Henderson daily dispatch., 1938-11-26
Ru emily Polk Crow

chanel Hill, N. ~ NV ~. GuI-
wv fire last August, the interior
tea ~ carolina Playnnakers Theatre
o. .ho University of North Carolina
at w heen restored, end the famous
has house will be formally re-opencd
P' ..y hill of experimental plays on
Sunday night, December 3.
nr,o stage, the seats, the curtains.
49,, ,iohting equipment-al are new.
T NV switchboard has been moved
trom the stage floor to the new all
st fly floor, thus providing more
s.e on the stage. Working lights
, sp heen installed back of the load
:''n door so that the stage hands can
e how TO move scenery in and out
- the theatre The spectators at
tording the reopening will have ex-
tarior exit lights to guide them out
,he side exits. The sharp steps which
,,sed to be at these exits have been
Gone away with and the lawn graded.
The circuit of lights in the chande-
rers which illuminate the playhouse
has been made comfortable from TIE
front of the house, so that in case of
emergency the lights can be turned
m from the front. Formerly the
nohts were controlled from switch
board only
The Playmaker's theatre has been
called the most perfectly proportioned
building on the campus. But It has
not always been a theatre; the 90
vear-old building began as a combi-
nation library and ballroom-"an ar
rangement which would have marred
the usefulness of the library if the
hooks had been in demand" says
DR.. Battle in his History of the
University of North Carolina" But
they weren't, except as dead falls to
kill the swarming mice. The tall tones
of st. Augustine were as efficacious
in slaughtering these troublesome
rodents as was their great author in
cruching the religious heresies of the
day"
Built in 1S49 by Captain John Berry,
this model of classic structure was
named Smith Hall after Governor
Benjamin Smith who had turned
over some land to the board of trus-
tees some so years earlier It's sale
brought $4,000 substantial amount
so it was quite in order that one of
the most important buildings on the
campus be named in his honor. Y
Smith himself was most dramatic
figure-it is fitting that Smith Hall
later became a theatre. Because of
high living" he lost his health, and
in later life became very quick tenn
pered and inascible. He spoke abu-i
sively of Judge Alfred Moore one day
and was called to account by tre
Judges son, Maurice. AS duelling
was against the law in North Carolina
at that time, Smith and Moore fought
their duel in Boundary house-so call
ed because the imaginary line divid-
ing North and South Carolina ran
through the hall.
They began their duel on the North
Carolina side but finished it on tie
South Carolina side, laughing to scorn
the North Carolina officers who came
put stop to it. Smith was wound
ed but not severely.
Smith Hall not only served the
University at library, ballroom and
meeting place for alumni, but also
as chemical laboratory and expert
mental station. The publications of
the experimental station were free
and covered a broad field-the analy-
sis of mineral waters, directions for
making vinegar, search for poisons
-instigated by the coroner in suicide
and murder cases-the growing of
sugar beets, and the value of pine
straw and cowpeas. This laboratory
in Smith Hall had the most complete
collection of seeds of any agricultural
college in the United States.
The experimental station remained
in the basement of Smith Hall until
1881 when it was moved to Raleigh.
Where the chemical laboratory was
formerly, there are now dressing
rooms, property rooms and make up
rooms.
During the Civil War a troop OF
Michigan cavalry was quartered in