Carr Cook, Jean Coy, Howard Kyle, Tim Frawley, Charles King, Harry Corson Clarke, H. D. Blackmore, Fred Fjaders, Mr. Mannery. The opening play was "Moths." It was a good performance, and the company made a very favorable impression. The axiom that "A new broom sweeps well" had a number of exemplifications in this theatre. It was so with this first company, notwithstanding it was a talented and capable one. After it had been seen in a few plays, and the novelty of the new house, miscalled "The Grand," was over, business began to drop off and it was more than the manager could do to keep ahead with the expensive company he had.
Why this theatre was called "The Grand" we were never able to divine, as it was at the opening positively severe in its plainness. There is a great tendency in our country to buncombe, aside from the genuine patriotism that exists in it; this tendency leads many of our fellow citizens into silly extravagances, especially is this noticeable in the naming of theatres, hotels and restaurants; more particularly is this the case in the small towns. A man opens a little restaurant scarcely big enough to accommodate a dozen persons, and everything in it of the plainest and commonest kind, and he dubs it the "Palace" restaurant. "Opera House" is a much abused appellation. Nearly every insignificant, dingy, dismal, inconvenient, and homely theatre and hall throughout the land is dubbed Opera House. It is a dreadful misnomer—inconsistent and absurd in three-fourths of the houses to which it is applied. "The Theatre" is dignified enough and much more consistent and suitable. "The Grand" during the ten years of its existence has had a checkered career. We doubt if any of its half dozen different managers have made it pay. The first company, as already stated, was found to be too expensive, the business would not sustain the heavy salary list, not only was the salary list large, but Mr. Frawley made a demand for a percentage of the receipts in addition. This sprung a disagreement, and the company was after about four or five weeks superseded by another less expensive. The Rogers management was able, liberal and intent on giving the public satisfaction. After a fair trial of the business, lasting three years, they disposed of the house on a lease to Mr. Garvey of pageantry fame, who spent a few hundred he had made on the "Pioneer Carnival" on the house in the way of improvements, and then called it "The New Grand." Ad captandiun vulgas.
Garvey's reign was brief and unprofitable. Then Mr. Martin Mulvey took a swing at it, and made things lively for two seasons, but the supposition is that he did not make money with it or he would not have given up the lease. The last management, Messrs. Jones and Hammer, have seemingly had the most prosperous time with the house; they have profited by the experience of their predecessors, and yet it appears they have not realized their expectations, and so have re-leased the house to Denver parties.
Having brought the history of the Salt Lake Theatre through the first twenty years of its existence up to the time when the stock company was altogether disbanded, owing to the fact that the combination system had come so fully into vogue as to displace the stock system all over the country, I shall not attempt to give its history after this time, as my connection with it had altogether ceased. I shall only add that for the past twenty-three years it has kept the even tenor of its way, under able managers (notably Mr. Charles R. Burton and later George Pyper), playing the leading attractions of the country to a splendid patronage, keeping up the reputation of Salt Lake as "the best show town of its population in the world."