Evening journal., 1901-03-04
OLD STAGE EFFECTS.
SCENES THAT USED TO THRILL.
AUDIENCES YEARS AGO.

"Great Scott, how a modern audi
ence would gibe at the stage effects
that used to thrill folks thirty or so
years agow said an old theatrical man 4
ager who was in the city recently en-
route to Frisco. ''rake the famous /
wolf scene in 'Davy Crockett for in
stance, that made a fortune for dear I
old Frank Mayo. That was consid- /
cred one of the most realistic things OF 4
its day, and it stirred audiences to alb
solutely frantic excitement You re- j
member how 1t went: Davy and the.
heroine have taken refuge In q noun
tain cabin. and suddenly they hear /
long drawn wall - Ow-o-o-o-ol |
Ow-o-o-o-o-ol 1t sounded like a tom /
cat on a 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 F,
orchestra plays tremolo. The wolyesv
he cries, and the house begins to holu
its breath.
Meanwhile the prop man puts on
more steam. The beasts are nearing.
Davy glares around distractedly. Mer-
ciful hevingsl He has burned up the
door bar for fuell 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 a hole at the bottoml Then
the curtain drops, there is more tremo-
10, and it rises again to discover Davy
fainting at the portal with a couple Of
streaks of red paint around his good
right arm to show where the staples
pinched. That scene would excite de-
rislon 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 a railroad wreck and local
stage carpenter undertook to fake up
the cabin interior. By some mistake
he made the staples several inches too
small and when Mayo, who was
rather portly, rushed to the rescue he
was Mortified to discover. that he could
not get his arm through the irons. He
pushed and squirmed and sweat blood,
but 1t was no 60. and as the wolves
were supposed TO be advancing on q
dead lope the situation was decidedly
critical. 1t so happened that the
actress who played the heroine that
season was very spirituelle, not to say
scrawny, and while poor Davy was
still wriggllng at the door some gallery
god suddenly piped ont; Break away,
fatty, and let de lady try The audi
ence roared and Mayo signaled for a
quick curtain. ,t
''Fire effects are. regarSse = 9Th dis
favor nowadays" continued the man
ager, because If too realistic they are
apt to create panic In a crowded thea
ter, but In the old melodramas 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 a play
called Help which contained a fro
scene that was regarded as the most
remarkable ever produced on the road.
r 'The curtain rose on q barnlike In
terror, supposed to represent an opium
' den in San Francisco. Presently a
Chinaman passed an open door in the
e back, carrying a lamp, and a moment
later a crash was heard, indicating that
he had dropped 1t. A red glow imme-
diately came through the chinks in the
I rear wall and grew rapidly brighter
> and brighter. while there was a sound
ne ox~rffaI lr.Ttr4f,.,4 -.
/, and furniture being dragged across the
floor. All that, occurring out of sight,
worked the audience to a high pitch Of
nervous tension. Then smoke began
to ooze through the cracks, the red
glow continued to increase, and all Of
E a sudden the entire back wall tottered
e md sank forward on the stage, dis
/ closing a dim perspective, with flames
r shooting up here and there and fremen
rushing pellmell in every direction.
''That spectacle created a tremendous
sensation wherever It was put on, yet
r the entire effect was produced by a
y few shovelfuls of red fire burned in
p the wings and a little lycopodlum pow.
> der, which flashes into a big, harmles,
blaze and was cOpcealed in tin boxes
attached to different parts Of the set
ting. The back wall was let down Oh
Il n couple of piano wires, which used tC
q get stuck occasionally and suspend il
Il in midair. There was a celebrated fire
scene in Chanfrau's play Of Nose but
it was admitted to be inferior to the
IS one have described, and the cruditiei
Of both are very laughable when com
l. pared to modern attempts along The
~ same line.
y y "The last thing Of that kind I saw wal
II in London a few years ago. 1t repre-
= sented the burning of a tenement
: Smoke and flames poured out Of tn,
De easements; immense beams crashed
or down, scattering showers Of sparks
re walls crumbled, people leaped from thu
windows and were caught in nets, anC
hremen sent streams of real water in
m 20 the blazing ruins. AS / watched thl
ID mimic confagration my mind reverted
l., to the days of Chanfrau and Murphy
FT L.. 4 a !