The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-17

from moving forward of the runways.
AS each horse gallops. the treadmill re-
wolves under his feet. BY this mechanical
arrangement 1t is possible for the horses
to actually gallop with all their speed
within the space of their own length, Tha
device which secures the horses to their
places on the cradles Is entirely independ-
ent of their harnesses. which attach tmem
to the chariots just as they would be were
the animals running In the open air. The
wheels OF the chariots are worked by rub
Der rollers, operated by electric motors.
To give the chariots the humping and
jolting they would receive In an actual
race, they are equipped with uneven
wheels.
The effect of the losing Of the race bv
MESSIAH, and winning it by Ben Hur is
produced by moving the cradles backward
and forward on their rails. as the situa-
ton demands. To create the impression
OF the charioteers covering ground at high
speed. a great panoramic background.
thirty-1ve feet high, representing the
walls OF the arena, with thousands of
people sitting In their seats, is revolved
rapidly in an opposite direction to that in
which the racing chariots are headed.
The chariot race scene probably has at
tracted the greatest popular interest 1t
consumed only about five minutes Of the
entire spectacle.
There Is one camel In the play but he
inherited the actors art of repose He
needed no training or attention, although
professional animal keeper was engaged
to attend to him.
Three hundred and sixty-two people are
required for each performance. There are
twenty speaking characters, intrusted to
skilled actors. The chorus contains eighty
singers. and 100 extra people, or supers
fill out the scenes. There are forty stage
carpenters, ten property men and ten
stage clears" Twenty-Five negroes ap-
pear in the scenes.
The total number of costumes IL 500
They were all designed from models OBJ
tanned after careful archaeological re-
search. Six hundred pairs of shoes worn
during the play cost the management an
item of $2.100. The boards and wigs
amounted to another matter of $500.
The electrical and calcium parapher-
MALTA is one of the most important ele-
ments In the production, and wonderful
skill was involved in securing the delicate
half-tone effects which reappear frequent
ly throughout the production.
The expenses of preliminary electrical
experiments were $780, including the in
vention of new apparatus. In the miracle
scene the shaft Of white light typifying
the Messiah is of 5000 candle power
The time spent by Messrs, Ernest AL
bert and Ernest Gros painting the scenery
was about six months. 1t took nearly as
long to design and make the costumes,
The company was In actual rehearsal I'M
der Stage Manager Ben Tears direction
for six weeks.
The result of all the work and worry
and expenditure which have been de-
scribed is revealed In homogeneous form
in three hours. the time which elapses
from the rise to the fall of the curtain.
1t is probable that the spectacle will re-
main In New York for more than year.
As long as the audiences remain at their
present size 1t will be witnessed by 1900
people every week.
And after all. the complicated stage
pictures. with their leagues of Landscape
In perspective, their deserts, lakes, tenn
pies. mountains and even cities, are all
confined to a stage which measures only
seventy By forty feet,