The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-11-28
inventor Tells Secret OF
Amazing Stage Effects

bad considering that he was a dummy
carried on a pole and held in place
by one of the stage hands, was it?
The Tornado. .~
my next venture, was The Tornado,
a play which I both wrote and pro-
duced. 1t was a melodrama for fair,
and a spectacular n at that. 1t
showed a terrific tornado blowing over
sea n land; two ships colliding by
the force Of the waves, n outbuild-
ings blown away: trees uprooted and
fences demolished. .. .. -.-
First, we will investigate the cy-
clone. The stage was darkened as the
wind could be heard. While the audi
ence shivered in sympathy, Mike, the
stage hand, revolved rapidly a round
cheese box, across which was stretch
ed a heavily corded piece of silk. AS
the wind blew, clouds and floating de-
brts passed acros the stage. These
were painted upon thin muslin, drawn
across the stage rapidly, giving the
effect Of a real storm. I added to the
effectiveness of this panorama by US
ing for the first time a transparent
disk, upon which was paintd clouds
n debris. This disk quickly revolv-
ed before a powerful lantern which
projected the image upon the stage,
greatly adding to the effect of general
chaos that follows the wake of a Sc
we're storm. AS the full force Of the
wind reached the stage the roofs of
the farmhouses, barns and outbuild-
ings were blown off. Stage hands re-
leased heavy sand bags fastened to
invisible wires that extended through
pulleys at the ceiling and then down
to the roofs of the fated buildings. AS
the sand bags swung to the floor the
Tnnfo fn111Su0J ~ &ho ryo T. H.
bowling wind.
Hand Made Surf.
THE sea water was composed of
the same kind of green oilclOth men
toned before. This was waved by
hand to represent the surf. Painted
on profile scenery were the two ships,
which added to the horror Of the
scene by having a collision. These
reached the floor through Sits in the
oilcloth and were drawn toward each
other by wires as the sailors were seer
unfurling the sails in an endeavor to
avoid what seemed certain destruc-
ton. AS the prov Of one ship broke
through the bulWarks Of the other
there was a crashing of timbers-the
same sound which has often struck
terror into the hearts Of travellers upon
real vessels. But it wasn't very dan
gerous this time. It was rather hard
work, though, breaking heavy planks
and sticks in the side wings to add to
he terror of the make-believe TRACE
dy.
There were a few ~incidentals which
added to the effectiveness of the scene.
When the vessels crashed into each
other there must, for the sake Of real
tty, be an upheaval of splinters and
parts Of the broken hull. A trapdoor
in the floor held down by means of a
strong spring was covered with bits Of
broken wood. At the right moment
this spring was released throwing the
debris into the air.
Again, there couldn't very we'll be
a storm without thunder. Previous to
this time a noise closely resembling
this sound had been produced by
shaking an iron sheet. I made this
more realistic by building what is
called a bull drum. This consisted of
a steel cylinder about three times the
size of the largest bass drum. Heavy
nj were spread tightly over the
ends, resembling very much a huge
drum. By beating on this we could
raise thunder sure enough. This re-
mains the popular way Of producing
this effect. The distant rumbling often
heard preceding a. storm is sometimes
O~~SSN NJ ANtAAAiS AASNf SdIlIIOIl UdllS
along a trough much the same as the
balls are sent up the side Of a bowl
ing alley.
ut wouldn't do to have thunder and
no lightning. so I had to think up a
way to produce this deadly weapon of
nature. [ did it by attaching a. mega
tive wire to one large fle-the posi-
tive to another. By rubbing them to-
gether l was able to produce an cleo
trical3 storm whenever I desired. This
was an improvement over the old way
which consisted of darkening the stage
and flashing a torch at intervals in the
wings. The authorities condemned the
use of files some time ago as danger
GUS on account of fire. The method
In use today is a magnesium gun. This
closely resembles a pepper box and is
loaded with metallic magnesia. A
blowpipe is attached to the underside
and an alcohol wick surrounds the
outside. The magnesia is blown
against the flame, producing a. bright
fash.
"To show the whitecaps at the tor
of the waves as they broke over the
PROV OF the vessel rock salt was used.
This was also projected into the air by
means of %springing trap doors, and
answered the purpose well.
The Heart of Chicago.
"My next production containing
elaborate scenic effects was The Heart
of Chicago. The features in this were
the Chicago fire and a train approach
ing head on. The perspective was sc
arranged that at the rise of the cur
tain The headlight of the engine ap-
peared to be off in the distance, about
the size Of a quarter. The illusion was
perfect. Gradually the light grew
larger and brighter, thus appearing
as if it neared the audience This
was accomplished by raising the light
which worked in q. groove by means
Of a pulley and invisible wire. II
front of the light was a shutter ar
rangement very much like the one
which opens and shuts on a camera. A
wire attached to this was fastened to
the floor, SO that as the lamp was
pulled. up the shutter gradually open
ed. The stage was darkened and the
audience wa in much the same condi-
ton as a person in a dark room look
ing into the sbulls-eye lantern. The
coming Of the locomotive was an H.
fusion pure and simple.
THE engine was built on the prin-