Mr. Vining, lessee of the Princess's Theatre, writes to the
Times to say that the extortions of boxkeepers are the fault of the public. They will give. He abolished the present system and paid his boxkeepers' wages, but people would give them silver all the same. It is the same on railways and in private houses, but theatrical managers might at least control their boxkeepers by prohibiting any demand, and by giving a playbill with the ticket. If they would widen the footways a little, and sell keys instead of tickets for private boxes, as in Italy, they might dis- pense with boxkeepers altogether, to the immense satisfaction of their visitors. Really comfortable theatres we cannot have till the old buildings and their older furniture are superseded, but we might have playbills, soft seats, and footstools before that happy time.
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