Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-01-07
PERILS IN FILM POSING
Real Tragedies Mark Production Of
Some Moving Pictures.

some moving pictures
Acting in front Of the camera for
moving pictures isn't quite so soft a
job as people imagine. Grave risks
have to be taken, and more or less
serious accidents are common, says
the Chicago Tribune. Sometimes
these result fatally.
The other day, for example, a man
named Bittner descended In a para
chute from the Column Of Victory in
Berlin, with g. view to being cinemato-
graphed as he was falling, but some
thing went wrong with his apparatus
and the parach0tist was dashed to his
death.
Similarly, a picture player named
Dunno was killed on the railway while
acting a part. The unfortunate man
was only supposed to be run over by
the approaching train, 1t being the in
tention to substitute a dummy figure
at the last moment. But the rails were
slippery, the driver was unable to
pull up his engine in time, and the
actor was mangled to death beneath
the wheels.
Not long ago an actor playing the
part Of a cowboy In Chicago fell and
Miss Alice Hollister, whose face and
figure are familiar to the frequenters
Of picture shows, nearly lost her life
while rehearsing in Egypt. Attired
in the voluminous draperies Of an
Arab peasant woman, she was seated
on a primitive wooden wheel which
brought up from a deep well, water
for irrigation purposes.
At a certain moment she had to
bring the camel which worked the
wheel to a halt and descend from her
seat. Unfortunately the camel resum-
ed its walk too soon, the wheel started
revolving again, and Miss Hollister
was jerked into the we'll, which was
more than 100 feet in depth.
Luckily, her cumbersome garments
caught projecting stone in the side,
and being Of athletic build, she man.
aged to hang on until she was rescu-
ed by means Of a rope in the hands
of her dragoman. But 1t was mar
row escape.
No one viewing on the screen the
superb riding Of Alice Joyce, exponent
Of Cowgirl parts in western drama,
would suppose that any horse could
ever succeed in throwing her. AS a
matter Of fact, however, she has met
with several accidents.
| Miss Gene Gauntier, a moving pic
ture company's leading woman, has
been exceptionally lucky. Only re-
Gently she was attacked by Bedouins
in the Sahara and had to fight hard
to get away. In Florida she was nearly
scene she was kicked by a horse and
nearly killed. In another war scene
there was a premature explosion Of a
casson that hurled her high in the
air and the fall made her unconsci-
Gus, but it made great picture.
Once when she was to be rescued
from a burning house, the company
bought an abandoned farmhouse In
the country and set it aflre. The fire
burned more rapidly than had been
provided for in the rehearsal. and Miss
lGauntier was unconscious and almost
dead when the rescuers chopped hole
in the roof and pulled her out.
They had intended to take her out
Through a window, but the real thing
made a much better picture.
| A naval lieutenant is another pic
ture player who has many narrow es.
capes, his latest exploit in this direc-
ton being a fall from a high cliff neal
Bridgeton, England. Once, too, he
was badly wounded In sword due
with a picture player antagonist. OF
course the injury was quite uninten-
tional and accidental.
| Alfred Bridgeton, young American
picture player, lost his life In the
Hudson river a year ago. He had to
leap into the water and rescue q girl
who was supposed to be drowning
While swimming toward her he was
observed to throw up his arms, sink
once or twice, and struggle trantically
on coming to the surface.
| The spectators on the bank ap-
plauded, imagining 1t to be part Of the
performance, and the operator kept
turning the handle Of the machine
while shouting to the drowning man,
Keep it up!" Only when he had
sunk for the third and last time did
anybody suspect that anything was
wrong.