New-York tribune., 1906-10-21

the beboIder When Seymour Lucas was aiding
him in preparations for Henry VIII various
fabrics were hung over chairs along the 'front.'
of the stage, the footlights were turned on ana
the anxious actor and his colleagues sat OUT
in the body of the house to see which specimen
of cloth of gold would best answer. One OF
the pieces Immediately rejected was OF real
cloth of gold costing ten guineas a foot 1he
piece accepted bit Of the cheapest sheet-
ing stencilled in the property room OF the Ly-
ceum Irving would have accepted the ten
g1,inea stuff without hesitation if ii had been
the right stuff. and in the same way ne ac-
cepted the cheapest possible substitute; his
main point was that the appearance OF the
thing from the public side OF the footiights.
should be right No trouble was too great 20
be taken if it was necessary I'd the proper re-
suit Every night that Irving played in The
Corsican Brothers" and the duel scene required
an effect as of deep blanket or snow. men
waited in the wings with tons OF salt In little
baggage trucks on rubber wheels. At the due
signal they rushed and spread the salt with
preat wooden shovels. The expedient meant
heavy labor which the spectators never sus-
pected, but Irving would have trebled the bur
den of the management il he had thought II
essential We must give one more Illustration
of his gift for making a perfect stage picture
After a rehearsal of the Broken scene IN
"Faust" In 1885. MT. Stoker feared that it was
chief Irving listened thoughtfully. and then
said:
That t is all Dsv s9 m but do in fn f9S faSe hHS fH F
not been able to judge accurately, I8n sst ar ~
BrocIen As far as tonight goes you are quite
wsnt to oVS wear it Til get all the rest TN
you will see l have stu149usy kept as yS5 IL a..
ing scarlet appears amongst t-aHd remeTn6fr ths.
vviI brin he whole a
cannot dream Of Indeed can hardy e ram vi u
shall see too how Ellen Terry's white; dress ard
even that red across her throat will staOd out
| in the midst Of that turmoil Of lightning!
| These gIi1npses Of the workshop that get
so often in Mr. Stoker's book relate to the moss
nracticaI side of his subject yet very frequently
the subtIer elements of Irving's character shine
| through the nominally impersonal episode There
| is the story of the "supers'' who were little
| too greedy IN their attack upon the food put
| before them in a certain stage banquet night
| after night Irving said nothing about their
| manners. He jokingly had the food Ina'ie one
| day of plaster of paris and papier mache, and
bound every one to secrecy. The "supers
| trooped on as usual that night and flung them
selves upon the dishes In the wings the rest OF
| the company were convulsed over their disap-
| pointment 1t was not long before genuine
edibles were once more served, and they were
eaten with deCorum- On another occasion L'lhS
| was in the midst Of a scene when he sa" tIsi'
one of his actors was in an unpresentaDie con-
dition-we infer from intoxicatiOn- He InIne-
diateIy stopped the performance, with a grace
| full word TO the audience, and later, when the
difficulty had been Strengthened out ana Iue
| performance had been completed, he made
| little speech to his company, pointing out the
wrong that had been done and how II might
| have been avoided. The episode is too long Ior
| US to quote but we must mention 1t IS an IN
| stance of Irving's kindness His acton IN lhe
| matter was perfect in dignity and in friendly
| feeling He had his own way in his own thetlFe'
| but if he was despot none OF his helpers ever
| realized it. for the hand Of steel was indeed
clothed in a velvet glove He could be as lex
ibie. too as he was authoritative Witness this
anecdOte:
For good many years he had played Shylock
universal praise then, all at once. he altered II
Altered il in the Of utteTance or Jhe IrSl
| words he speaks- Three thousand ducats- Wen
He explained il when having nOtlCfd tie
change asked him about it He said that II VS.
due 10 the criticism of blind mani think it was
the chaplain of the American Senate, Dr- MouiL
| What did he Say?" L asked lie answered Win
| a thoughtful STnile- -.
| ole said: i thought at first that you were too
amiabe. / seemed TO miss the harsh note OF tIie
| usurer's voice,' He quite right! Ihe aNul-
| enCe should the first understand, II one 80
| convey it the dominant note If the cll1racIsr-
This distinctly in accordance VIII nIS w
| theory. and he always remembered grate1ul1S Ihe
man who so enlightened NM