The Red Cloud chief., 1881-02-03

3s-aIFu Ilab Ntnu snbuil biOW- IL the
last act Of Ours" every time he door
Of The hut opens snow iiiss in and a
shrek of wind is heard. The wind ma
chine in that Instance il placed jus; out
side the door. and the property man
works it while his assistant amuses him
self by trying TO throw his paper snow
down Lord Shendryn's back. The wind
machine il constructed IN this manner.
A heavy frame j. made. in which i set
a cylinder provided with paddles and
resembling very much the s;ern-wheels
seen on Ohio River tow-bOats. Aeru..
the top of this cylinder is stretched a.
tightly Is possible a piece Of heavy
g~ros-grain silk. This silk remains sta
tionary while the wheel is turned by a
crank The rapid passage Of the pad
dies across the surface oi the silk pro-
duces the noise OF wind. Often trav-
cling companies are in theater.
where there is no wind machine
Then the property man rrOans
audiblv, and proceeds - do what, In
theatrical par.ancs Is called taking
the wind. tie selects a heavy piece Of
gas hose, called By stage gas-men
flexible" and. finding a quiet corner
where there Is sufficient space 10 swing
n cat without danger - IL the cat-he
whIr!s il around his head with the great
est possible rapidity. This method pro-
duccs very satisfactory resulls-to ev-
err n tut the property man. He is a
loDg-suiierin- person: but the extrac-
ton 81 wind from flexible causes
him 10 fad life tedious.
EEH~v on. laz t.a-l sIn s.ar4fgr-
crash that il produced when the hero
kicks the william through a four-inch
oaken door. One would think that not
only the door but the villain must be
completely shattered. Ihi. noise j.
produced by the crash mach ne. ole Of
the oidcst implements Of imitation still
used on the stage. IL il similar - the
WIND machine in construction. A wheel
with paddle, set g. au angle OF about
fUTty-iivc degrees 10 the radii i the
MAN part OF the machine. Upon the
top of the wheel one end Of a stout.
piece OF wood j. pressed down by fast
ening the other end 10 n portion Of the
framework. When the whce! = turned.
the Stats passing under the stationary
piece produce a rafting crash. The
PRIME pie OF the machine is illustrated
by the small boy who run Il stick along
a palIng fence and - gratified by intro
du"!ng into the world an additional
mD-,el Of hubbUb.
There j. nothing that can be so well
cOUnierfcited on the stage a. moonlight
scenery. And vet there is nothing
which requires more wCrk. The artist
begins the task 10y painting u moon
light scene In daylight such a scene
Is Il CHASTITY sight. IL is done in cold
] Crays and greens, in which Prussian
Diue and burnt lumber play an impor-
tant part: and the lights are put
IN with white slightly tinged with em-
erald green. The strong moonlight of
the foreground Is produced b. n cal
clam light thrown through "A green
g.ass. The winter light upon the
emery n the back of the stage j. OBJ
tanned from green MEDIUMS a row
OF argand burners with green chin
neys. These are placed upon the stare
( Iu>t IN front Of the main scene. and are
masked IN from the view of the aud
fence by a ground piece A row OF
thcmIs ottensuspended from the flies"
in order 10 light the top Of the scene.
This upper row is masked in by ..sky
borders Thus a soft green light i
thrown over the entire distance, while
lis source does mol meet the view OF the
spectator. \ usual feature OF stage
moonlight scenes is water, because It
affords an opportunity for the intro
ductIon OF the ''ripple'-a charmingly
natural stage effect. The main scene
IN = moonlight view is alwaYs
painted on "A .'droor-that is. a
scene made like the curtain let down
between the acts. The position of the
moon being determ ned. immediately
under IL, beginning AT the horizon. a
number of small irregular holes is cut
in the drop. These are then covered
on the back with muslin and painted
over on the front 10 match the rest of
the water. Behind these holes is placed
an endless towel, about eight feet ia
height, running around two evil lers.
one nj the top and one al the bottom.
The lower cylinder has a crank by
which the towel is turned. In this
towel is cut a number holes similar
10 those cut in the drop. A strong gas
burner is placed between the two sides
OF the towel. When the machine is
turned h flashing OF the light from
the passing holes in the towel through
the stationary ones in the drop produce
a tine ripple. 1t is ALWAYS better To
turn thetowel so that the holes pass I'D
ward. rs that helps to make the mimic
wavelets seem To dance up toward the
sky. Instead of 4 towel a large tin evil
inder has been used. but il is cumber-
some andnoisy. Ii is necessary to turn
this towel with great steadiness: other
wise the ripples will 90 by fits and
starts. and entirely lose their natural
appearance. Stars are easily put into
the sky. Each twinkling orb consists
of q spangle hurg upon a pin bent into
a double hook. The slightest motion
of the drop auseS these stars TO shake
and the flashing OF the light upon them
produces the twinkle.
One of the most beautiful effects pro-
duced upon the stage is the change
from day - night or from night to dav.
OF these the former is the more strik-
i'm. and a description of ii will serve to
explain the principle OF both. In order
TO produce the proper effect the pack
drop is made nearly double the height
of the usual e The upper half of
it is painted to represent a sunset skv
and the lower hall to represent moon
light. Ii is hung so that the upper half
alone Is visible. The scenery of the
distance is then painted upon a sepa-
rate piece. which is "proiled:'' that is.
the irregular dine OF the horizon made
by trees, mountains or houses. is sharp
IL cut ont with a circular saw. This
piece is placed Immediately in front of
the sky drop. A few feet further in
front is hung what is known as a cut
gauze drop. This has sides and top Of
canvas painted rs the case q res;
while the center is filed with fine cauze
which lends IN aerial effect to the dis
tance. Red mediums are EMPLOYED
to give a SOFT, sunset glow to the scene.
AT the proper moment, the back drop is
very slowly and steadily hauled I'D.
while the red mediums are slowly |.
turned off and green ones turned on.
The moon is made in the night half of
the SKY drop. and rises with it. When
il rises above the distant horizon the |
green mediums are turned on 10
E1f