The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-06
ENOUGH TO STOCK A STORE.
STAGE HARDWARE USED IN THE
PRODUCTION OF MODERN PLAYS.

| phtt OL tlt scenic parts OF every PLAY
that is staged and forms a considerable
| part of the expense. Stage hardware is
an expansive term and includes many
things that would be a surprise to people
who believe in the exact application of
terms. Rainstorms come in correctly in
the classification, hailstorms to some ex-
| tent and snowstorms and fogs also go
| with the hardware, but not so aptly.
Genuine hardware includes the big three
headed steel screws. brace hooks and
eyes, clamps, braces, mortises windlasses
and curtain guides, and a stage carpet
tack would be a surprise to the housewife
who thinks she knows everything about
| house furnishings. Stage grass, money
| lamps ropes and good many things in
the nature of properties get mixed up with
the hardware, and the corners, keystones
| and profile of wood are most important
| The latter Is used for innumerable pur-
poses.
There is little woman uptown who has
| a monopoly of a good part of the the
| atrical hardware business of the city. IN
| a little shop of which she has been in
charge with her son since her husband S
death she was telling some interesting
| things about the business the other day
and revealing some of the stage secrets
|
Needed i'm the Business.
| profile is of the most important
things in the business" she said. land it
is used for almost everything that can be
imagined. Profile is a wood which comes
in long sheets quarter of an inch IN
| thickness. For all the fancy decorations
In rooms this profile is used for trees and
| vines, of which the audience sees only
| the face, pillars, stumps of trees and al
most everything that anyone could men
| ton. To show how it is used there may
! be an orange tree in the play which is
seen standing by one corner of a house.
| A sheet of profile is fastened down the
| length of the house, on it is painted the
| orange tree, the leaves and fruit outlined,
and then they are all cut out, and there,
| as far the audience can see, is a we'll
| developed orange tree.
There are small saws foot and
| half or so long which come for the pur-
pose of working with this profile, and they
are sold with it. dozen at time. They
have the appearance of the tiny saws that
are used for fret-saw work, only on
| larger scale They would come under the
head of genuine hardware and they are
the only things with which the profile
can be cut satisfactorily.
| I'm The Man in the Moon a great deal
of profile was used. There were 1000
| square feet in one act for the arches and
| fancy work. Then the chariot In Ben
| Hur' is made of profile. Oh yes, it is quite
| strong enough, for there is no weight that
comes upon it. All the supports are of
| iron work and the horses do not draw the
chariot. They were trained long time
for that play and they gallop, but the
chariot does not move and the wheels are
turned by an electric motor inside.
Break Lamps Every Night.
II suppose no one doubts that there are
real lamps in the play of Sherlock
Holmes and that one is broken every
night. They are genuine lamps and there
is real oil in them, and they are not only
broken in the play, but Mr.. Gillette has
broken one at every rehearsal We made
| three lamps before we could get one that
was just the thing for that play. There
is the regular lamp, but the oil is not in
that; it is in brass tube that is inside;
the burner fits on to that tube so that
when the lamp is broken the oil is not
spilled; the force of the blow puts the
light out Immediately and there is no dan
ger. They order those lamps 100 at a
time and they are sent up by the barrel
| full.
1.-THE miners lamp they use in the gas
| room scene, the lamp that is put behind
the box, was the hardest thing to get Mr.
Gillette knows exactly what he wants AMI
| it must be exactly right They took the
play to Scranton and thought they would
be able to get one there without any
| trouble, out tHey cOulunt ma the r1Snt
| kind Then we undertook to get IL and
finally found one that had been kept for
a souvenir. 1t was such a rusty old thing
| that no one would have given 10 cents for
| it, but it was just what we wanted.
How do you suppose they do with that
cigar in the same scene? We don't fur
| nish anything for that, but know how il
is done. The cigar is In the wall there by
the window all the time There is an cleo
trio light through it, and there is n box
over It, which, just at the right time, Mr..
/ Gillette knocks off / bought the gray
shawl that Mr.. Gillette wears when he
comes in disguised as an old man. had
to try some time to get just what was
wanted, the kind that an old man wou d
wear. 1t takes a woman to get things
like that. She has more idea Of what is
wanted. The hardware for that play cost
altogether over $500.
An Expensive Outfit.
'The hardware ropes. etc, for Hearts
Are Trumps' cost over $500. There are 49,
OO0 feet of rope used in that pay. No. we
! didn't have much to do with the ava
lanche. The play came from the other
side. and 1t was made there, but it had
10 be remade over here. We are preparing
a rainstorm now for the Empire Theater.
You have a 1A-inch pipe with holes six
| inches apart, a rubber hose attached. and
then the water is turned on with more or
cd. An ordinary rain-storm would cost
about SIS to prepare Snow storms are
compa ratively cheap. In Way Down
East it SHOWS through an entire act.
Snow is sold by the pound and that storm
would take about eight POUNDS of snow at
20 cents a pound The snow is put in "A
bag with holes in It. and then two men
| pull It, one up and one down. The snow
fails from hight of about thirty feet
and when it gets within ten feet OF the
stage it begins to furry from the currents
of air 1t meets Snow can be used over
and over again, so it isn't expensive
"A fog is a grc at extravaganza. One will
cost So without making. II takes the
very finest gauze which is $25 piece, AMI
then there are the ropes and other things
that are required. Hail is made of beans
falling on wood or iron, according to the
force az the storm. and that Is not eXp3n-
| -,.o.
"Melodramas are the most expensive
| plays in the way Of hardware usually
| ''The Great Ruby was an expensive play.
| The trap for The balloon in that play cost