The Washington herald., 1913-10-19

THRILLING MOMENT.
Acme of Stage Realism in Race Be
tween Locomotive and
Automobile.


Doubtless the most remzrIkable stazs
effect ever devised is a race between an
automobile and train. which brings
the nrst' act of .'The Honeymoon Ex-
press." which plays at the Belasco The
ater this week. to thrilling and pic
turesque close The effect is the joint
invention Of Langdon Mccormick. author
Of Hearts Adrift'' and other weIl-known
melodramas, and Howard Thurston. who
tours the country every year with his
magic show. Mr.. Mccormick has been
building effects for melodramas for many
years Some time ago he realized that
he had reached the end OF his rope. 90
Ear as effects OF races and such like
were concerned. and he called to his aid
Howard Thurston. He realized the neces-
sity OF introducing into the work Of the
eject certain amount OF Illusion
When we first formed partnership."
said Mr.. Mccormick. ''our aim was to
show a tiny object or objects in the dis
tance. gradually Increase them In size,
and finally bring them upon the stage as
In life This we call perspective IN mo-
Con Il had never been attempted on
the stage. Races always took place from
one side os the stage TO the other, and
the chief object was moving scenery. The
objects, Of course. remained the same
size and all the audience got was the
action and increasing size or dimension.
and we have done It very successfully
with our train effect In The Honeymoon
Express
Both Mr.. Thurston and myself are
still at work on the same idea and we
are confident that IN time to come We
win be able to work such an effect in
broad daylight. because Illusion plays
very important part In producing the
engine and automobile. In other words.
We feel that we can take objects and
people on the stage by utilizing a road
or walk on the scenery. Imagine the
value Of such an inyentioni The william.
for example, might jump into his auto
mobile and turn up q mountains pass.
while the audience could watch the ma
chine grow smaller and smaller as II
disappeared into space Our next per-
spectiye effect win be a sailing vessel
which we are going to show on the water
and then gradually bring into the harboI
under full sail Here again we win usf
lights and be aided by semi-darkness
which win heighten the effect"
1t all seems so simple when you see tn,
mechanism from behind the scenes. Bui
from the other side Of the footlights q
gasp Of astonishment and a burst OF ap-
plause greets one. this most remarkable
OF all stage effects.
The house Is In complete darkness;
on the stage are seen dim ranges OF
mountains. their crests tinged with thu
glow OF night Suddenly there appear
high on the mountain q swiftly MOVING
light It Is the headlight of the engine
In moment you see trailing behind IT.
freight Of Hghted coaches
At first they seem dlminutive. crawl
ing along the curved tracks, disappearing
for an instant as they rush through a
tunnel or are lost through q towering
hill. And az you watch 1t growing larger.
as 1t descends from the right to the left.
another faint light pierces the darkness:
II is the searchlight Of the automobile
that curves downward in a different path,
rushing to meet the train at the inter-
section OF the road and the track at
Rouen.
Both lights grow gradually brighter:
the glowing coaches stand out more dis
tinctly, and far on there Is heard the
faint wall OF the engines whistle Near
er and nearer they come. the automobile
descending at the left. the train at the
right The chug-chug of the engine is
heard distantly. and then the exhaust;
the changing bell breaks the nights still
ness Then far OF on q level with the
stage, way on down the track, the glar-
ing headlight approaches rapidly. Closer
Il comes. with a great shrek Of the
whistle, until it Is almost on top OF the
audience At the same time the auto
huns forward.
The lights go up. and the audience
sees real engine. pulling an apparent
coach behind II. putting and steaming
to a standstill. while parallel with 1t the
automobile comes to a stop. sending up
clouds Of dust as the brakes are set