The San Francisco call., 1909-01-10
Ayers, Who Is Chief of
Ben Hur" Mechanics

Ayers, Who Is Chief of
ben Hur" Mechanics
You should know something abous
William Ayers. the master Of the me-
chanical forces OF Ben Hur." before
he gets out of town. 1 met him az
rather an exciting time Eight horses
were running toward us at top speed.
while their frantic drivers cracked
their whips about the beasts heads and
| urged them on. / know what il looks
like to be run over. but, luckily. not
/ how it feels Ayers was bossing the
chariot scene behind the footlights
in Ben Hur." and placed mo
next to him until IL was over.
should never select that particular post
again from which to view the race.
The sensation OF being run over is not
even good to see. When the horses
stop they are within two feet OF where
you stand-that is Judah's steeds are
but Messala's, in spite of their thun
dering hoofs on the treadmills and
their forward tugs at their chariots.
are farther away when the wheel
comes OF than they were when the
race commences. which is, says Ayers.
a lesson. Don't bet on a race says
he. without taking into cOnsidera
tion the track"
1t is an exciting experience TO stand
at those horses heads while they gal
lOp toward you yet never reach YOU
I II is a thrilling sensation, too. to feel
their hot breath on your face and Won
der if they will know enough to stop
running when the lights go out. or
| whether they may not have taken a
/ sudden dislike to the color of your
/ necktfe and so will keep on going
till they reach you and trample YOU
OF course Mr.. Ayers has meantime
told you that the animals are trained:
/ that they could not run you down il
they wanted to, and that you are per-
fectly safe except for flying horse
shoe or two. Like Mark Twain's re-
mark about the barking dog. You
know" says the humorist, that
barking dog won't bite; 1 know that
a barking dog won't bite; but does the
dog know it2''
any way in the particular Instance
Of the horses and the chariOts-they
all stopped in time and the fine bloOded
steeds were embarrassed and trotted or
IStage as uncOncernedly as any of the
other members OF the company. Their
days work was done and they were
led out on Van Ness avenue just in
time to envy the fire horses which
dashed by on their way to blaze. and
ran not on treadmiH track which
put to naught their fine strides. but on
an asphaltum street and TO some dis
cernible purpose.
/ IF all those hOrses-twelve Of them
should pound their time on the tread
mill at once" said Ayers, there would
be a pressure of 80 tons on the stage.
I That's why we have to reinforce the
underpinning. Come and see."
He showed me down stairs where
the army of chOristers and supers climb
into ancient garb behind discreet but
shadowy curtains. Great girders are
run along the stringers which support
the stage underneath the horses and
= Il
rigid posts. I'VE do this" said Ayers.
not because IL is necessary. but be-
| cause it makes me feel better. The
machines and the galloping horses
could hardly come through the floor.
but If they shouId-well. there are
many children here. you know
AS 1 looked around the busy scene.
crowded with supers getting their he'll
NETS and their spears. and chorus girls
laying hold of their palm branches,
Ayers went on:
Sometimes we get into a theater
| where it is hard for US to get enough
dressing rooms to accommodate all oc
these people. In one city we encouR-
tered that difficulty. so we put lot oc
the girls up on gallery behind the
big panorama
The panorama. you should know, is
/ the canvas picture rolled on so foot
reels WhlCn SIdlOS Dack OF the CndEiuL
race and whirlS the Antioch sports ar
the circus around as the wheels OF the
| vehicles reyolve and as the horses run.
| They were safe and isolated. said
Ayers, referring to the girls. "and had
as much seclusion as though in their
own rooms. / hattered myself that il
was a pretty good nakeshift for
dressing apartments and concluded tnat
on other occasions / would repeat the
Texperiment. But / changed my mind
We had been playing Ben Hur' but q
few nights in this eastern theater
when the accident happened 1t was
( during the chariot scene. The ten
horsepower motor was operating the
panorama behind which were our girls
The lights from the front and else
where cast a blaze of white on the
scene. All of sudden the panorama
parted at the seam where it was laced
and buttoned and fell to the stage.
There were the deshabille girls behind.
We never repeated the experiment be-
cause we're not playing that kind OF
a show.
Ayers first show experience was as
a circus man. I'm still proud of the
title L won when a youngster.' he said.
OF being the lightning programmer OF
the world I could stand on a street
corner and whip my programs against
the doors OF the neighbOring houses.
or toss them through their open win
dows as a card cOnjurer hings a king
of clubs to the farthest seat in the
top gallery. The circus is where
learned to do things quickly. The ex-
perience is valuable One night recent
ly we tore down the panorama after the
chariot race. took out the 80 foot reels
and the six by six supports, the motor
and everything else concerned with the
illusion before the conclusion of the
| next act. Within an hour after tho
show was over we had everything out
of the theater and at five minutes 60
o'clock our six cars were loaded
with our properties ana the train
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