Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-11-02
ON THE ouLLorINr,

oN InS 0UILLOTlNEs
with the Robespierres and st. Justs, but his
heart is dead, and he lives only for revenge.
For the abbe lives, too. Catherine Duval il
now the widowed Countess Of st. Valerie,
with gay and handsome young son, who Is
being led to perdition by the abbe, his
guardian.
It is Landry's turn now. The abbe and the
young count are condemned to death. A
noisy scene In the prison corridor, in which
Taller Toupet strives to drown the ribald
songs Of the men who are to die in the morn.
ing, Uninterrupted by the message Of Landry
summoning the abbe to his presence. Now
comes one of the most effective scenes In the
play The moonlight is streaming through
the windows Of Landry's room. He sits
writing at table as Latour, mocking and
jestIng, Il led In. The door Is locked, and
Landry offers him passport and a disguise
II he will fight The duel Is 70 ollowed with
intense interest, and the death agony Of La
tour Il magnificent. The clashing of the
swords seemed to put spirit into him, and
when with Q violent effort he pulled the
blood-stained handkerchief from his bosom
the action sent shuddsr through the house.
Then comes the heroic sacrifice Of Landry.
He meets the Countess Valerie at the foot
Of the scaffold on which the guillotine 10
erected, by the side Of the skeleton limbs of
the tree Of liberty-a horribly weird and
suggestive scene The dawn is close at hand,
and streak Of light breaks the sky. Envel.
oped In black the countess lies crouched up
on the steps Of the scaffold, awaiting the
fatal hour when her sons neck shall be en-
circled by the ignominious collar. Then
Landry learns for the first time that Gather
ine Duval married st. Valerie only when the
Able Latour had produced evidence that
Landry had died In the Bastile. 1t Is then
he resolves to take her sons place under the
knife. The final leave taking In Landry's
chamber Is played with affecting pathos.
Without, they are crying out the death roll; {;
he, full Of intention, tears himself away to
take bis place In the tumbril; she, mad with
fear for her son, not understanding Landry's
action until her son rushes to her arms, and
them through the window she sses Landry on
the .scafYold, when the curtain drops.
The plot is divided into three distinctive
and clear cut periods, which it is the purpose
of the acts TO emphasize-the Old Regime
am, the Revolution Q7s9, and the Reign
OF Terri Or u7eN-all Of them marked by an
absolute difference Of costume and manners;
indeed, the history Of nations presents no
parallel Of such complete changes In the
course Of 20 brief period Almost unparal.
lSSsd care was exercised In the preparation
of the costumes, two famous designers being
employed for weeks in making drawings.
In a., nearly a thousand dresses have been
made for the crowds alone. In other words,
there are about 900 supers who foment the
mimic revolution At the Lyceum, and there
are, vsriously, four or five changes" apiece.
Then there are the seventy or eighty soldiers,
whose presence ia an important factor in the
spectacle. OF the Swiss guards there are
two or three varieties, and there is the French
guard But most interest centers about the
grenadiers, who are royal guards first, then
the 'grenadiers Of the center" and finally,
after they have gone over TO the people, the
''national guards"
The crowd OF 1850 Is, for stage purposes, Q
magnificent one, for 1t consists Of the savage,
franti, lot who robbed the Invalides Of its
many thousand stands Of muskets, and who
turned Paris into a factory Of pikes-setting
up FORCES In the streets, and in day and a
half hammering out $1,000 Of them- Many
Of ths costumes ordered in such profusion
and which were made by the theatrical cos
tumisr, or ''in the house." cost from Rl0 10
Rl2 apiece; while for the dresses and sccss-
soriss Of the soldiery, professional military
tAilors and accoutrement and uniform
makers were employed. The stage pictures
Of Mr.. Hawes Craven and Mr.. Telbin are
splendid efforts Of scenic art, and NJ. Espi-
posa, the ballet master. deserves the highest