“Fire is lighted under a boiler that contains water and is closed at its

upper part. From the cover starts a tube which rises vertically, and at

the extremity of which a hollow hemisphere is in communication with it.

On placing a light ball in this hemisphere it will happen that the

steam, on rising through the tube, will raise the ball in such a way

that it will remain suspended.[9]

[9] Fig. 1 is borrowed from a MS. of the “Pneumatics” dating back to

the Renaissance. The boiler should have been represented over a

fireplace.

“_To cause the revolution of a sphere on a pivot by means of a boiler

placed over a fire._

“Let Α Β (Fig. 2[10]) be a boiler containing water and placed over a

fire. It is closed by means of a cover, Γ Λ, which is traversed by a

bent tube, Ε Ζ Η, whose extremity, Η, enters the hollow sphere, Θ Κ, in

the direction of the latter’s diameter. At the other extremity is placed

the pivot, Α Μ Ν, which is fixed upon the cover, Γ Λ. There are added to

the sphere, at the two extremities of one of its diameters, two tubes

bent at right angles and perpendicular to the line, Η Ν. When the boiler

is heated, the steam will pass through the tube, Ε Ζ Η, into the small

sphere, and, issuing through the bent tubes into the atmosphere, will

cause it to revolve _in situ_.”

[10] This figure, likewise borrowed from a MS. of the Renaissance, is

sufficiently clear to allow letters to be dispensed with.

The following apparatus, likewise described by Heron, but not so well

known as those that preceded, shows that the ancients employed steam

(mixed with hot air, it is true) for causing liquids to rise. According

to Father Kircher, who reports it on the faith of an author named Bitho,

there was at Saïs, Egypt, a temple dedicated to Minerva in which there

was an altar upon which, when a fire was lighted, Dionysius and Artemis

(Bacchus and Diana) poured, one of them wine, and the other milk.

The miracle was performed as follows:

“_On lighting a fire upon an altar, figures make libations and serpents

hiss_ (Fig. 3).[11]

[11] The letters on the engraving are again dispensed with.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--HERON’S EOLIPILE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--HERON’S WHIRLING EOLOPILE.]

“Let Α Β be a hollow pedestal upon which there is an altar, Γ, in whose

interior there is a large tube, Δ Ε, that descends from the fireplace

into the pedestal and divides into three small tubes. One of the latter,

Ε Ζ, runs to the serpent’s mouth; another, Ε Ζ Η, to a vessel, Κ Δ,

suitable for containing wine, and the bottom of which should be above

the figure, Μ, as this tube has to be connected with the cover of the

vessel, Κ Λ, by a grating; and the third tube, Ε Ν Ξ, rises likewise to

a vessel, Ο, suitable for receiving wine, and is connected in the same

way with its cover. The two latter tubes are soldered to the bottoms of

the vessels, and in each of these vessels there is a siphon, Ρ Σ and Τ

Υ. One extremity of each of these tubes dips into the wine, while the

other, which ends in the hand of the figure that is to make the

libation, traverses the side of the wine vessel. When you wish to light

the fire, you will first put a little water into the tubes so that they

shall not be burst by the dryness of the fire, and you will stop up all

the apertures so that the air shall not escape. Then the blast from the

fire, mixed with the water, will rise through the tubes up to the

gratings, and, passing through these, will press upon the wine and

cause it to flow through the siphons, Ρ Σ and Τ Υ. The wine issuing thus

from the hands of the figures, the latter will appear to make libations

as long as the altar is burning. As for the other tube, which leads the

blast to the serpent’s mouth, it causes the latter to hiss.”

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--HERON’S MARVELOUS ALTAR.]

As regards the cock and the tubular boiler, we find these in a hot-water

stove which Heron calls by the Græco-Latin name _miliarion_, because of

its resemblance to a milestone.

Fig. 4 shows us, in the center, the fireplace in the shape of a vertical

cylinder, which should have beneath it an air vent that is not shown in

the cut. All around this there is a boiler, likewise cylindrical, filled

with water. A certain number of tubes, such as Ο Κ and Μ Ν, put its

different parts in communication by passing through the fireplace, and

thus increase the heating surface.

[Illustration: FIG. 4.--HERON’S TUBULAR BOILER.]

The cock, Τ, serves to let off hot water, and the funnel, Σ, to

introduce cold water into the boiler through a tube which runs to the

bottom of the latter. The object of the bent tube is to allow of the

escape of air when water is poured in, and to give exit to the steam

that may be formed, and thus avoid the ejection of water through the

funnel, Σ. Heron, in his text, says that this tube debouches in the

interior of the funnel so that it shall not be perceived, and not as we

have shown it for the sake of greater clearness. In the figure there may

be seen a compartment formed by two vertical plates that make an angle

into which water cannot enter. This is designed for actuating different

figures through the play of the steam and of the several way cocks that

I have mentioned. This latter consists of two concentric tubes capable

of revolving with slight friction one within the other. The external

tube, Γ Δ, is fixed to the upper side of the stove, and traverses it.

