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For the First
History of Broadway a
stage Beauty Repays at
the Rate of 2V2 to
1 on the Invest
mentBut Nearly
Breaks Up Show!
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Left t rlht JiUa Sudmon, FraaK
Crnmlt, JnuwtU Metb-rea and Jeka
K. Haasard ia a acene Tihlch alTea
91Ua Metavea aa excellent oppor
tunity ta aaare the apotllsht with
Mill Sandernen, the atar.
Carleton boupht out tha Faunca la
tereats for 125,O0O.
Miss Methven refuaea to talk. Sev
eral questions that the curious fain
would uk her are therefore still un
answered. These curious would like
to know among other things:
Does Miss Methven feel that Mr.
Faunce has aacriflced her career for
money?
Is Miss Methven entitled to a brok
er's percentage of that J75.000 Mr
Faunce cleaned up on his 90-day In
vestment? What did Mies Methven say to Julia
Sanderson when the latter returned
to the cast after her already-mentioned
absence?
1 y
Queer Belief and Supersti-
tions About Dolls.
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Jesmetts MethTea, as
Kaa, ahawa the American slrla same of the :
neaian Foteatate.
idvaatasea of beina; one ef the wives of a Poly-
Bliss MethTen "Dressed In aa abbreviated arown varnished with hibiscus."
AMONG those crowded lanes that
criss-cross the whlte-Uchted
rlalto of New T-rk City the def
inition of an agel la somewhat differ
ent from the one given In Webster's.
He Is hardly ethereal this Broadway
angel though it's almost essential
that he walk Is soma kind of a
folden glow.
which accompanied a suit brought by
Mr. Faunce to put the producing
company In the hands of a receiver,
his original Interest in the show was
confined to his friendship for Miss
Methoven. He wanted her to prevail
and flourish and consequently want
ed the show to do the same. Toward
that -end he Invested $50,000.
The show paid from the start Then
ant stage carpenter, "as any stage
door John that ever stumbled over a
tack-drop with a bouquet of posies
in his hand." By ignorant, of course,
the stage mechanic meant that Mr.
Faunce was Innocent of the nuances
In back-stage etiquette. For even he
could hardly have failed to know that
Mr. Faunce was a considerable fig
ure in the affairs of men. Then, as
Generally speaking, he Is a creature suddenly Mr. Faunce lapsed from his now, Mr. Faunce was the general
of the male sex, indeterminate age,
bulging purse and a weak heart. Un
der the softening Influence of a back
stage friendship he Is always sup
posed to make an appropriate gesture
with his check-writing hand and
never ask for a receipt As motives
go, in a commercial age, his are not
ulterior. That is to say. be scorns a
"return on his investment" He
shrinks at the sound of such braxen
words as "profit" and "percentage."
He simply yearns to make some dear,
pretty person happy and famous
some one, perhaps, who couldn't turn
the trick by herself.
But Broadway la now echoing to
the crash of a shattered tradition. An
"angel" in good standing suddenly
decided that he could make the busi
ness of being angelic a paying propo
sition. A merely "personal interest"
In one of those dear dancing creatures
changes to a coldly professional In
terest In receipts and balances! And
thereby hangs the tale of W. V.
Faunce. the Pittsburg capitalist, and
Jaanetta Methoven. the "South Sea
ramp" of a very successful Broadway
musical show.
According to authentic) reports
status as "angel" to that of business
man. He developed a proprietary
feeling for the show, which, in the
estimation of Mr. Carle Carleton, was
all out of proportion to the money he
had pnt in. He wanted a cut of the
profits that momentarily staggered
the Broadway producer.
All of this ended In court proceed
ings which Mr. Carleton has now set
tled by paying Mr. Faunce the sum
of $125,000. The Pittsburg "angel"
thus clears $75,008 on his "protege"
In SO days' time. Mr. Carleton will
not say whether he considers this
excessive. He does say tie is glad
the affair Is settled. This Is also
taken by many to mean that he Is
glad that the rumor of Julia Sander
son's retirement from the oast has
been officially quashed This rumor
was taken seriously because Julia
Sanderson was absent from the cast
several days.
Shy Behind the Scenes.
Attaches of the Casino theater re
member Mr. Faunce. first of all. as
rather ahy sort of man. made shy by
his obvious unfamlllarity with the
region behind the scenes. "He was
as ignorant." said Jobby. the aasiat-
sales manager for the Oldsmoblle
company In the United States the
biggest job of its kind In the world.
For all of his behavior when hedged
in by props and pulleys he was re
spected for his standing and because
he was recognized as a potential
"angeL"
Mr. Faunce's friendship with Miss
Jeanetta Methven existed prior to her
present contract. In fact though
there Is something of a discrepancy
in their ages. Mr. Faunce being E8
and married they are "old friends"
in the Broadway sense; which means
they have known each other ever
since Miss Methven started her stage
career.
Her stage career, incidentally, had
been limited to small parts in a 6hu
bert production about three years
ago and In a later production of
"Maytlme."
Nothing was said about Miss Meth
ven's financial affiliations When she
came Into the cast She entered on
her own merits and was glvea a con
tract to appear In the role ef Noa at
$150 a week. She was and Is a very
pretty girl. Her features are regular.
Her complexion ia pale and its pallor
la accentuated by a mass of black hair
that lends a suggestion of the spirit
uelle to her countenance.
A short while after he was first
seen back stage at the Casino theater.
Miss Methven approached Mr. Carle
ton and suggested to him that Mr.
Faunce, a friend of hers, be allowed
to make financial contributions to
the production In order to assure its
financial success.
