Published: August 05, 2006 10:49 pm         

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The summer of 1911 … that was an interesting time for former TH residents

When Harry G. Sleight retired in September 1910 after 37 consecutive years of service as the car accountant for the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad (TH&I), he was honored by his employer and the Association of Transportation and Accounting Officers.

Feted by the accounting organization at their annual dinner in Cape May, N.J., Sleight was introduced as a man “who belongs to that class, far too small, whose influence is felt more by what they do than by what they say.”

He began working for the TH&I on March 17, 1873. Harry and his wife Harriet, who resided at 526 S. Fifth St. in Terre Haute for many years, moved to Boston in early 1911 to be closer to maiden daughter Hattie, a supervisor of the Boston public schools.

Son Harry H. Sleight also was residing in the East, making a name for himself in New York theater. Referred to on Broadway as H. Hartwell Sleight and H.H. Sleight, Harry was a clerk for the TH & I until early 1901.

Sleight made his New York stage debut Sept. 24, 1901, in “Miranda of the Balcony,” the first show presented by producer -director Harrison Grey Fiske after he leased the Manhattan Theater at 102 West 33rd St. from owners William Brady and Florenz Ziegfield.

Fiske acquired an interest in the playhouse to provide his wife, Minnie Maddern Fiske, with more exposure. The venture was successful. “Mrs. Fiske,” as Harrison’s wife was known, was considered as one of Broadway’s most popular actresses

H. H. Sleight often appeared at the Manhattan Theater, most of the time in a play with Mrs. Fiske in the leading role, including “The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch” (1901), “Captain Molly,” (1902) and “The Earl of Pawtucket” (1903).

In 1916, Sleight had a major role in “The Co-Respondent,” at the Booth Theater.

III

Sleight was not the only former Terre Haute resident doing well on Broadway.

Beatrix Doane, who grew up with her uncle, Elva Wallace, at 118 S. Fifth St. in Terre Haute, catapulted to stardom after appearing in “Funabashi” at the Casino Theater at 39th and Broadway in early 1908.

“Miss Doane” next was cast in the musical, “The Golden Butterfly,” starring Grace Van Studdiford at the Broadway Theater at 41st Street. It opened Oct. 12, 1908.

On June 22, 1911, Doane (now spelling her name “Beatrice”) debuted at the Globe Theater at 205 W. 46th St., known today as the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, in “The Red Rose,” with Terre Haute actress Valeska Suratt having the marquee role.

Married to Harry Stein, Doane played Tita, the lead chorus girl, in the musical. Suratt not only was the lead actress and vocalist in “The Red Rose,” but also was in charge of scenic and costume design.

Coincidentally, Terre Haute actor Ira Lyndon Law was lead tenor in “The Old Town,” based upon a book by Hoosier author George Ade, when it opened Jan. 10, 1910. It was the first performance in the Charles Dillingham’s Globe Theater.

On July 16, 1911, Suratt presented the New York City Park Commissioners with $5,000 to install a fountain in a small triangular plaza at 46st and Broadway near the Globe Theater.

“Out in San Francisco,” Valeska told a New York Morning Telegraph reporter, “there is a tiny square just like this one and, 30 years ago, the actress Lotta presented the Lotta Fountain to that city. It is still one of the landmarks of San Francisco.

“I hope you will accept this fountain,” Suratt told New York Park Commissioner Stover, “which will in time, perhaps, become known as a landmark of upper Broadway.”

Valeska did not insist that the fountain be named for her but did not object to a suggestion that it be called “The Suratt Fountain of Youth.”

III

Anna M. Hoffman-Hancock, the 26-year-old daughter of John W. Hoffman, yeastmaker at the Terre Haute Brewing Co., and his wife Amelia, spent the 1910-11 theatrical season in “Judy Forgot,” a musical starring Marie Cahill, at a vaudeville theater in Brooklyn, N.Y.

In late June 1911, she was engaged to play the principal role in “The Larboard Watch,” a summer musical comedy presented by the Butler Opera Company at the Cort Theater in Chicago, which opened July 8.

Anna’s brother Charles B. Hoffman, manager of the Terre Haute Automobile Co., attended the grand opening, as did Pearl Ellis.

Though Hoffman studied under some of the best-known voice teachers in the world, she considered Ellis, her Terre Haute tutor, better than any of the rest.

III

By July 1911, the chain of 25-cent department stores established by the three Rothschild brothers from Terre Haute — Will, Harry and Ed — had grown to 25 units

The first eight stores in the syndicate, formed in 1910, were located in New York and eastern Pennsylvania.

The brothers were sons of Louis Rothschild, a former partner with Samuel Frank in the Terre Haute garment-making business.

The Rothschild boys gained experience in syndicate management by acquiring six “five-and-ten-cent” stores. Later, they expanded the concept by originating the idea of a “25-cent” department store.

The Rothschilds’ “five-and dime” stores were sold in 1910 to Kresges, then a relatively unknown competitor to the Woolworth and Knox chains.