THE MOLTKE OF MANAGERS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12282, 8 July 1914, Page 2

THE MOLTKE OF MANAGERS.

R. S. SMYTHE'S REMINISCENCES. (By "A.P.C.," i" the "Sydney Morning Herald.") "See if you can secure R. S. Smythe, the Molt-ke ut Managers," once said the famous war correspondent, Archibald Forbes, to a London lecturer who was contemplating a professional visit- to Australia. I was vividly reminded of this sage injunction as I sat chatting the other day with the well-known impresario in his library at his charming home, "Highgate on the. Hill," at Balwyn, a lew miies out of Melbourne. It was a bright- winter's morning, and the air was delightfully crisp and invigorating. Through an open window you caught a glimpse of the picturesque hills in all their verdant garb lying between the pretty residential suburb* of Balwyn and the Dandeaong Ranges. In the foreground were the orchards of Deep Dene and Doncaster, with Ivanhoe and Heidelberg lying close at hand, while the Sugai'loaf and Mounts Mondah, Riddell, and Juliet were prominently ."outlined in the distant ranges. The view from the better-known Highgate on the Hill is picturesquely described by Carlyle in one of his works, and it "was on account of the resemblance which the scenery near his house bears to the view in the Homeland that Mr Smythe chose the name of Highgate on the Hill. Air R. S. Smythes' knowledge of the public taste placed him in a superior position to managers of more limited experience, and, perhaps, one of the main factors of his uniform success has been that he took care only to associate himself with men and women eminent ill their respective spheres of-art, science, and literature. It is not a little remarkable that several ! of the world-famed stars whom Smyth© brought to Australia have borne testimony to the fact that for the thousands they cleared they "were in a marked degree indebted to the untiring energy and sagacity of their manager. After his long and strenuous career as a zealous and popular "showman," Mr R. S. Smythe has now retired from active professional life, and is enjoying the evening of his days in excellent health and spirits, "frosty but kindly," at his Balwyn home. Photos and engravings of many of the celebrities i he brought to Australia grace the walls of i his library and drawing-room, and are an int-ersting link with .the past.'"What becomes of them, at- last,"- Mr Smythe remarked to my inquiry, "is an obscure question. Of those I have met some have passed 011 to other places, but most to another world. A few successful men and women retired on their gains and'their laurels, and have since gone the way of all flesh. Some, not so successful, returned to Europe content to stand and wait at the. great banquet of art; while others, finding how good is buying and selling, settled down to shopkeeping, auctioneering, or some other useful occupation." Throughout Australasia Mr R. S. Smythe rejoices in the title of the "Much Travelled." He hasdoneas much travelling probably as any man living. For many years lie has successfully undertaken the management of the tours of the principal artists and lecturers who have visited this country, and under similar circumstances he has visited India, America, China, Japan, South Africa, Mauritius, and New Zealand. He has, indeed, seen more of the world than most people. He has read both books and men, not only diligently, but with profit. Perhaps the outstanding factor of his success as an impresario is that he thinks of everything and quarrels with nobody. "He conciliates the most implacable of adversaries. He makes fast friends of those who, by less politic management, would perhaps develop into enemies," was the undeniable verdict of a well-known dramatic critic. Smythe has successfully piloted such world-famed stars as Archibald Forbes, Richard Anthony Proctor, George Augustus Sala, Sir Charles Santlev, Robert 1 Heller, De Witt Talmage, H. M. Stanley, Car-lot ta Patti, Charles Clark, Mark Twain, Max O'Rell, and Miss von Finkelstein, the Oriental lady who lectured in Eastern costume 011 Biblical subjects.

More than fifty years have elapsed since this successful entrepreneur left London for Australia. For seven years after his arrival he devoted himself to journalism, and was engaged in that capacity in Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia; but when the Treaty ports in

China and Japan were opened he conceived the idea that the Far East would make a splendid field for exploiting European talent, and he made, his plans accordingly. He took his first company from Sydney to Shanghai, but the cholera was raging when he arrived, and they went to Japan. The company comprised a magician who subsequently became famous at the Egyptian Hal], Loudon, as D.r Lynn, a soprano and a contralto vocalist, and a Scotch pianist named Chisholm, who afterwards took Chang, the Chinese giant, to England, where he was presented to the Princess of Wales. At the close of a long Indian tour the party went to Mauritius. At Capetown the advice was offered that they might have two concerts and make money, but that no artist had ever given a third concert without loss. Before leaving the Cape, however, Mr Smythe's company gave more than forty concerts. A spirit of adventure appears to have pervaded all the enterprises which the "much-travelled" gave his attention. The little band of artists who journeyed with him through India were the first company that ever crossed the Orange River. 11. was during his stay there that diamonds were, first discovered in South Africa.

"When I first arrived iu Table Bay in 1866," said Mr Smythe to me, "it was a most primitive community. The passage from England occupied nearly twice the time that it does now, and the visits of professional companies were few and far between. When the first diamond was brought to Capetown the residents were incredulous, but M. Heritte, the French Consul, who was an expert in precious stones, gave his assurance that the stone was a veritable diamond, and it was eventually bought by the Governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse. It is a singular coincidence that I happened to be in Natal when gold was first discovered by . Hen Mauch. This excited even greater interest than the finding of diamonds, and large numbers of ships with people eager to get to the diggings were despatched from England to the Cane and Natal. No gold of any importance, however, was ever won in Natal.'

Associating gold with amusements, Mr Smythe found that when the precious metal was discovered in Australia it had the effect of drawing many professionals to the country. Among others were Edwin Booth and Laura Tveene. "But," said Mr Smythe, 'these, great artists arrived too soon. The people were so intoxicated with the gold discovery that they could not settle clown to tragedy and melodrama. Booth's experiences must have been very discouraging, for he actually had to stick his own bills. Artists who came later were more fortunate, and among those who made large sums of money were Catherine Hayes, Madame Anna Bishop, and Miska Hauser. the Hungarian violinist. Other artists had the misfortune to arrive iu the colonies before the times were ripe for tliem. One of these was Miss Margaret Aitken, a gifted Scottish elocutionist; while another was i Sara Flower, who had a voice as beautiful as Albani's. Yet many years ago I heard her singing at sixpenny, concerts in Sydney, where for many years not even a tombstone marked her grave."