It contains three apertures, φ, ψ, and χ, placed at different levels,

and communicating, through small tubes, with the figures that are to be

presently mentioned. The internal tube, Α Β, is open at its lower part,

and thus communicates with the interior of the compartment, but is

closed at its upper part, which latter debouches above the stove and may

be manœuvered by the handle, Α. It contains three apertures at the same

levels as apertures φ, ψ, and χ, but differently placed, so that when,

through a rotary motion of the tube, Α Β, one of them is brought

opposite an aperture of the same level in the tube, Γ Δ, the two others

do not correspond. The positions that it is necessary to give them in

order that such correspondences shall occur are denoted by marks

engraved on the visible portions of the tubes. The tube, φ, terminates

in a serpent’s head which bends toward the fireplace, and tube, ψ,

terminates in a triton who holds a trumpet to his mouth. Finally the

tube, χ, carries at its extremity a whistle that debouches in the body

of a bird filled with water.

It will now be seen what will occur. The tube, Α Β, is removed and a

little water is put into the compartment. This water flows into the

tube, Λ Ξ (which passes under the fireplace and is closed at the side

opposite its aperture, Ξ), and is converted into steam. When the tube, Α

Β, has been replaced, the steam may at will be passed into the body of

the bird, which will warble, or into that of the triton, who will blow

his trumpet, or, finally, into that of the serpent, which will blow into

the fire and quicken the flames.

CHAPTER IV.

GREEK LAMPS, TOYS, ETC.

PERPETUAL LAMPS.

The ancients utilized, in their prestiges, combustible gases, which, in

many places, were disengaged naturally from the earth.

The Arab Schiangia, in a passage quoted by Father Kircher, expresses

himself in this wise:

“In Egypt there was a field whose ditches were full of pitch and liquid

bitumen. Philosophers, who understood the forces of nature, constructed

canals which connected places like these with lamps hidden at the bottom

of subterranean crypts. These lamps had wicks made of threads that could

not burn. By this means the lamp, once lighted, burned eternally,

because of the continuous influx of bitumen and the incombustibility of

the wick.”

It is possible that it was to an artifice of this same nature that were

due some of the numerous perpetual lamps that history has preserved a

reminiscence of, such as that which Plutarch saw in the temple of

Jupiter Ammon, in Egypt, and that in the temple of Venus, which Saint

Augustine could only explain as due to the intervention of demons. But

the majority of them owed their peculiarity only to the precautions

taken by the priests to feed them without being seen. It was only

necessary, in fact, that the wick, which was made of asbestos threads or

gold wire, should be kept intact, and that the body of the lamp should

communicate with a reservoir placed in a neighboring apartment in such a

way that the level of the oil should remain constant. Heron and Philo

have left us descriptions of a certain number of arrangements that

permitted of accomplishing such an object.

The same authors likewise point out different processes for

manufacturing portable lamps in which the oil rises automatically. The

most ingenious one is that which is at the present day known under the

name of “Heron’s Fountain.”[12]

[12] In 1801, Carcel and Carreau applied Heron’s system to lamps

without, perhaps, knowing that they were thus returning to the

primitive apparatus.

The following is the Alexandrine engineer’s text:

“Construction of a candelabrum such that upon placing a lamp thereon,

there comes up through the handle, when the oil is consumed, any

quantity that may be wished, and that, too, without there being any

need of placing above it any vessel serving as a reservoir for the oil.

“A hollow candelabra must be made, with a base in the shape of a

pyramid. Let Α Β Γ Δ be such pyramidal base, and in this let there be a

partition, Ε Ζ. Again, let Η Θ be the stem of the candelabrum, which

should also be hollow. Above, let there be placed a vessel, Κ Λ, capable

of containing a large quantity of oil. From the partition, Ε Ζ, there

starts a tube, Μ Ν, which traverses it and reaches almost to the cover

of the vessel, Κ Λ, upon which latter is placed the lamp in such a way

as to allow only a passage for the air. Another tube, Ξ Ο, passes

through the cover and runs down, on the one hand, to the bottom of the

vessel, Κ Λ, in such a way that the liquid may be capable of flowing,

and on the other, forms a slight projection on the cover. To this

projection there is carefully adjusted another tube, Π, which is

provided with a stopper at its upper part, and, traversing the bottom of

the lamp and united with it, is wholly inclosed within the interior of

the lamp. To the tube, Π, there is soldered another and very fine one

which communicates with it and reaches the extremity of the lamp handle.

