THEATRES IN ENGLAND.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 118, 20 May 1907, Page 8

THEATRES IN ENGLAND.

A BIG INCREASE. , Thirty yeais ago (says Archibald Haddon in the Daily Express) there were only 45 theatres and practically no musichalls in the London district ; to-day there are, withiu a 10-mile- radius of Charing Cross, nearly 800 theatres, musichalls, and conceit- halte, with a daily attendance of 150,000 persons. In 1870 thc-re were only thres theatrical companies "on the road" ; to-day there are; nearly 300, for each of which a theatre hxs to bo found every week. . *' At the beginning of next year, -when t<vi> new theatres have been opened, there will bo in. London 32 West End and 35 Gubuiban theatres,- and 64 West Erkd. and suburban music-halls — all . within sight of St. PaulV>. The suburban thea-'. tres and halls ara as handsome as those/ .in the West End, and were built at greati cost . -Among the -best are the Kennington (cost £45,000), Shepherd's Bush Empire (cost £50,000), the Marlborough, Holloway (cost £40,000). and the King's, Haiamersmith (cost £40,000) An average Wcs>t End theatre cannot be erected under about £80,000. In running our 32 West End theatres about a million sterling a year ifi expended. The cost of running a play averages £800 a week, varying between £44C0 and £1500. In addition, there is the original cost of production, which may range from a few hundifd pounds at' a small house to a £20,000 pantomime or spectacular drama at Drury-laiie. Over sixty new plays are now produced in London annually. Each theatre employs about 150 persons, and there are in the entire Iheatrical profession (British) some 12,000 actors and actresses, and 20,000 employees About a million pounds annualfy is disbursed, in salaries alone at tho West End theatres To all the 32,000 "theatricals" in this country, at least £4,000,000 is paid annually The total yearly working expenses of all London, suburban, and provincial theatres, exclusive of salaries to performers, amounts to another £4,000,000. In tho height of the season some 50,000 peividns nightly attend tho 32 theatres and musichalls in Central London. Of these Drurylane seats 2516 (many mcrre, of cours;, can be accommodated) ; Alhambra, 1980 ; Covent Garden, 1952; the Lyric, 1886; the St. James's, 1158 ; the Empire, 1239 ; tho Gaiety, 1264; His Majesty's, 1354; the Hinpo'dromo, 1394 ; and tho Coliseum, 4000. * Yet, in spite of all this, there are by no meanc too many theaties. Apart from three or four houses which arc notoriously unlucky, and aic thorefore diilicult to let, the demand for West End theatres always exceeds the supply. An idea of their payinc; possibilities may be gathered from the following laleable values of typical West End houses: — Drury-lane, £5500 ; His Majesty's, £5638 ; Empire, £5834; Gnietv, £5834; Prince <of Walcs's, £4167 ;' Alhambra, £4750 ; London Pavilion, £4584. Evou a bijou theativ? like the Vaudeville is Tated at £1922. By way of contrast, compare tho above statistics* with those obtaining iv tho year 1868, when timo weio only 166 theatres in tho wholo of Groat Britain, employing fewer thim COCO actors, actresses, aud employees, as against over 1000 theatres, and hills and 32,000 performers and employees to-day.

Tho Acting Postmaster-General (Hon. Dr. "Findlay) will receive a deputation of residents of Brooklyn next Thursday in supp-nt of the agitation for tho crpction of a brick post and telegraph office in that part of the city. Private advicea received in Wellington state that Madame Carrcno, who is to tour the colonies,, had a very hearty reception at hor first concert in Melbourne on Saturday night. A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that James O'Connor, alias Tcece, just discharged after serving a sentence for robbery with violence at Auckland, appeared before the Police Court to-day, charged with a similar offence in Wellington six yeai's ago. Accusod was remanded to Wellington. The weekly session of the ( King's Coronation Lodge oT Good Templars on Friday evening took tho form of i\ reunion of pait and present members. I3ro. G. Pethcrick, G.S., prodded. A short address, by the chairman was folI6wcd by iteni3 contributed by Misses Ryan, Fio!dhouse, Bakor (2)," Messrs. Pothorick, Cathcart, Walkins, Colpus, and Lewis. As a result of th:3 meeting two or three old members signified their intention o? returning to active membership.

Though the matter of underground conduits for telephone' wires in' the congested inner area of Wellington 'has not been before the public eye Tecently, it has not dropped out 'of sight. Some time ago Mr. Stuart Richardson, Electrical Engineer for tho Wellington Corporation, drew plans for an underground system which the council and the Government would use jointly, but tho Government ( has decided that it will need conduits for its sole use. "The matter is in abeyance" is the present stage of the project. The Public Works Department has received the following tenders for the manufacture of screens and driving gear J'or the stone crushing plant on the Mount Egmont branch railway : — Dispatdi Foundry Company, Greymouth, £291 (accepted). Declined—William Crabtree and Sors, Wellington, £314 ; 4. and T. Burt, Dunedin, £359 ; S. Luke and Company, Wellington, £387 ; D. Murray and Company, Wanganui, J8398; Seagar Bros., Auckland, £417 ; Cooper and Duncan, Christchurch, £420 ; Dunedin Engineering and Steel Company, £469 ; Massey Bros., Auckland. £477. Mr. Ruff ell, one of the Cuttoms landing waiters on the local wharf, is under orders to transfer to Oamaru, -where he is to take up. the position of Collector in place of Mr. T. Cullen, who is to be transferred to Nelson. We have been asl:ed to state that the fact that certain local bodies have failed to take advantage of the provisions of I tho Tire Brigades Act has been responsible for tho inaction of the insurance companies in the districts concerned. [ Clause 6 of the insurance companies' regulations provides Ihe method of electing the insurance companies' representatives on all boards,, but where the local body^ has failed to carry out its part tho Insurance companies' are rendered power? ess in consequence, The whole fault is attributable to the local bodies, and the insurance companies declare that in all cases where boards have been established they have strictly complied with ihe law.