The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-04
Mojave desert Of red. where never q bit
of grass had grown above tho dust. He

Mojave desert Of red, where never q bit
of grass had grown above tho dust. He
was ready for, his dashing ride. -,
f. The signaling from Three Top in the
second act, and which. by the way, Is a
literal reproduction Of the Confederate
signals given just before Sheridan's ride,
is. done by ladder. a man and @ light.
The scenery forming the back part Of the
Shenandoah valley Is made transparent
just where Three Top looms up. TO this
point in the rear rises q ladder built on
the scene with stats, Up this an ordinary
man goes and flashes light according
to code. From the parquette the effect
Is powerful one. Every jot Of light Is
| figure, decimal. giving information to
the enemy. hysterical young woman
In black sitting in one Of the boxes shiv-
ers for fear the Federals will not be able
| to translate. She claps her hands when
the message Of light is deciphered What
| to her is 1t that the space between Three
| Top, the signal man and the Union officer
| holding his powerful field glasses on the
| flashes Is less than feet? She does not
J know thaS the slope Of the mountain on
which the officer stands is canvas, boards,
| papier mache verdure, paint and stage
| earth. She doesn't want TO know 1t. She
wouldn't at that moment believe it If you
| told her. She is with Old Glory in Virginia
and Sheridan La still more than twenty
|
| tinsel Of the stage do for the heart and
| tho mind when properly handled.
| Roberts, when In old England, was a
| trooper Of the crack Queens bays, Second
| Dragons guard. He is nothing If not
military in his instincts. Besides this,
| he is man passionately fond Of a horse
| The stage of the Grand reveals his love
| in both directions 1t Is a camp just be-
| fore a battle, implements of war to be
found in every direction, and where they
| do not occupy space, a horse Eighteen
animals are used In Shenandoah" and 1t
| took but eight rehearsals at night to
| make them manageable
STIRS THE AUDIENCE.
Gen. Haverhill speaks in grim tones to.
| the squad that has volunteered with
| Lieut.. Bedloe to go on a hopeless cause
| of the danger Of their undertaking. He
1 tells them, while. the house clutches at
| It's heart, that in all probability death
! awaits them. He says that any man
who wishes to stay behind may, and then
| asks them as to going:
"Are you wiIling2"
Stentoriously comes the answer that
| they are. A supe watches the faces of
4 the people in front and satirically as
serts:
'That moves them guys
l. No illusion can stand a shock like that
| You think again Of the red dirt, the min
| ute guns with a crank, the shells from q
| bass drum, and rest your feet on earth.
/ Again ono Of the players speak Of:
''The dark woods behind the falls"
You follow the gesture with your eye
and see some f'props," a ladder bits Of
dirty canvas. Try as you may after that
| you cannot conjure up dark woods"
| nor hear the spYash of the laughing wa
| ter as it leaps from the lips of the cliff
| to the heart Of the basin beneath.
THE FOAM COVERED STEED.
Now Sheridan's ride is to come, and
they are having a great deal Of trouble
in getting Jack ready for it. It would
never do for him to dash down Win
chester road with his hide as clean and
glossy as 1t is. True, cavalry horses never
look clean. They must be foam-spat-
tered and show terrible signs of wear.
Jacks blood is cool and he hasn't done
enough work ali evening to earn a peck
of oats, but he is ready for the emer-
! geney, and his hide IS such that soap suds
will cling to it.
He is so interested over he prepara-
lions which he knows are preliminary
to his triumphant entrance that his eyes
begin to CLEAN, he breatnes a little quick
er and he blows the air out Of his lungs.
Sheridan mounts him and draws his
the stage and where ne stands Is not
over twenty feet. All of it save where
| the road runs is occupied with scenery.
Jack must coyere this twenty feet with
leaps and bounds as though he were on
Winchester road racing for the Union
front. He is ready. He knows what the
soapsuds mean.
Jack rises in the air, his front feet paw
ing. He leaps. He strikes the roadway and
hon dc into th0 oil II Je. hOfa
the audience reeking with foam, eyes on
| fire, name flying. Sheridan on his back,
| retreating soldiers facing about and
cheering-the battle lost is the battre
won-dying men wave their hands fee
bly,, gunners catch new spirit and face
about the batteries, the bell rings and the
curtain falls. In front the people have
gone made with enthusiasm. You behind
stand with the perspiration oozing from
you.
STIRS YOU UP.
You know the army is made up Of It's
| sIpes, you know the foam Is soapsuds
you know the dirst is from powder boxes
and that the cartridges are blank,
you saw shell fired by bass drummer
but a scenic effect Of that kind is more
| powerful than the reason. You for
get. You get tight in the throat, your
| lips are dry, you wish you had a gun
YOURSELF you choke, and when Sheridan
| just that instant beside you, rides TWEEN
| ty feet, instead of twenty miles, and
saves the day, your eyes are wet and
| you want to yell.
Reason exists for saying that in so
small space as fifty feet by eighty
feet never before has such stage ma
chinery been crowded for the production
| of any play. Considerable of this space
| is occupied by the permanent setting for
| the valley of the Shenandoah and Three
| Top mountain. To make more room
| gun carriages and caissons, when not in
| use, are hauled into the air by pulleys
and kept there. Most Of the horses
wait their turn for appearance In the
| alley. The soldiery have camp under
meath the stage.
To the uninitiated confusion seems to
| reign everywhere, but after 1 had been
back for half an hour I found place
| for everything and an order that was
wonderful. The stage manager Is GER
tainly genius for handling people in a
small area and getting the effect he
wishes. I think, If necessary, he could
have used 100 more people and not been
bothered. His good nature is remark.
able.
Estella Dale, Caroline Franklin, Alice
Neal, Julia Batchelder and the other Ia
this mess of q battlefield with the jol-
lest of spirits.
The assistant stage manager proved
himself capable of doing six things at
once. In the general fair spirit that per-
vaded this world behind the scenes and
where at times a tear might have come
smile was found in It's Mace