This tube debouches in the latter in such a way that its contents may

empty into the lamp, the orifice of which is of the usual size. Under

the partition, Ε Ζ, there is soldered a cock that enters the

compartment, Γ Δ Ε Ζ, in such a way that when it is open the water from

the chamber, Α Β Ε Ζ, may pass into the compartment, Γ Δ Ε Ζ. Through

the upper plate, Α Β, there is pierced a small hole, through which the

compartment, Α Β Ε Ζ, may be filled with water, the air within escaping

through the same aperture.

[Illustration: PLATO’S LAMP]

“Let us now remove the lamp and fill the vessel with oil by the aid of

the tube, Ξ Ο. The air will escape through the tube, Μ Ν, and afterward

through a cock which is open near the bottom, Γ Δ, when the water has

flowed out from the compartment, Γ Δ Ε Ζ. Let us place the lamp upon its

base, connecting it at the same time with the tube, Π. When it becomes

necessary to pour oil into it, we will open the cock near the partition,

Ε Ζ. The water that is in the compartment, Γ Δ Ε Ζ, as well as the air

therein, being forced through the tube, Μ Ν, into the vessel, will

cause the oil to rise and pass into the lamp through the tube, Ξ Ο, and

the one that forms a continuation of it. When it is desired to cause the

oil to stop coming over, the cock is closed, when the flow will cease.

This may be repeated as often as may be necessary.”

Such was, perhaps, Plato’s lamp, of which Athenæus speaks in the

“Banquet of the Sophists,” and by means of which the illustrious

philosopher was enabled to have a light for himself during the longest

nights in the year.

AN ANCIENT AUTOMATON.

In his “_Spiritalia_” (written about 150 B.C.) Heron describes several

automata of which figures of birds form a part; but perhaps the most

remarkable for its ingenious simplicity is No. 44, the illustration of

which we reproduce.

The description of this, as given by Heron, is somewhat meager and

unsatisfactory, but the drawing is so very plain that, taken in

connection with other mechanism in his work, operated in a similar way,

it is easy to understand how the desired result was accomplished.

An air-tight box of metal was provided, which was divided into four

compartments, 1, 2, 3, 4, by horizontal diaphragm plates. On the top of

this box was a basin, O, for receiving the water of a fountain. Around

this basin were four birds, A, B, C, D, perched upon branches or shrubs,

which apparently grew out of the top of the box. Each of these branches

was hollow, and communicated with one of the compartments already named,

by one of the pipes, 9, 10, 12, and 13, which passed but a very short

distance through the tops of the several compartments. The bodies of the

birds were also hollow, and were connected with the hollow branches by

tubes in their legs. In the hollow body of each bird were two musical

reeds or whistles of different note. One of these would sound when air

was forced outward through the beak of the bird, and the other would

only respond to air drawn inward. This alternate action of the air, and

consequent variation of note, was produced by the peculiar way in which

the water supplied by the fountain was made to pass through the several

compartments.

The water from the basin, O, entered compartment 1 near its bottom by

the pipe 11, and as it rose in the compartment, it compressed the air

above it, which escaped through the beak of the bird, A, and caused its

first note to sound; but when the water reached the top of the bend of

the siphon 5, it at once began to discharge by that siphon into

compartment 2; but as the siphon 5 was so proportioned that it

discharged the water much faster than it was supplied by pipe 11, the

level of the water in compartment 1 gradually fell, and the air in

passing into this compartment through the beak of the bird, A, caused

its second note to sound. As the water rose in compartment 2, it

compressed the air above it, which passed by the pipe 10, to the bird,

B, which then sounded its first note, while the bird, A, was sounding

its second, and this state of affairs continued until all of the water

was discharged from the compartment 1, and compartment 2 was filled to

the top of the bend of siphon 6, which then began to discharge into

compartment 3; and as siphon 5 had ceased to operate, the water

gradually fell in compartment 2, and the air entering by the beak of the

bird, B, sounded its second note. While this was taking place,

compartment 1 was again filling, and the first note of bird, A,

sounding; and compartment 3 was also filling, and the air above the

water therein was being forced by the pipe 12 into the bird, C, and

causing its first note to sound.

[Illustration: AN ANCIENT AUTOMATON.]

