Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-16

surpptioD of oxygen, and the new pro
ducts. and the escape of hydrogen, Oc
casi0nei congestion of the vessels of th'
head. He thought it probable that thii
deterioration of the air might act in con
junction with the vivid lightin producing
1 either apoplexy or nervous heAdacne
[ He, found, moreover, that the actor
I were subject not only TO headache bu
I also 10 weakness Of sight and attacks o
I giddiness. from the action OF the power
fully vivid light evolved from the com
/ bustiOn Of gas and he noted that the
/ puDiis Of the eyes OF all actors or actresses
I who had been two or three years on The
stsEe, were much dilated, though this
1 he thought, might he attributable to the
/ injurious pigments they employed ta
hightea their compleIion5; Common
J rouge containing either red oxide OF lead
or the suiphuret Of mercury, and white
paint being often composed OF carbonate
of lead, ali Of which were capable OF act
/ ing detTimeutally upon the optic nerve
The statements of CdiTO- MedicttS may
I seem somewhat oveTChaTged yet, attel
allowance has been made fer that eXag'
/ gerated way of putting the case which
seems habitual 20 " the faculty" when
/ it takes up with theory, a sufficient re.
sidum Of fact remains to justify many
OF the DOCTORS remarks. That head
ache too often follows hard upon dra'
matte entertainment must be tOlerabiy
I plain TO any one who has ever sat IN !
I theater. Surely, better state OF things
1 must have existed a century ago, when
/ the g-andsires and great grandsires OF u,
/ L0ndouers were in tue habit of frequent
/ ing the theateis night after night almost
as punctualy as they ate their dinner ol
0 l. F..H.H- SHa ct nHHrna
( Lane or Covent Garden, if only to wit
Z ness an act or two Of the tragedy or CON-
sdy of the evening, was a sort of duty
with tie town gentlemen, wits and
templaTs, a hundred years back, when
3 George III was king. But gas had not
then superseded wax and tallow aud oil.
No constitution could stand nightly
course Of the viti2ted atmosphere Of the
I theateTs as they exist at present. y visit
now and then il All We may permit our
selves and we may deem ourselves for
tunate If the merit Of the entertainment
0u such occasions is sufficient cOmpensa-
ton for the almost inevitable headache II
entails upon Us. Modern managers, in
deed, have not been properly heedful TO
make the ventilation of their houses
keep pace with the illumination and
this hiss, of late years, been excessive,
not merely uu the stage, but mOIe mex
cusable and unnecessarily in what ii
seems the fashion tD call the auditO-
riUm portion Of the theater. Cairo
Hedicgs did not succeed in his efforts
made more than five and thirty years
ago to 90 turn of The gas"
But il apoTlsXy was imminent in those
days Of comparative darkness, what
must it be now, when great glare and
FEv. al
be Indispensable to the stage, and when,
moreover, in lieu Of the old-fashi0ned
chandeliers dilusing the light, sun
burners from above shoot down con-
eentrsted rags Of fierce light upon the
devoted heads of the audience Reform
is very necessary in this matter. Apo
plectiC seizures may not tEreaten the
spectators So certainly as has been stated,
bat aching bT0ws and distressed eyes,
unavoidable Uuder the existing system,
are sufficient Affections TO warrant a
demand for improvement. Cannot we
come 70 some compromise with the
managers let them MAKE their Stages
as bright as they list If they will but
leave the auditorium" in twilight,
and make that twilight as temperate,
without draughtiness, as may be.
BEYOND increasing the quantity of light,
stare management has done little since
GarTic6s INTRODUCTION 81 fOCtiig.ts or
floats - as they are technically termed,
in the way Of satisfactorily adjusting the
illumination OF the stage. The light
still comes from the VFons place from
below instead o. naturally, from above.
In 1858, Mr.. Fechter, at the Lyceum,
sunk the floats below the surface Of the
stage, 80 that they should not intercept
81. g ks,w lw
ample has Bean followed by other man
ayers; and Of late years, owing to acci-
dents having occurred to the dresses Of
the dancers when they approached too
near to the iOotiights, these have been
carefully fenced and guarded with wire
screens and metal bars. But the obvious
improvement required still remains to be
effected.
George Colman the younger, in his
Random Records describes an anna
teur dramatic performance in the year
1850, at Wynnstay, in North Wales, the
seat of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn.
The theater had formerly been the
kitchen of the mansion a large, long,
rather loW-pitched room. One advan-
tage Of the characteristics, according to
Mr.. CuIman, was the fact that the foot
lights or " float" could be dispensed with,
aud the stage was lighted by a row Of
lamps aiH Eti 10 q large beam or arch
above the heads Of the performers" on
that side Of the arch nearest to the stage,
50 that the audience did not see THE
lamps. which cast q strong vertical light
upon the actors"
" This - says Mr.. Colman, is as We re-
ceive light from nature whereas the
operation Of the J}Oat is exactly upon a
reversed principle, and throws all the
shades of the actors cOUntenaDce the
wrong way" This defect appeared TO
our author TO be irremediable; for, as be
argues, IF beam TO hold lamps, as at
Wvnustay, was placed oyer the prose
MUM at Drury Lane or Coyent Garden
theateT, the gOddesses in the upper tiers
of boxes, and the two and one shilling
gods in the galleries, would be completely
Intercepted from view of the stage"
still. Mr.. Colman was not without hope
that ain this age Of improvement,
while theaters are spTingiug up like
mushrooms, some ingenious architect
msy hit upon a remedy; at all events
he concludes, it is q grand desidSrd-
iUaih
Mr. Iolman was writing in the year
1880. It is rather curious 10 find him de-
scribing theater- So "springing up like
mu-hraoms,u when it is considered that,
notwithstanding the enormous extension
Of London and the vast increase of its
population, but one or two theaters have
heen aia+t "a St duriuI the last thirty
wears Meanwhile, the " ingenious arch
itect 10 whom he looks hopefully to
amend the lighting of the stage, is not
vet come. But then one does not meet
ingenious architects every day.