Mr. Carleton's own words, as set
forth in an affidavit filed in the New
York supreme court, are as follows:
"On June 30 last, while Miss Meth
ven was under contract to me at $150
a week, she came to me and said that
William V. Faunce was Interested in
her career very much and was desir
ous of acquiring an interest in the
production. She suggested that I ar
range to meet him."
The meeting was arranged. Mr.
Carleton did not ask for money. In
fact he was so confident that his
show would succeed that he rather
discouraged the Idea. He Insisted
first and last that he did not want
to sell an Interest In the production.
"But he (Mr. Faunce) insisted," ac
cording to the affidavit "that in
view of his interest in the young
lady, Miss Methven, he wanted to be
certain above all that the show would
be a success and would not fail for
lack of money."
Finally, according to Mr. Carleton,
an arrangement was made whereby
Mr. Faunce was to put $50,000 into
the production. Mr. Carleton had al
ready invested $62,000 in the ahow
and was personally responsible for
many of the contracts made with the
corporation by member of the cast
Among those were agreements with
Julia Sanderson, the star, at $1000 a
week In New Tork and $1200 on the
road; Frank Crumlt, $50v a week:
Jack Hazzard, $750 a week; Allen
Kearns, $300 a week.
At the conclusion of their confer
ence Mr. Faunce, who was then hurrying-
off to Pittsburgh, handed Mr.
Carleton a check for $10,000. He
seemed to be afraid that the show
might suddenly blow up while his
back was turned. He didn't lay down
any considerations then. He didn't
even ask for a receipt .His sole in
terest seemed to be in his protege's
career.
Meanwhile, the protege had been
appearing in the role of "Noa," a den
izen of that South Sea isle of "Tan
gerine," whose vamplsh proclivities
were always getting the best of her.
Dressed In a loose and abbreviated
gown garnished with hibiscus she
seeks in the show to enthrall each
of the tourists from Broadway.
Two of her lines are: "I had a mill
ion lovers before this one." and "My
husband divorced me because I did
not know how to cook tripe."
When Mr. Faunce bad finally raised
his contribution to $45,000 she was
given a song to sing and the plot was
shifted a bit so as to give her role
an increased importance. The public
seemed to ratify this move. If box of
fice receipts could be taken aa a
guide. Things went along swim
mingly for a while.
Miss Sanderson Oat ef Shew.
Then complications set in from two
directions. First of all, rumors be
gan to reach the earn of Miaa Julia
Sanderson, the star, that arrange
ments were under way to have her
supplanted In the production by Miss
Methven. As Miss Sanderson had
Excavations of ancient cities have
brought to light many of the dolls of
ancient times and they reflect many
curious beliefs and customs. The an
cient Egyptian dolls were never com
plete. The head, the arm, legs or
even the whole body were alway.
missins. Thi. was so that It ti. oU
came to life It would not be able t
harm the children.
The dolls from the days of the Pha
raohs all bear curious markings and
the explanation Is, according- to a
writer In Leila's Weekly, that U of
the little girls of about 10 years were
employed In dancing choruses by the
rich and their principal clothing waa.
a triangular girdle of beads. The
dolls all bear triangular marking of
more accurate representation of the
girdle.
The curious custom of leaving tn
dolls incomplete Is still practiced by
the Mohammedans, but for a different
reason. The Koran forbid playlnr
with the figure of a human or divine .
term.
But the mother
instinct in little
spent 20 years in reaching her pres- Mohammedan girls Is Just ae strong
ent eminence in the theatrical heav- a8 in any other creed and they want
ens, it is assumed that ahe didn't en- dolls. So to get around the edict of
joy the suggestion that a mere novice the Koran the dolls are mutilated la
might shoulder her out of the lime- gome way. It is said that the great
light. Mohammed himself used to sit on the
Just what form Miss Sanderson's
indignation took wes never made
clear in the records. She was absent
from her role for a number of days
and her name was removed from the
electric light In front of the theater
and it waa freely reported along
floor for hours at a time playing with
Just such a doll to amuse the young
est of hie many wives. She was
years old.
Hugh Capet, the first king of
France, away back in the year 9iT.
s-ave a fancv dress ball, at which he
Broadway that ehe was out of the presented the ladles of the court with
wonderfully mads dolls dressed in ex
act reproduction of costumes worn by
the favored ones. From that time
until the Italian Renalnsance French
dolls were the finest in the world,
and French men and women played
with them almost as much as did
their children.
It Is told how sailors of the Span
ish armada carried with them dolls
as mascots and aotually to play with.
Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, en
tering the court of the king, Monte
suma, on the evening of November t,
1519, found tha whole court seated on
the floor playing with dolls! But for
this history might have been differ
ent. Later when Cortez sent an ex
pedition northward Into what Is now
Texas, he found a curious worship of
dolls among the Hopl Indians, the
dolls being given to the children for
toys after the ceremonies a custom
which persists among these people to
this day. -
show to stay. She later returned.
however.
About this same time Mr. Faunce
suddenly demanded, according to Mr.
Carleton, that the ownership be vest
ed In a three-cornered partnership
consisting of Mr. Carleton, himself
and Donna Roberts,' Faunce's daugh
ter. This, to the producer's mind, was
nothing less than a move to oust him
from control by placing him In a
minority on the directorate. When
this move had been accomplished, Mr.
Carleton felt sure that Mr. Faunce
would reorganize the company in
such a way as to ruin its success. He
refused to allow this arrangement,
whereupon Mr, Faunce carried the
whole transaction into court by ask
ing that Mr. Carleton's affairs be
placed in the hands of a receiver.
After papers had been filed and
arguments made Messrs. Carleton
and Faunce got together for another
conference . The result waa that Mr.