AMERICAN CONCERT MANAGER'S EXPERIENCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2273, 6 October 1914, Page 5

AMERICAN CONCERT MANAGER'S EXPERIENCE

CURSED WITH A GERMAN NAME

Mr. Carl Ludwig.Wagner is an American with ail aggressively German name, and though probably the best-known concert manager in the United States, does not claim to be any- relative or Wagner the Great, which shows a eelfrepression almost heroic for an American. Hβ'tells an amusing story of his attempts to book a passage for the States. ..... ....:.. . .

"I think that all Americans ought to resent tho action of both the HamburgAmerican Lino and tho North German Lloyd," said he. "Hundreds of pe'oplo holding tickots on these lines were ttero, but the offices were closed, not even a single clerk being left to give out information. This was the least they could have done at such a trying time. The American Express Company was very kind and generous, and the British railroads were exceptionally generous in posting notices at every hotel, offering to cash cheques and letters of credit to help the Americans along."

But how did you manage to get out with a German name? ...

"Can you imagine anything'more discouraging than a man with my name trying to get on an English boat? It's a good thing I did not use the name I was christened with—Carl Ludwig. I would probably have been shot if I had had that name tacked on to me. I had so many turn downs by the English clerks that it became humorous. You know if the average English clerk had any sense of humour, he would die laughing himself."