Evening journal., 1903-09-02
HOW BUTTONS
DESTROY POMPE|I
Pains Great Firework Spec
tacle AS Viewed From Be
hind the Scenes
WEATHER THE GREATEST WORRY

dom OF the city, and as the Nesuvius
peak was exploding and the Pompeiianl
pihars falling, as high priests. dancing
girls and centurians ran screaming be-
tween the Senate House and the Coli
scum. and Glaucus padded Nydia and
lone into safety across the Neapolitan
Bay, Arbaces ran into hysterlcal
flower girl behind the Temple OF Isis
Sixteen pounds OF dynamite were go
ing of behind them. From above COM
cts eruptions, volleys and assorted
charges were descending In fiery
cloud.
Probably none OF the spectators who
beyond the Bay of Naples were prepar-
ing to pile out backward was inclined
to echo the wish This, however, was
because none OF them realized how
much worry their hfty-fve minutes OF
volcanic JOY had cost.
The worry attached to getting up a /
great fire show nowadays does not arise |
from fear OF premature explosions. IL Is |
In regard to both the nerves and the
weather.
The first cause results from having
half a pound OF dynamite go on against
ones tympanum. and then. as you cork
up the ear with "a finger stopper, hav-
ing the other drum palsied by a blast on
the other side. The show Is twenty
one years old. But even the Oldest SUI
pers stiil. vince at the eighty-pound
blast which announces the fall Of the
Coliseum pillars.
The chief worry, however, IS over the
weather.
The scenery. being painted I'm oil, cam
not be hurt by water 10 is, indeed,
washed down either BY rain dew or
hnse every night But the costumes
can be hurt even without aid from
above. Tho togas and draperies have
to be renewed every six weeks. and In
/ the womens dressing room three sew
ing machines are KEEP whirring COM
stantly an dny ,epairing rips and rents,
but IL takes "a surprisingly small NUM-
ber OF raln.lrois to put a flmy ballet
skirt out OF business.
Sound cracked nerves and unexpected
cioudbursts are hy FAR the greatest OF
the fireworks exhibitors worries Other
Elements OF the business are astonish-
ingly simple.
Distance from the spectators and the
incidental nature of the ballet makes
the training OF the dancers a matter OF
but few days work Those few days,
on the other hand, are strenuous while
they last.
staee Director Murry put this years
raw chorus through its preliminary
= PAGES during forty-eight hours of tor
p rental downpour before the opening
. show. AS the two rehearsals we're held
[ under the open sky. there was no dress
rehearsal al all.
The danger OF accidental explosions
is practically nil How far the scienc'
r OF harmless noise making has pro-
I 81 4
I dition OF the marsh grass above which
( IS suspended the wire ON which dozen
nalf- pound dynamite charges are exc
= lploded night after night The wire
hangs only Eve feet from the ground
The mortara which. unguarded, are
capable Of producing n great disaster
j are buried in a great trench and cove
o cred with heavy timber. Both dyna-
mite charges and mortars are set I'm a
E marsh forty or nfty feet behind tho
I stage. the flame and smoke seen issu-
? ing from the crater being only innocent
4, llimelights. pink pots and gerbes. These
latter are stretched on the nimsiest of
wooden scanoldings. behind the noun
p tain, and don't even shake IL. The
e wonder Of visitors behind the scenes is
indeed. that so much effect can be pro-
duced by such seemingly insignificant
T means.
One Man Dons II.
The whole destruction Of Pompeii q
= brought about by a score Of trick line.
thirty. four electric buttons, twe-poun,
weight. and a diminutve representative
"a of T.ondons mechanic art. The last men
v toned causatlye IS james Cunliff, whl
p has been with Palms various shows from
q the age Of II and now has the larger par
e Of Pompem IN his brain and at his finger
o Tins.
He Il is who rouscs the fre-belchor, ex
Modes the mines and crumbles the city
= walls: and no does it all with n smal
3 thirty-four button battery box connecte'
a with piunger and with the various com
Z. bustibles that mine the ncghborhood
Is Above the battery and pasted against IN
0. rear Of the coliseum Is a list Of what oacl
button does.
j. Button one lights the pink lights whlcl
10 usher in the procession OF guards, priest
II and other celobrants Of Arbnces honor
IS Aps, tho golden bull. would be carrie
q. down the temple steps in darkness wcr
n not for button two The might OF Gun
"a ifrs hpgertip only begins 10 be show
Is with the pressing OF button three. iii
y cue is tho killing Of Arbaces by Glaucu'
l. TIE mountain being the deus OK machna
e which then permits the latter's cscap
lt with the flower girl and his bctrothed.
III If Cunln failed 10 press the mountai
button on the instant. the attention q
the populace Wouldn't be diverted ana th
blot Of Iytton's novel would be forsake
for Euripidean slaughter OF an IA
N principals But never has this occurred
at the proper moment a small black ca
- Is clapped on button three "a crank jcrke
~ over and struck down upon and the plur
ger yanked up and showed down.
Then as the Greek slave girls and R'
- man oenturions crowd out screaming IN
- can Is rented successfully on buttons
r.. 3 and s. the crank readiusted, the plunge
- worked, all Of which sets the secon
mountain, the mountain eerbes and u
II. lower mountains ablaze.
"a, Button z sets fire to the third row cas-
y. Il also metamorphoses a sober, unromai
Tic emierant from London into a ma
-. denea genie; for from button 20 butte
"a "a everything must happen quickly thu
~ the operator has to work cap and crar
~. with one hand. plunger with the othe
- and also find time to make a dash for q
,st two-pound weight, which. suspended by
string behind the Temple OF Isis, le
down various sections OF the canvas see
cry. leaving great black gaps and tn
creating what the press agent styles "a
s. mirahle charred effect"
he BY the time an this Is over the stage
,er a dark and deserted wilderness, the O.
he iseum and Temple are piilariess ruins a.