Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-24

How It Affects Actors, and Actresses,
EycS-Calcfun Lights the Worst
Trouble

l.
1t Is said that II. Delaunay. an old actor, who
has been for thirty-ffve years member of the
Coincide Franchise, is about to retire perma-
nently from the stage because his sight has been
ruined by the glare of the footlights. Instances
of such serious injury from that exact cause are
not at all common, and in this country are hardly
known.
An actor whose attention was called to the
subject said: I've NO objection to saying what
little know about 1t, provided you win not use
my name, and say how many years OF expert
ence my knowledge is cleaned from, and so
put me before the public in the light of horrid
example OF longevity. veteran who Tags
superfluous on the stage and all that sort Of
thing, for the tact is that / remember good
deal further back than care to boast of to the
public. Now, as to your question. Does the
glare OF the footlights hurt the eyesF l should
answer. temporarily often, yes; permanently.
Moor at least, hardly ever. Much depends on
how close one has to act to them In q theater
where the front of the stage is a great project
ing horseshoe, with the footIights following its
line, one does not have to act right down to
them, and even when one has to be far down
center, there seems to he sufficient side light
from them to neutralize the effect Of those in
front to great degree. / don't know how
that explanation would hold good with a
scientific professor Of the art and mystery of
optics. but do know that it holds good in fact,
for on such stage the footlights do not hurt
my eyes, nor have / heard others complain
about them, unless it might be some one who
had exceptionally weak eyes. But on a small
stage, the front of which is straight line,
the effect of the footlights is sometimes
very painful. 1t Is not simply their dazzling
glare and the heat from them that seems to dart
right up into the eyes and dry them up, when
one has to stand down near them to act or even
wherever one may get during scene in 'One'-
that is, where the stage is closed in by fats In
the first grOOve-but there seems to be fiery,
shifting mist that lifts and waves and quivers
over them-an effect of the ratification Of the
atmosphere by heat, that is almost binding for
the time. You may have noticed something of
that effect over white dust country road in
very hot August afternoon. and if you want to
get reminder Of the experience, put yourself
some night in prOscenium box next to the
stage and try to see the other side of the stage,
over the line OF fOOtlights. As rule, those are
the worst seats in the house for seeing what is
going on upon the stage, independent of the
fOOtlghts, hardly ever commanding more than
half Of it. In some theaters. like the Chestnut
Street of Philadelphia for instance it is, indeed,
impracticable to see more than one-third of the
stage without leaning out of the boz. Yet
women are peculiarly fond of getting into boxes,
and when they do you will notice them shielding
their eyes with fans or programs from that glare
OF which have spoken.
There is no question about it that eyes do
suffer very severely from lights on the stage but
not SO much from the fOOtlghts. They are but
trivial circumstance compared with the fierce
deadly glare of the calcium light and the inju-
rious changes of cOlOred lights Joe Jefferson
was almost blinded by the calcium light, into
which he has to look steadily. with his eyes wide
open for the desired effect in one scene Of rip
Van Winkle.' Keeping that up for year after
year at length affected him so that he had to re-
tire for year and give his exclusive undivided
attention to getting his eyes fixed up again for
service. And Ihave known number of stage
people to be very seriously hurt by that light,
though In less degree than he was. Actresses
suffer more from it than actors, for they
have more occasion to pose in affecting
ATTITUDES OF prayer and grief and
ing transformation scenes the scantily draped
young women who lie on ferns and in lily bells,
and swing in golden chariOts, and float down
on parallels, and twrl around on pedestals, suf-
fer good deal of annoyance, and even pain.
from the constantly changing colors of fierce
light thrown upon them-One moment white,
the next green, then red or blue or purple or
gold, all effected by the change Of colored glass
mediums before the calcium light. But the run
OF spectacle is seldom long enough to do them
much serious harm from that cause
Among the men Of the profession there is
another cause that hurts eyes more than the
footlghts do. / need not specify it more def
nitely than by reminding You Of Scriptural
conundrum and the answer to it, which, as
near as now remember, runs: Who hath red
wine cup If they would go home earlier when
performances are over they would have less
reason to complain of sand in their eyes In the
mornings. In cid times when theaters had
stock companies and the bill was constantly
changing, great deal of hard study was neces-
sitated-study that the actors of TO-DAY would
feel themselves killed by, If put to ft-and that
study, through the long hours Of the night.
when nature demanded rest, and often by the
poor light OF single candle or q smoky oil lamp,
" ho TO- bo kl,~f e.,
lights did. The remedies common in the pro-
fessi0n for Inflammation of the eyes, whether
caused by lights or anything else are very
simple; primarily, of course, bathing them with
cold water, and after that with milk or tea or
strong solution OF Rochelle salts, which is best
OF all. Put dimes worth of Rochelle salts in a
half pint of boiling water. When the solution
becomes thoroughly cold battle the eyes with it,
and on going to bed lay on the eyes linen
cloth soaked with it. 1t will take ont the in
hlinination ana soothe as nothing else can"
Song Of the Spring.
lie spring,time is On us an de March wind
De lorg-rollin' comm an de dead trees fallin,:
De Ian Is dryin' an de new groun's callin,
CALM mighty strong!
De red-head peckerwood's beatin' an a-drummin',
lie butterflies swarmin' an de bumble-bee bum
De apple.trees buddin' an de peach-blossoms
comm,
Comm right erlong!
De breeze keep a-blowin' an de pine-trees rockin,
De saP pssSs peckin' am de- yalier-hammefi
De bull-frOgs jumpin' an de black birds fiockin
Flockin up de tree!
Don't you hear de music dat the sprfng-time
bringin'?
De fiels glttin' green an de bushes keep arinein
De Sparrer-hawk Is satlin' an de mOrkin'-btrd
Singtn',
Sing1n' mighty free!
Oh! wake up, wake up, 'arly in de mornin,
De time Is a-cOmin' for to git dat corn in:
Go, hitch dem mules while de daylight dawnin,.