By following out the operations described, and tracing the action of the

flux and reflux of the water in the compartments 3 and 4, it will

readily be seen that the bird, C, will sound its second note when the

compartment 3 is being discharged by siphon 7 into compartment 4, and at

the same time the bird, D, will sound its first note, and that

eventually the water will escape from the automaton by the siphon 8,

causing the second note of the bird, D, to be heard.

It is evident that by simple and well-known means any or all of the bird

notes can be made to trill, and that it is only necessary to properly

proportion the discharging capacity of the siphons to insure the

repetition and admixture of the notes in a bird-like manner; and it is

further evident that the employment of the ideas involved is not of

necessity confined to but four birds, as several birds, each having

different notes, might be operated from the same compartment, and of

course as many compartments as may be wished can be used. Furthermore,

the wings of the birds could be made to move, and their beaks to open

and shut, by the movement of the same air which acted upon the musical

reeds or whistles.

Each of the siphons in the automaton was intermittent in its action,

ceasing to flow when its compartment was emptied, and beginning again

spontaneously when the water reached the level of the top of its bend.

The antiquity of intermittent siphons is of special interest from the

fact of their comparatively recent application in sanitary plumbing.

Chaucer was not much in error as regards his own time (1328-1400), and

his words are only somewhat less true to-day:

“For out of the old fieldes, as men saithe,

Cometh al this new corne fro yere to yere;

And out of old bookes, in good faithe,

Cometh all this new science that men lere.”

A GREEK TOY.

Upon a pedestal there is fixed a small tree around which is coiled a

dragon. A figure of Hercules stands near by, shooting with a bow, and

there is an apple lying upon the pedestal. If this apple be lifted from

the latter, Hercules will shoot his arrow at the dragon, and the latter

will hiss.

[Illustration: A GREEK TOY.]

_Mechanism of the Toy._--Let Α Β be the water-tight pedestal under

consideration, provided with a diaphragm, Γ Δ. To this latter there is

fixed a small, hollow, truncated cone whose apex points toward the

bottom of the vessel, and from which it is just sufficiently distant to

permit the water to pass. To this cone there is adjusted with care

another one, Θ, which is fixed to a chain that, passing through an

aperture, connects it with the apple. Hercules holds a small horn bow,

whose string is stretched and laced at a proper distance from the right

hand. The left hand is provided with a detent. To the extremity of this

latter there is fixed a small chain or a cord that traverses the top of

the pedestal, passes over a pulley fixed to the diaphragm, and connects

with the small chain that joins the cone with the apple. This cord

passes through the hand and body into the interior of Hercules. A small

tube, one of those used for whistling with, starts from the diaphragm,

rises through the top of the pedestal, and passes into the interior of

the tree or around it.

Now, if the apple, Κ, be raised, the cone, Θ, will be raised at the same

time, the cord, Χ Φ, will be tightened, the catch will be freed, and

this will cause the arrow to shoot. The water in the compartment Α Γ,

running into the compartment Β Γ, will drive out the air contained in

the latter, through the tube, and produce a hissing. The apple being

replaced, the cone, Θ, will adjust itself against the other, stop the

flow, and thus cause the hissing to cease. The arrow and its accessories

will then be adjusted anew.

When the compartment Β Γ is full, it is emptied by means of a spout

provided with a key, and Α Δ is again filled as we have indicated.

THE DECAPITATED DRINKING HORSE.

The optical delusion known as the talking decapitated person has already

been described in Book I., Chapter I., of the present work. The ancients

invented an analogous trick, but one that was founded upon a very

ingenious mechanical combination. This is found described at the end of

Heron’s “Pneumatics,” under the title, “To cut an animal in two and make

him drink.” It is as follows:

“Let us suppose a hollow pedestal, A B C D, divided in its center by a

diaphragm, E F. Above the pedestal there is fixed a statuette

representing a horse and traversed by a tube, M N, which terminates on

the one hand in the horse’s mouth, and in the other in the upper part of

the compartment, A B E F, after following one of the legs. It will be

conceived, in the first place, that if the said compartment be filled

with water through an aperture, T, which is afterwards stopped up, and

that then a cock be opened, so as to form a communication between the

upper compartment and the lower (which latter is itself provided with an

open air-hole), the water will flow, and, in doing so, tend to cause a

vacuum in the tube, M N, so that when a vessel of water is brought near

the animal’s mouth the water will be sucked up.

“If the cock be so arranged as to present its key upon the top of the

pedestal, and if to the key there be adapted a statuette representing a

man armed with a club, things may be so arranged that the animal shall

drink when the man has his back turned, for example, and that he shall

stop drinking when the man threatens him with the club.

