The times., 1898-10-09
BROKEN GLASS.
The Great Demand for Ii When the
Theafers Omen.
FrOm the St. L5uis G,Obe-DemOc-at)

OptHs
(From the St Luis G,obe- -Democ-at)
did you ever think of what becomes
of all the glass broken in a glass fac
tory?'' asked the man with the cigarette.
as he filled one OF his pockets with
matches from the safe on the table. The
remark was made apropos of nothing,
and the speaker waited as if he expect
ed some one TO ask him about it. But
no one did. and he continued:
Il was passing a glass factory on
Clark Avenue yesterday. when 1 saw sew
eral barrels filled with broken glass be-
ing loaded into wagon. The pieces rang
ed from the size of a mans hand down
to fragments no larger than dime.
Perhaps / wouldn't have noticed IL at
all if ] had not heard the driver say TO
the man who was rolling the barrel into
the vehicle: BE careful. there. and don't
break that all to pieces This struck
me as queer. considering the fact that
the glass was apparently useless, and
curiosity took me inside the factory.
where ! asked fellow about it. And
do you know. the factory gets a pretty
good price. when you think that 1t would
be thrown away if you were running the
factory. and didn't know your business.
Yes he says 10 me, trade in broken
glass is pretty good just now You see,
all the theaters are opening up. and they
have a supply on hand all the time.
What for? Why. don't you know no farce
comedy is complete unless some one
jumps through a window. A play with
out that in il wouldn't do al all. ii would
be in direct violation of stage tradition.
And when the villain or the hero or the
Irish comedian jumps through the oiled
paper window panes. and you hear the
sound of breaking glass don't you even
figure out where the glass that IS broken
comes from2
We'll, do you know. gentlemen. the
way the fellow put that question to me
] actually felt ashamed of my ignorance.
He askeS me if I thought the stage hands
broke plate-glass mirrors seven nights
week with three matinees. l wilted. and
then he took pity on me- 1t seems that
all the broken glass is sold to the thea
ters- The variety houses have 10 have
a big supply, for nearly every week
someone is supposed to fall through
window with a glass-breaking accom-
paniment. The society dramas don't
have so much of this and il doesn't take
much to supply them. but where the
burlesque flourishes it's a poor show
that doesn't use up q dozen barrels n
week with daily matinees. The glass is
taken to the theater and stored in the
cellar. When IL is required 1t is shoveled
into box and taken to the stage. Diff
ferent theaters have different ways of
breaking the glass but the best is that
in use in two of the best houses in this
city They have a big box, with an iron
plate about foot above the bottom of
Z it, sort of false bottom. as II were
( This is TO prevent a dead break AS the
time when the window is TO be broken
approaches a stage hand with a shovel
full Of glass stands ready for the cue. 1t
comes and the glass is thrown into tn
box with as much force as possible II
the work is well done the effect, as
: heard by the audience. IS similar TO that
! produced by a window being broken.
Now. of course, the sound is not the
same, but you notice that when I tap
! this empty glass an entirely different
sound is heard than when I"
But someone asked him If he wouldn't
prefer to experiment with a full glass,
and he stopped talking