The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-09-09
He would Have the Real Water In his
Rain.
Special to tie Nelu Yorlt Herald.


Rain.
Special to the New York Herald.
1 am told that in German concert or
opera they hardly ever encore song
that, though they may be dying to hear
it again, their good breeding usually pre-
serves them against requiring the repeti'
ton. Kings may encore; that is quite
another matter; it delights everybody to
see that the king is pleased, and, as to
the actor encored, his pride and gratifi-
cation are simply boundless. Still, there
are circumstances in which even royal
encore-but it is better to illustrate
The King of Bavaria is poet and has o
poets ,eccentricities, with the advantage
over all other poets of being able to
crafty them, no matter what form they
may take. He is fond of opera, but not
fond of sitting in the presence of an yau'
dience; therefore, it has sometimes oc-
Cured in Munich, that when an opera
has been concluded and the players are
getting off their paint and fnery, com.
mand has come to get their paint aHd
fnery on again. Presently the king
would arrive solitary and alone, and the
players would begin at the beginning
and do the entire opera over again, with
only the one individual in that vast,
solemn theatre for an audience. Once
he took an old freak in his head. High
up and out of sight, over the prodigious
stage of the Court theatre is a maze OF
interlacing water pipes, so pierced that
in case of fire innumerable little thread
like streams of water can he caused to
descend, and, in case Of need, this dis
charge can b. augmented to pouring
flood. American managers might make
a note of that. The king was the sole
audience. The opera proceeded. 1t was
a piece with storm in it; the mimic
thunder began to mutter, the mimic wind
began to wall and sough, and the mimic
rain to patter. The kings Interest rose
higher and higher !; it developed into
enthusiasm. He cried out
"It is good, very good, indeed But |
will have real rain. Turn. Oil the wa
ter"
The manager pleaded ior reversal OF
the command, said it would ruin the
costly scenery and the splenaid'costumes,
but the King cried !:
"No matter, mo; matter, will have
real rainl Turn on the watern
So thclreal rain was turned on and be.
gan to descend in gossamer lances to the
mimic flower beds and gravel walks OF
the stage. The richly.dressed actresses
and actors tripped about singing brayely
and pretending not to mind it. The
King was delighted; his enthusiasm
grew higher. He cried out:
"Bravo, bravo More thunder More
lightning Turn on more rafn"
The thunder doomed, IL, lightning
glared, the storm wind ragged, the deluge
poured down. The mimic royalty of the
stage, with their soaked satins clinging
to their bodies, stopped around ankle
deep in the water, warbling their sweet
est and best, the fddlers under the caves
of the stage sawed away for dear life,
with the overflow spouting down the
backs of their necks, and tie dry and
happy king sat in his lofty box and wore
his gloves to ribbons applauding.
"More yeti" cried the king; "more
yet; let loose allthe thunder, turn on all
the water. I will hang the man that
raises an umbrella" |"
When the most tremendous and effect
i've storm that had ever been produced
in any theatre was at last over, the hing's
appreciation was measureless. He cried;
Magnificent, magnificent! Encore!
Do it again.
But the management succeeded in per-
suading him to recall the encore, and
said the company would feel sufficiently
rewarded and complimente3 in the mere
fact that the encore was demanded by
his majesty without fatiguing him with
arepetition to crafty their owl vanity.
During the remainder of the net the
lucky performers were those whose parts
required changes of dress; the others
were soaked, bedraggled and uncom'
Portable lot, but in the last degree pictur.
esque. The stage scenery was ruined,
trap doors were so swollen they wouldn't
work for week afterward, the fine cos
tunes were spoiled and no end of minor
damages were done by that remarkable
storm.
1t was royal idea-that storm -and
royalty carried out. But observe the
moderation of the king. He did not in
sist upon his encore. If he had been q
gladstone, unreGecting American opera
audience he probably would have had
his storm repeated and repeated until he
drowned all those people.