“The following is the way in which a knife may be passed through the

animal’s neck without causing the head to fall or interrupting

communication between the mouth and pedestal. The head and body form

two distinct pieces, which are adjusted according to the plane, O P

(Figs. 1, 2, and 3). The tube, M N, is interrupted to the right of this

slit, and the two parts of it are connected by a smaller tube, α β,

which enters by slight friction into the interior of each of them; and

to this small tube, α β, there are fixed two racks, δ and ε. Above δ and

under ε are placed two segments of toothed wheels, π and ρ, which are

movable around axles fixed in the body of the animal. Over the whole

there is a third wheel, which is likewise movable around an axle fixed

in the animal’s body, and the thickness of which keeps increasing from

the centre to the circumference. This wheel is cut out into three parts

of circles, μ, ν, and ξ, which have for diameters three of the sides of

the inscribed hexagon. It is inclosed in the neck in such a way that the

circular cavity containing it embraces just four of the sides of the

inscribed hexagon, the two other sides projecting outside of the plane,

O P. In the piece that forms the head a circular cavity is formed

capable of containing this projecting portion of the wheel, and a

wedge-shaped profile is given it, so that when one tooth of the wheel,

σ, is engaged therein by the edge, it can also only leave it by the

edge. Let us now suppose the wheel, σ, free; let us engage one of its

teeth in the cavity, χ ψ; let us cause the head and body to approach;

let us fix the wheel, σ, in the body by means of the movable axle

traversing it; and let us introduce a knife into the slit, O P, and see

what will happen.

[Illustration: HERON’S DECAPITATED DRINKING HORSE.]

“The blade, on entering the space, ξ, will press against one of the

teeth, and cause it to descend until it, as well as the knife, is

disengaged. The tooth above the space, ξ, will then be disengaged in its

turn and connect the head with the body again. The knife-blade, which

is now under the wheel, σ, rests on the inclined plane that the figure

shows in the segment, π, and, on pressing thereupon, causes the wheel to

turn, and with it the rack, δ, and the tube, α β, which latter leaves

the tube, M, and gives passage to the blade between it and the

extremity, α. Then the blade comes in contact with the lower projection

of the sector, ρ, which has been carried upward by the motion of the

rack, ε, that is connected with the rack, δ. On pressing against such

projection the blade causes the segment, ρ, to revolve in a contrary

direction, brings ε toward the left, and causes the small tube, α β, to

enter anew the tube, M. Communication between M and N is thus

reëstablished.”

M. de Rochas has never found elsewhere than in the “Pneumatics” a

description of this system of toothed wheels, although he has read the

majority of books treating of this class of ideas. The description given

by Heron is itself so confused and so mutilated, and the figure that

accompanies it is so incomplete, that in all the Latin editions it is

suppressed as incomprehensible.

[Illustration: THE DECAPITATED HORSE. DETAILS OF THE MECHANISM IN THE

NECK.]

ODOMETERS.

In the inventory of the objects sold after the death of the Emperor

Commodus, drawn up by Julius Capitolinus in the life of Pertinax, we

find mentioned, among other valuable things, “vehicles that mark

distances and hours.”

Vitruvius (X, 14) describes the mechanism of these vehicles, but the

figures that must have served to throw light upon the text have been

lost, so that his description is somewhat obscure. Fortunately, as a

sequel to a manuscript of the Dioptra of Heron, there have been found

two Greek fragments upon this same subject, dating back probably to the

Alexandrine epoch and accompanied with figures. The following is a

translation, says M. de Rochas:

TO MEASURE DISTANCES UPON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH BY MEANS OF AN

APPARATUS CALLED AN ODOMETER.

Provided with this instrument, instead of being obliged to measure land

slowly and laboriously with the chain or cord, it is possible in

traveling in a vehicle to know the distances made, according to the

number of revolutions of the wheels. Others, it is true, have, previous

to us, made known certain methods of accomplishing the same object; but

every one will be able to decide between the instrument described here

by us and those of our predecessors.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--HERON’S ODOMETER FOR VEHICLES.]

Let us imagine an apparatus in the form of a box (Fig. 1) in which is

contained the entire machine that we are to describe. Upon the bottom of

the box rests a copper face wheel, Α Β, having, say, eight teeth. In the

bottom there is an opening in which a rod, fixed to the hub of one of

the wheels of the vehicle and engaging at every revolution, pushes

forward one of the teeth, which is replaced by the following one, and so

on indefinitely. Whence it results that when the wheel of the vehicle

has made eight revolutions, the face wheel will have made one. Now, to

the center of the latter there is fixed perpendicularly, by one of its

extremities, a screw which, by its other extremity, engages with a

crosspiece fixed to the sides of the box. This screw gears with the

teeth of a wheel whose plane is perpendicular to the bottom of the box.

