The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-04
RIDE With SHERIDAN
HOW THE TRIP FROM wINCHEs-
TER TURNED DEFEAT INTO
VICTORY
GRAND pLAYzdF SHENANDOAH

-. < y
GRAND PLAYSdF SHENANDOAH
Story or tnsS LolVse OF Gertrude Ell
bingham and -KerchnaI West as
Portrayed at the Misunderstanding
Effects Produced which Contain
ALI the Sanguinary Features of
Real War.oI
I rode down the valley Of the "Shen-
andoah" with Sheridan last night--a hot,
death-galloping ride. Down between the
Blue Ridge and the Great North Range
our horses plunged. while the signal
lights Of the Confederates flashed from
Tree Top Mountain. and Gordon was
coming to drive US back to Washington.
We reached Winchester town just In
time to make defeat a victory; an In
glorious rout, rally for final triumph.
In doing all this it is hard to say which
perspired the most, Sheridan, Robert Eli
Hot or myself, for we were stuffed be-
hind the scenes at the Grand in space
eighty feet by fifty feet. horses here and
everything to find their places. cannon
in front Of us and cannon behind US,
cafssops swung in the air because of no
room on the floor, minute guns popping,
| shells-discharge by bass drum-ex-
ploding, calcium lights dazzling, all ap-
parent confusion all systematic order.
SOME OF THE DELUsIoNS.
Listen now to the story Of "Shenan-
doah'' Interpreted by one who saw its
production : from the right upper en-
trance. The opening scene is in Charles
ton. Clever arrangements of electric
wires and lights show the lights of the
town cleaning on the hillside Gertrude
| dillingham; is being Wooed by Kerchfval
West and is not quite ready to let him
tell her ell he wishes to. She. goes to a
| window in the room in which they are
and looks out on Dear Jack" He in
turn pokes his head in, for Dear jack
Is a horse, the property Of Mr.. Lift, and
+ as clever a. brute as ever stood in the
wings. He takes. his cue for; the window
scene as intelligently as though human,
| coming up the earth and tanbark
track twelve inches deep, from six to
eight feet wide. and forming an oval
on the back portion Of the stage.
The track Is the road to Winchester
town, the winding way in the valley Of
Shenandoah oNerS which Sheridan thun-
dered, and by my own measurement it Is
just 120 feet in circumference. That's a
tremendous small space in which to have
the battle of Winchester, the charge of
cavalry, the entrance OF Sheridan, and
his exit with only twelve feet of space
to back in, but somehow or other every
thing Mr.. Roberts wants takes place on
it, Mhife the men and women in front
scream until the curtain has gone up
four times. The first gun on Fort Sum
ter was fired, and I witnessed it's dis
charge. Il
BOMBARDMENT KEEPS UP.
IT'S SHE'LL" said someone on the
stage. One could almost feel the audi
ence, with nerves already keyed for the
sound Of that fatal shot, shudder as the
moulnful music OF its fight (from bass
drum swept over the waters of Charles
ton harbor. Behind the scenes the only
comment / heard on the thrilling Incl
dent was that addressed to the drummer
by a companion.
You're a lobster"
I Which after all was more real than the
shell.
In the poem OF ..fSheridan's Ride the
line runs: ~ ;<,f
The terrible, grumble, and rumble and
: 49,, roar" ~ f.:5s
How that was to be produced in the
play W hen the eanr;.p We're wooden, the
charges blank, and the range distance
for shooting less than fifty feet. was diff
cult to imagine. Two men went up a lad
der, high UP, where the angels are
supposed to be, and perched themselves
on a platform over which hung long
sheets OF musical metal.
So far as the senses of the audience
were concerned actual firing was going
on, for women shrieked, men trembled,
and the smoke Of the powder, with its
greasy odor, fioated out to the nostrils
of the people.
The wooden cannon produced the smoke
business. So did the weapons carried by
the enthusiastic soldiery. Some 200
rounds Of blank cartridges are used every
night, and that Is realism enough for
even the most ardent lover of noise and
lola. Curious people noted that In the
conflict minute guns, were used with tell
ing effect. A crank, a barrel arrange
ment, supple withes 9cut short and strik-
ing metal every time the crank was
turned served for them. Their ''ping,
ping, ping, with ~lA0notonouS regularity,
added to the horrors of a battle where red
ochre took the place of blood and the
dead leaped to their feet the instant the
curtain fell. p
PUTTING ON THE CRIME.
Roads In the sseuth, especially in Ten
nessee. West Virginia and Virginia, are
proverbially red. NECESSARILY the dust or
mud from them Is red and stains the
clothing beyond redemption. Sheridan, in
his twenty-mile dash for the front Of his
ii1ses was bespattered with the stuff. So
he is in Shenandoah" and all his men,
but they get the stuff on them in a far diff,
ferent way than back in war days. Dash
ing into mis- dressing room, Stage Mana
ger Roberts. attired for the part of Sheri-
dan. put booted leg upon chair while
his attendant wet 1t with soap and water
Then the valiant hero. calmly grasping
what looked like a hugh pulverized sugar
sitter, besprinkled the boots with red
powder So he did his clothes until he
looked as If he had ridden through a