Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-10-25


that although this is simple, as in
deed almost all stage appliances are,
it needs also be exact and firm, for
the least arrangement would not
only upset all show, but peril the
life Of tho performer. In one Of
the most exquisite of Baba's scenes
beautiful women rise slowly from
the earth, and on revolving pedes-
tails Of gold and silver, support
magnificent baskets of fruit and
flowers. These traps consist Of
slender columns, on the pedestals
Of which the girls stand. AT tie
bell the columns are pushed up by
relieved weights, and as the tops
reach the stage floor they are cap
ped by the baskets, which appar-
emily rest on the fair hands Of the
girls.
But the big trap is a wonder. 1t
weighs twenty-five tons, and 5000
feet Of lumber were used in making
it. 1t is used in the grand trans
formation scene, and carries up the
varied magnifcence of that brilliant
spectacle. There are needed in its
manipulation two big shafts, two
4 wheels, and a great cog-windlass,
requiring the skill and strength of
ten trained carpenters, and the per-
sonal supervision of Ben Sherwood
besides. It is a wonderful piece Of
mechanism, each part fitted and
joined with but the use of a nail or
II screw. Stout wooded pins keep
the joints i'll place, and few iron
clamps are also needed, but it can
be taken apart and packed for ship
ment or storage, as easily as a toy
castle. The management very
Justly prides itself on the great
I" Ship Scene" as it is called. 1t
will be remembered that "Baba "
and his brother come sailing along
on q silver sea, in a well-rigged
J ship, the entrance of which is in
yariably hailed with applause.
Presently the front falls away, the
sails disappear, the ship dissolyes,
: and in its place is series Of steps
leading up to a terraced garden
scene of SURPRISING beauty, brilliant
with gas and gay with company.
| 1t looks rather different on inspec-
ton In the cold gray Of the after
noon. A series of boxes piled on
5 each other, with two levers by which
/, the upper can be turned over, form.
t lug the steps. The sails are hoisted
:. to the flies, the ship itself-painted
s wood and canyas-fall flat on the
+ stage, the boxes pulled over by the
+ ropes in the flies form the steps
? and the handiwork Quicksteps o
d carpenters and artists supply til,
= brilliance and the pageant. Mr.
It Sherwood needs the intelligent ser
e vice of thirty-eight carpenters tt
d conduct this one scene properly anC
It successfully to the finish. Hundred
c of ropes, pullies, bands and wheel
n make the galleries above look lik
" the deck of a man-of-war. How tn,
y men learn to distinguish this from
$ that, and the other from which, i
d mystery explainable only on tn
if theory that a trade is a trade
c Manager Arnold has his littl
y army Of 99j people on duty near
y " all day drilling, rehearsin|
le and preparing; but the thre
wings of the army hove very differ
d ent duties 10 perform. Those con
er trolled by Business Manager Mqel
/ are literally men Of business. Thos
o on the stage, under the eye Of MI
1t Arnold and De We're, his deputy
St have the glare and glitter Of til
" lights, the excitement Of the seen
" and the applause of the audienc
ot to cheer them on. But BensO
Is Sherwood and his men OF bone an,
le muscle dive down into the depth
of the subcellar, where the calci
nm pipes are ranged; the vas
,g meter records the flight Of Gas
great wheels fit cog to cog; ION
shafts hold immense bands strOn.
chains support immense weights
Intricate mechanism performs mos
delicate duty, and tricks mad
simple are worked out below, to th
delight of the mystifed above
ofl And far up, too, in the attic II
4. qions, where the great carpente
at shop with from forty to fifty me
h are at work, and the paint ROOF
he with its artists, and the tailor sho
MS with its wardrobe, are men Of g
ar MUS and experience, pulling, han
id ing, and deity combining shl
lie and strength for the pleasure
~ the people in the house and I'll
ii. protection OF those on the stage.
by 9abq is type of the grand spe
ch tacles for which our people mp
he fest great partiality. 1t cost fiji
by thousand dollars to mount it al
MP start it. Already over sixty-li'
IRE thousand people have seen it, az
Use the prospects indicate q long II
Oh for It. Enterprise rarely fails
he the line of popular entertainment
IRE We are all critics, more or le;
er- and yet we believe it would puz2
'A