This wheel is provided with an axle whose extremities pivot against the

sides of the box. A portion of this axle is provided with spirals formed

in its surface, so that it becomes a screw. With this screw there gears

a toothed wheel parallel with the bottom of the box. To this wheel is

fixed an axle, one of the extremities of which pivots upon the bottom,

while the other enters the crosspiece fixed to the sides; and this axle

likewise carries a screw that gears with the teeth of another wheel

placed perpendicular to the bottom. This arrangement may be continued as

long as may be desired, or as long as there is space in the box; for the

more numerous are the wheels and screws, the longer will be the route

that one will be able to measure.

In fact, every screw, in making one revolution, causes the motion of one

tooth of the wheel with which it gears; so that the screw carried by the

face wheel, in revolving once, indicates eight revolutions of the wheel

of the vehicle, while it moves only one tooth of the wheel upon which it

acts. So, too, the said toothed wheel, in making one revolution, will

cause the screw fixed to its plane to make one revolution, and a single

one of the teeth of the succeeding wheel will be thrust forward.

Consequently, if this new wheel has again thirty teeth (and this is a

reasonable number), it will, in making one revolution, indicate 7,200

revolutions of the wheel of the vehicle. Let us suppose that the latter

is ten cubits in circumference, and this would be 72,000 cubits, that is

to say, 180 furlongs. This applies to the second toothed wheel. If there

are others, and if the number of teeth likewise increases, the length of

the journey that it will be possible to measure will increase

proportionally. But it is well to make use of an apparatus so

constructed that the distance which it will be able to indicate does not

much exceed that which it is possible to make in one day with the

vehicle, since one can, after measuring the day’s route, begin anew for

the following route.

This is not all. As one revolution of each screw does not correspond

with mathematical accuracy and precision to the escapement of one tooth,

we shall in an express experiment cause the first screw to revolve until

the wheel that gears with it has made one revolution, and shall count

the number of times that the wheel will have revolved. Let us suppose,

for example, that it has revolved twenty times while the adjacent wheel

has made a single revolution. This wheel has thirty teeth; therefore,

twenty revolutions of the face wheel correspond to thirty teeth of the

toothed wheel moved by the screw. On the other hand, the twenty

revolutions allow 160 teeth of the face wheel to escape, and this makes

a like number of revolutions of the wheel of the vehicle, that is to

say, 1,600 cubits; consequently, a single tooth of the preceding wheel

indicates 53-1/3 cubits. Thus, for example, when, in starting from the

origin of the motion, the toothed wheel will have revolved by fifteen

teeth, this will indicate 800 cubits, say two furlongs; upon this same

wheel we shall therefore write 53-1/3 cubits. Making a similar

calculation for the other toothed wheels, we shall write upon each one

of them the number that corresponds to it. In this way, after we

ascertain how many teeth each has moved forward, we shall know by the

same the distance that we have traveled.

Now, in order to be able to determine the distance traveled without

having to open the box in order to see the teeth of each wheel, we are

going to show how it is possible to estimate the length of the route by

means of an index placed upon the external faces. Let us admit that the

toothed wheels of which we have spoken are so arranged as not to touch

the sides of the box, but that their axles project externally and are

squared so as to receive indexes. In this way the wheel, in revolving,

will cause its axle with its index to turn, and the latter will describe

upon the exterior a circle that we shall divide into a number of parts

equal to that of the teeth of the interior wheel. The index should have

a length sufficient to describe a circumference greater than that of the

wheel, so that such circumference may be divided into parts wider than

the interval that separates the teeth. This circle should carry the

number already marked upon the interval wheel. By this means we shall

see upon the external surface of the box the length of the trip made.

Were it impossible to prevent the friction of the wheels against the

sides of the box, for one reason or another, it would then be necessary

to file them off sufficiently to prevent the apparatus from being

impeded in its operation in any way.

Moreover, as some of the toothed wheels are perpendicular to and others

parallel with the bottom of the box, so, too, the circles described by

the indexes will be some of them upon the sides of the box and others

upon the top. Consequently, it will be necessary to so manage that the

side that carries no circle shall serve as a cover; or, in other words,

that the box shall be closed laterally.

Another engineer, probably Græco-Latin, since he expresses distances

sometimes in miles and sometimes in stadia, has pointed out an

arrangement of a different system for measuring the progress of a ship.

We shall describe this apparatus, which we illustrate in Fig. 2.

