Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-09-10

SOLDIERS HOME THEATER.
this kind, saying: 'The police of this
city know that these old soldiers are
not vagabonds. They have home, and
all of the policemen know where it is.
Any well-dressed department clerk
taken in an intoxicated condition viii,
be sent to his home in a cab. Here.
after l wish that when these old SOL
diers fall by the wayside the. policeman
discovering them would call an am
bulance and send them to their home"
That is good common sense, and
emanates from a spirit of charitable
ness somewhat like the spirit which ami
mated Andrew Jackson when he stood
between his old comrade and dismissal
from the army. There is no reason
why these old soldiers who have this
weakness should be locked up aud
dragged before a police court, when
our dudes and lordlings are tenderly
cared for.
Everything that can be done is being
done to add to the attractions of the
soldiers home, and now they are to
have theater for the purpose of keep
| ing them home and amusing them at
night. The building is of marble OK
terror and is almost completed. 1t is
next to the library building, and oppo-
site to Scott hall, building named
after Gen. Winfield Scott, the founder
of the home.
The new theater will be spacious
enough for the purpose indicated. 1t
| &c 10
of stage, and is 67 feet wide. The foun-
dations are of granite surmounted by
roughly finished sandstone, and the
entire building faced with Vermont
white marble from Senator Proctor's
quarries. The main entrance is to be an
ornamental archway and portico of
| Guiana marble.
| The stage is to be &C feet wide and 25
deep, with proscenium opening of 80
feet, allowing plenty of room in the
wings for stage apparatus. Inasmuch
as the stage is the most important fca-
ture of any playhouse, it will be OBJ
served that the architect has devoted
an unusual amount of space to this
feature of the new theater. On the right
hand side of the proscenium on the
stage, an electric light switchboard Is
TO be placed, and an operator at this
point will have charge of all the lights
in the house, as well as on the stage.
Handsome scenery of the ''up-to-date"
variety is being prepared, and every
thing correlative done to make this
| theater for the old soldiers one of the
finest and most complete in the country.
Six dressing-rooms are being comfort
ably fitted up for the convenience of the
actors, and they are all beneath the
stage. Stairways from the rear en-
trance, and also from the auditorium,
lead to these dressing-rooms, so that
they are quite accessible.
The old soldiers are not to have the
privilege of hearing the greatest actors
and actresses; at least not this year.
They do not GO to theaters to criticse
or analyze the play, but to be enter
tanned. Consequently, they will not
demand the finest Evolutionary efforts.
Under the directions of Gen. David
Stanley, who has charge of the soldiers
home. some of the leading amateurs of
Washington, young men and women
who intend to make profession of the
| h'iNC SdhiHSu VIVA 10 hho"H
as the SOLDIERS Home Dramatic com
pany," and they are rehearsing new
plays all the time, for the purpose of
giving the old soldiers plenty of enter
tainment next fall and winter. We
have several amateur dramatic COM
panies in Washington, nearly all of them
being composed of high-school grad
yates. They are intelligent, ambitious,
energetic and capable. The old soldiers
will witness some superior perform
ances.
There will be good orchestra for the
new theater, and it will not cost any
thing. The regular soldiers homo band,
which gives such excellent open air con-
certs during the summer evenings that
hundreds of people go from this city to
hear them will form an orchestra, and
the performers on the stringed instru-
ments are now making preparations
for their practice with the cornetists
and other members of the proposed
orchestra. Altogether this new theater
is to be creditabie affair, and will aid
much to the enjoy ment of the veterans
who have served their country, and who
are now passing OF of the stage of life
after having acted well their parts.
SMITH d. FRY.