Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-09-22
OLD STAGE EFFECTS.
SCENES THAT USED TO THRILL
AUDIENCES YEARS AGO.

unt used 70 thrill folks thirty or 50
years ago." said an old theatrical man
ager who was in the city recently en-
route 10 Frisco. Take the famous
wolf scene i'll 'Dayy Crockett for in
stance, that made ! fortune for dear
| old Frank Mayo. That was conSid-
| cred one of the most realistic things of
its day, and it stirred audiences to alb
SOlutely frantic excitement. You re
member how it went: Davy and the
heroine have taken refuge in a noun
tain cabin, and suddenly they hear
Il long drawn wall - Ow-o-O-o-o,
! OW-o-o-O-o-o, 1t sounded like tom
cat on mOOnlit fence and was emitted
| by the prop man. standing in the
| wings. DaVy springs to his feet. He
! listens with his hand to his ear. The
| orchestra plays tremOlo. The wolves"
| he cries and the house begins 10 hold
| its breath
| Meanwhile the prop man puts on
| more steam. The beasts are nearing.
| Davy glares around distractedly. Mcr-
| ciful hevinCs, He has burned up the
| door bar for fuel, The prop man
| howls at the top of his voice. Davy
| dasheS up his sleeve. He springs to
| the door. rams his bare arm through
| the empty staples. and two stuffed
| wolves heads are poked suddenly
| through hole at the bottom. Then
| the curtain drops, there is more tremo
| 10. and it rises again To discover DaVy
| fainting ut the portal with couple of
| streaks of red paint around his good
| right arm TO show where the staples
pinched. That scene would excite de
| rision today. but it kept the wolf from
Mayo's own door for many long year.
| Incidentally it was responsible for
some ludicrOus miShaps.
"On one occasion, while touring
through Iowa. the special scenery was
delayed by railroad wreck and a local
stage carDcntoe undertook to fake up
the cabin interior. BY some mistake
lie made the staples several inches too
small and when Mayo, who was
rather pOTtly. rushed to the rescue he
was Mortified TO discover that he could
not get his arm through the irons. lie
pushed and SquiTmed and sweat blood, |
but it was no 20. and as the wolves |
were supposed to be advancing on Il |
dead lope the situation was decidedly |
critical. 1t SO happened that III" |
actress who played the heroine that
season was very Spiritucllc, not to say |
scrawny, and while poor Davy WAS |
still WTigElir- at the door some gallery |
god suddenly pipcd out: Break away, |
fatty, and let de lady try" The audi |
Cncc roarcd and Mayo Signaled for n |
quick curtain.
Fire effects are regarded with dis |
favor nowadays continued the man |
ager, because if too realistic they are |
apt to create Il panic in Il crowded thea |
ter, but in the old mclOdramas there /
was no danger of miStaking them for |
the real thing, and they were great |
drawing cards. Back in the early |
seventies Joe Murphy, the Irish come
dian, toured the country in n play |
called Help which contained fire
scene that was regarded as the most
remarkable ever produced on the road.
The curtain rose on 4 barnlike in
terror, supposed to represent an opium
den in San Francisco. Presently
Chinaman passed an open door in the
back, carrying a lamp, ana 4 moment
later a crash was heard. indicating that
he had dropped it. y red glow imme-
diately came through the chinks in the
rear wall and grew rapidly brighter
and brighter, while there was n sound
of excited footsteps, indistinct shouting |
and furniture being dragged across the
floor. All that, occurring out Of sight.
worked the audience to high pitch Of |
nervous tension. Then smoke began
to oOZe through the cracks, the red
glow continued to increase, and all OF
a sudden the entire back wall tottercd
and sank forward on the stage, dis
closing dim perspective, with flames
up here and there and fircmen
rushing pellmell in every direction.
THAT spectacle created tremendous
sensation wherever it was put on, yet
the entire effect was produced by n
few shovelfuls of red fire burned in |
the wings and little lycopodium pow
der, which flashes into a big. harmless |
blaze and was concealed in tin boxes |
to different parts Of the set
ting. The back wall was let down on |
4 couple Of piano wires, which used 10 |
get stuck occasionally and suspend il |
in midair. There was celebrated fire |
scene in Chanfrau's play Of Nose, but |
it was admitted to be Inferior 10 the
one 1 have described, and the crudities
of both are very laughaBIe when com
pared to modern attempts along the :
same line.
The last thing of that kind 1 saw was !
in London a few years ago. 1t repre-
scented the burning Of a tenement.
Smoke and flames poured out Of the {
easements; immense beams crashed :
down, scattering showers Of sparks; i
walls crumbled, people leaped from the
windows and were caught in nets, and
iremcn sent streams Of real water in
to the blazing ruins. As I watched the I
mimic confia grafton my mind reverted I
to the days Of Chanfrau and Murphy, I
and l smole several smiles yard wide
and all eeth-"-New Orleans Times I
Democrat
ConhScation In Morocco.