Let Α Β be a screw revolving in its supports. Let us suppose that its

thread moves a wheel, Δ, of 81 teeth, to which is fixed another and

parallel wheel, Ε (a pinion), of nine teeth. Let us suppose that this

pinion gears with another wheel, Ζ, of 100 teeth, and that to the latter

is fixed a pinion, Η, of 18 teeth. Then let us suppose that this pinion

gears with a third wheel, Θ, of 72 teeth, which likewise is provided

with a pinion, Κ, of 18 teeth, and again that this pinion engages with a

wheel, Λ, of 100 teeth, and so on; so that finally the last wheel

carries an index so arranged as to indicate the number of stadia

traveled.

On the other hand, let us construct a star wheel, Μ, whose perimeter is

five paces. Let us suppose it perfectly circular and affixed to the side

of a vessel in such a way as to have, upon the surface of the water, a

velocity equal to that of the vessel. Let us suppose, besides, that, at

every revolution of the wheel, Μ, there advances, if possible, one tooth

of Δ. It is clear, then, that at every distance of 100 miles made by the

vessel the wheel, Δ, will make one revolution; so that, if a circle

concentric with the wheel, Λ, is divided into 100 parts, the index fixed

to Λ will, in revolving upon this circle, mark the number of miles made

by the number of the degrees.

Odometers, like so many other things, have been reinvented several

times, notably in 1662 by a member of the Royal Society of London, and

in 1724 by Abbot Meynier.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ODOMETER FOR VESSELS.]

BOOK III.

_SCIENCE IN THE THEATER._

CHAPTER I.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN OPERA HOUSE.

It would be difficult to find anyone who would not like to go behind the

curtain of a great opera house to see how realism is given to the

performance, and, incidentally, to gain an insight into that mysterious

world upon the stage which always has such an attraction to opera-goers.

Before describing in detail the commodious stage of the Metropolitan

Opera House, New York City,[13] we will consider for a moment a typical

English stage which is the predecessor of most stages in America.

America is unfortunate in having so few really great opera houses, so

that the description of the English stage will answer for most of the

theaters and opera houses, with the exception of the Metropolitan Opera

House and the Auditorium in Chicago, both of which have features of

interest. For our description of the English form of theater stage we

are largely indebted to a series of papers by Mr. Edwin O. Sachs,

architect, in the London “Engineering,” beginning January 17, 1896, and

appearing at irregular intervals for a year and a half. This valuable

series is most profusely illustrated, and forms a treatise of great

value. Mr. Sachs has written other works on opera houses. In this

connection may be mentioned the French work “_Trucs et Décors_,” by M.

Georges Moynet, architect. This book is of rather more popular interest

than the series of Mr. Sachs. It describes the ordinary equipment of the

stage, but includes the obtaining of special effects on a large scale.

The modern adjuncts of the theater stage, such as hydraulic platforms

and bridges, are not neglected. Many of the illusions which are

illustrated in the present work are described in it, and at least one of

them appeared first, we believe, in the “Scientific American.”

[13] The editor is indebted for courtesies to Mr. William Parry, stage

manager of the Metropolitan Opera House; to Mr. C. D. McGiehan, the

stage machinist; to Mr. Edward Siedle, the property master; and to Mr.

Stewart, the electrician.

Before describing the ordinary English stage and that of the

Metropolitan Opera House, a few generalities are in order. The audience

really sees a very small proportion of the stage, for behind the curtain

is an enormous rectangular structure which is usually much higher than

the roof of the auditorium. This great height is rendered necessary in

order to raise the hanging scenes up bodily without resorting to the

necessity of rolling them up. Great space is also needed for the ropes,

pulleys, and other mechanism used for working the curtains, drop scenes,

and borders. Everything above the arch of the proscenium is termed the

“flies.” The stage proper is the rectangular platform upon which the

drama is given. Its width is usually regulated by the width of the space

devoted to the orchestra. There is considerable space at each side of

the stage for working space. It is here that the “wing” or “side” scenes

are stored for the various scenes of the opera, and it is here that the

singers and the ballet wait before going before the curtain, through the

so-called “entrances” into which the depth of the stage is divided, the

number of entrances depending upon the number of wings.

The floor of the stage runs from the footlights to the rear wall of the

building, but usually the last few feet of the stage are not utilized by

the performers, as the scenery is usually painted there in what is

called the “paint room.” It is here that a platform, called the “paint

bridge,” was formerly raised or lowered, giving access to all parts of

the canvas which was being painted. But now the paint frames are usually

run up and down, while the bridge remains stationary. The stage is

divided widthwise into sections, and these sections of the stage floor

can be raised or lowered as desired, and it is also arranged so that

scenes, or portions of scenes, may be dropped down through the floor. As

the scenes raised upwards have to be taken out of sight, the scenes

which are lowered below the stage floor have likewise to disappear from

the view of the audience. This results in deep cellars under the stage.

