Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-30
STAGE REALISM.
REMARKABLE THEATRE PERFORM
ANCE IN DENVER'S EARLY DAY.
The siege of Lucknow Produced in Fine
Had the House- Touching on Loaded

Nitkf VI III Inc
style The Night When the Soldiers
Had the House Touching on Loaded
Cannon.
At Denver, in the winter If lNI3, the
| principal thcater WAS run under the man
agrmrnt Of John I.anErish At that time
some 6,UN Mon soldiers were stationed
| there The soldiers took great interest in
the theatre. and were its principal. or at
! least IFS most Enthusiastic patrons Every
! night the house was crowded particularly
! the gallery with soldiers To please the
| boys in blue. Mr. Iangrirh put on the
| siege of Lucknow" Both men and officers
took great interest III the piece. They
! were determined that II should he pro
| duced IN fine style. Ilr- soldiers made IA
lot of bombs tu De u>Csi in the fort sCrIlt,
the officers allowed two cannon tn he
brought 10 the thratcr- for use in the fort
and ab"ut nifty men armed with muskrts
volunteered To- act as the attaC king army
of natives. For two or three DAYS prey iuus
10 the night when the piece was t. be pre-
scnted there were more soldiers at work
on the stage and ahulr; the theatre than
helpers of any other kind They b0ssed
all the warlike prrparltIuns
TLE FIRING WAS TERRIFIC
The great night came. and the soldiers
had the house. Not only were they in the
gallery, hut they also filled the seats and
the lower floor. Mrs Iangrish took the
part Of Jessie Brown When the attack
was made on the fort the firing was terrific
Then bombs began To fall into the fort
These were balls of yarn containing gun
power. In order To produce good effect
the reckless soldiers who made these ini;a-
tiun bomb shells had placed i'll each nearly
half pound of powder They made re-
port aS loud as the largest China bombs
The bombs made II mighty hot for poor
Jessie Brown In less than half a minute
her dress WAS on fire in two or three places,
and every body expected to see her beat
retreat But those with her in TIN. fort
SmOthcred her burning dress and she stood
her ground
The suppSittnn WAS, among the people
of the theatre, that the cannon was not
loaded. The prlming Of the pieces was 10
be flashed, and drum was to be struck To
initiate the report. But some soldier had
slipped into one of the cannon a cartridge
containing about two pounds of powder
When those in the fort began to reply 10
the fire of the attacking party this cannon
was touched Of and il blew a hole
through the side of the theatre nearly
eight feet square. This excited the soldiers
in front and those i'll the gallery began
firing their reVulvers up into the ceiling.
while those below turned loose into the
floor. In "A few seconds the whole place
was 50 full OF powder smoke that one
could hardly breathe or see The lights
presented the appearance Of street lamps
seen through dense fog The excuse that
the soldiers afterwards made for riudling
the floor and ceiling was that all was 50
much like real battle that they forgot
where they Were, and 50 began firing be-
fore they realized what they were about.
That night all the boys in blue" felt that
they got the full worth Of their money
Salt Lake Tribune