The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-06-12

| had electric lights. Three hours work
! of showing, hammering, saving and
| swearing got the scenery into some sort
I of shape, and the stage manager and
the property man took the soldiers over
| to Dewey's Resort for "a few more
bowls" L don't believe George Dewey
! ever was in his alleged resort, but some
of his cannon balls had been there dur
ing the excitement incident to the cap
ture of Cavite. and they had left their
loving marks on everything they
touched.
Right outside the theater a plank had
been stretched at the height of a mans
elbow and an assortment of liquors and
tobacco displayed. The Chief of Police,
a Filipino, was directing the arrange
ment of the improvised bar. He spoke
some English and proved a nice chap
on acquaintance.
He became much interested in a
search for props" Props are those
vague accessories to stage settings,
the presence of which may go almost
unnoticed. but the absence of which
may disrupt an entire play. When the
villain FORCES the letter he must at least
have an inkstand and penholder, even
if there is no ink and if the pen won't
write.
In every well-regulated drawing
room there must be a sofa, some chairs,
perhaps a pier glass and few pictures.
STUFFED FURNITURE.
Stuffed furniture is considered de-
rigeur for stage drawiEg-rooms, but
in all Cavite there was not one piece
of that description. So they had to be
content with plain, yellow bamboo,
and what was spoken of by the actors
as "a luxurious interior was furnished
only with a half-dozen bamboo chairs,
a bamboo table and the BARRIERS mir
ror. The barber was a discharged
Tennesseean and for a ticket to the
performance he offered even his oper-
ating chair. A wash bowl and pitcher
was borrowed from the Army Officers
Club and several saloons loaned glass
es and gray-looking decanters.
The sergeant and his squad We're told
off to get chairs for the audience, as, !
except for the remnants near the stage
and a row of circus benches at the en-
trance, the auditorium was empty.
Perhaps the sandy uniform of the SER
geant and his aids carried a certain
command. and perhaps there were rec
objections of the late days when the
householders were used to seeing such
fellows IN hIdhi, with IllSll
screwed to the sights of rifles. Any
how, there was a flood of chairs offer
ed. and when the Grand Opera House
was filed with them they were dec
Grated with numbers to aid the ush-
ers.
The curtain was advertised to rise at
s: so O'Clock. and about o'clock the
cast arrived from Manila. The half
dozen American women in the COM
pany looked very dainty in pretty,
light frocks. and all the population of
Cavite gathered to see them land.
There were hundreds of natives in
gala attire, their gauze shirts hang
ng outside their drill trousers and
their vivid plush slippers almost as
lamps to their feet" When in his
pest the Filipino always hangs the
.ails of his upper garment over his
rousers. 1t is a cool fashion, the
hirts being of pima or jussi, much like
silken net.
Mercy, Is this it?" said the lead
ng lady.
Like a big corncrib." said the
comedian.
In five minutes a hundred complaints I
lad been registered with Frawley aud
he stage manager. The leading lady 6
ng-room with all the other women. 7
even in "one-n:Eht stands in Okla
oma and Kansas'' she had never been /
o badly treated, she said: I
The leading Juvenile came with whis c
cred curses to let it be known that ne 7
would rather resign then ami there
han doff and don his clothes on the [
eawall. But they all had to make q
he best of the facts. for there was but {
ne dressing-room for each sex, and c
were daubed on by candle l
sht. The electric wires only stretch a
4 over the stage. and grease paint and l
-igs went on with a low murmuring 7
Ike the hoarse muttering of the mob n
l Julius Caesar
About 8 o'clock the audience began Y
D come in. The first arrivals were o
atives The women wore the largest L
nd stiffest of panuelos and had their {
air highly polished with cocoanut oil