The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-04
A REAL AND MIMIC WRECK.
Coincidence in the Loss Of the Savan-
nah and the Production of a New
Play.

Coincidence in the Loss Of the Savan-
nah and the Production of a New
Play.
A strange coincidence in life is that
while the City of Savannah was lying on
Hunting Island breakers last Monday
night with her passengers cliuging TO the
rigging, a play was being enacted for the
first time in the grand opera house at Co
lumbus. o., in which the steamer was
being wrecked on canvass waves.
Elmer 4. Vance, who has written sew
eral plays. among them, The Limited
Mail has Just put the finishing touches
to his latest effort, Patent Applied For, -
and it was given its initial performance
in Columbus last Monday night.
The scenes are laid in Savannah.
The play is of the realistic order
The first act shows the repair shop
of the Empire machine works at SaVan-
nah, with its forge in full operation, en-
cry wheel and other shop equipments.
II is in this scene that the trial test of the
triple electric wire-braider, which has
been the pet scheme of the inventor, Hen
ry Milburn, and on which he expected to
secure letters patent, is made 1t is on
this machine and the patent that the
story of the play hinges
The first scene of the second act is the
Cliff villa, with the Savannah river in the
distance. The second scene of the act
represents the whirlpool into which the
hero Of the play has been thrown by the
designing villain. and from which he is
rescued by the heroine
The climax Is reached in the fourth act,
which represents the steamship Savannah
in storm at sea 1t is in this act and the
production of the play at time when the
real steamship was battling with the
waves and her passengers were strug-
Cling for their lives that the strange coin
cidenCe comes IN. The scene in the play
as described by the Columbus papers,
represents the deck of the steamer with
its cabins and immense funnel, pilot
wheel, etc. The landing and departure of
the ship from the Savannah pier is shown.
Presently the storm bursts upon the ship
in all its fury. The wind whistles and
shrieks, the sails are rent and the vessel
turns almost on its side. The pilot is
swept from the deck and the ship goes
scurrying before the gale at the mercy of
the lashing waters. The hero who was
struck down on the deck by the designing
villain RECEIVERS to find the ship without
pilot, and braclng himself on the deck,
which is almost at an angle of As degrees,
he grasps the wheel, and, with the aid of
the heroine, rights the ship and gets it in
position to weather the storm
The finale of the act is not that of the
City Of Savannah which is still lying in
the breakers, but the fact of the wreck is
singularly coincident. The last act of
the play shows the corridor and court
room in the Udited States court at
Washington, where the forgery on the
assignment of the letters patent is dis
closed by the aid of a stereopticon.
The Columbus critics say the play is
ingeniously constructed, aud that it con-
tains some very bright dialogue. The
plot is sufficiently indicated by the
various scenes to need only a recapltula-
tion. The patent papers are stolen from
Inventor Milburn after his sudden death
in the repair shop of the Empire machine
works, by the owner, Grafton Chase.
The theft was witnessed by Steamship
Bill, a tramp artist Chase tries to throw
the crime on Robert lansing, his fore
man, who is in love with Helen, the
daughter of Inventor Milburn A deed
of assignment of the letters patent is
forged, and on the case being tried in the
court at Washington the crime is exposed
and Chase is punished.
Ii Mr. Vance could arrange produc-
ton Of his play in Savannah just now, or
even later in the season, he would not
lack an audience. If nothing else, the
local interest and curiosity in the piece
would make it drawing attraction.