The Tragedian and the Seventy-Cent Bill
A famous actor finds himself haunted by a small, unpaid restaurant check that follows him across the country like a bad omen.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Imagine a man of such grim visage as the actor Louis James being chased about the country by a 70-cent supper bill. According to the story, James and his partner, Warde, partook of food in a railway restaurant in Denver, and James, becoming absent-minded, hiked to his train without paying. Now, in every town the company has stopped in since, the bill has appeared in his mail. James says, 'The bill was paid; somebody thinks he is a practical joker. The 70 cents will not be paid again by me, even though I live to be 700 years old!'
“The 70 cents will not be paid again by me, even though I live to be 700 years old!”
This vignette offers a rare, humorous look at the traveling lives of vaudeville and stage performers who were the celebrities of the early 20th century. It highlights how small-town restaurant owners used the growing reach of the railway and mail systems to hold patrons accountable, even for the smallest debts.
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