The cellar should, of course, be as high as the proscenium aperture

through which the audience views the scene; but this is often

impossible, and various means are employed to give a great depth to the

cellar. This is sometimes managed by raising the orchestra, or pit,

above the ground, but this is apt to make the theater unpopular with

those who patronize the galleries, as it necessitates a greater climb;

and if the orchestra is depressed below the street level, it requires

that the cellar shall be sunk in so much further. This increases the

difficulty of drainage, and the presence of water may be a constant

source of annoyance.

We will now describe a typical wooden stage of the English type. England

is the home of excellent stage management, and an English property

master is known all over the world by the excellence of his work. In

England large sums are spent on costly productions, and the arrangements

which are provided when the stage is built permit of lightning changes,

which are so popular there. In this country the question of expense

prevents such elaborate fittings as those in England. There are, of

course, important exceptions to this rule. In the commoner English and

American stages there has been so little progress that Mr. Sachs notes

the fact that there is little difference between “the ordinary London

stage of 1895 and the stages of 1750.” One reason that the theaters on

the continent of Europe have such excellent stages--stages in which the

ability of the architect and engineer are taxed to the utmost--is that

they are very largely assisted by subventions from either the government

or the municipalities; so it is little wonder, then, that we have so

many splendid examples of the most modern stages in Europe. In the

present chapter the word “theater” may be considered to mean either a

theater for the spoken drama or an opera house.

[Illustration: TOP OF THE GRIDIRON.]

The top of the stage is known as the “rigging-loft,” or “gridiron,” and

consists of a wooden or iron stage composed of an open floor laid upon

the tie-beams of the principal roof trusses. A considerable weight has

to be supported upon this gridiron, for from it depend all the “cloths”

(drops), “borders,” and “gas battens.” The strength of the roof is,

therefore, calculated so as to sustain this great weight. In some

continental theaters there are two gridirons. The gridiron is also

called the rigging-loft on account of the fact that the scenes are

“rigged up” by ropes from this floor. The scenes are raised and lowered

from this level by means of ropes passing through the spaces in the

floor, over blocks with wheels in them, on to the drum, and thence down

to the “fly floors” below.

Our engravings show the upper and the under side of the gridiron of the

Castle Square Theater, in Boston, Mass. This gridiron has some

interesting features not possessed by the stage of the Metropolitan

Opera House, which will be described a little further on, as at the

Metropolitan Opera House there are no windlasses on the gridiron. The

windlasses are used to raise heavy weights suspended from the gridiron,

and are of the greatest possible use in aërial ballets and other

theatrical performances. It will be seen that the gridiron is in reality

nothing but a slatted floor supported by iron girders. The ropes will be

seen passing over the pulleys to where they descend, at regular

intervals, to raise the drops. Our second engraving shows the under side

of the gridiron, and the drops and borders which are suspended from it.

It gives an excellent idea of the maze of ropes which hang from the

gridiron.

[Illustration: THE GRIDIRON FROM UNDERNEATH, SHOWING DROP AND BORDERS.]

The flies consist of galleries, on both sides of the stage, running from

the proscenium wall to the back wall. The “fly rail” consists of a

girder made especially strong, to take the weight and pull of the ropes

and scenes which are brought down from the gridiron. Each cloth or gas

batten hung from the gridiron has four or five ropes by which it hangs,

and these are all brought over the pulleys in the gridiron floor down to

the flies, where they are made fast on belaying-pins or cleats fixed to

the fly rail. The “fly floor” is supported by joists running from the

fly-rail girder into the wall of the stage. On the fly floor are often

placed windlasses used to raise the heavy weights which are suspended

from the gridiron. The load is usually relieved by counterweights which

are placed against the wall. The counterweights are usually encased, to

minimize the danger of accident in case the rope breaks. The “fly

galleries” are usually two tiers in number, but in very large theaters

there are often three tiers of fly galleries, one above the other.

Nearly all the working of the flies is done from one side of the stage.

The flies are often connected by a bridge against the back wall of the

stage, and sometimes there are intermediate narrow bridges among the

scenery. These enable the “fly men” to cross the stage quickly without

necessitating their coming down to the level of the stage. In modern

stages of the better class, iron and steel construction is very largely

used for the gridiron, flies, etc., and, of course, tends to decrease

the danger from fire.

Nearly all of the older stage floors fall three-eighths to one-half inch

in a foot, from the back to the front, in order to enable the audience

to see the actor or singer as he retires “up” the stage; but in modern

stages the floors are usually level, as then the scenery can be set

plumb. The divisions of the stage are numerous, and include the

imaginary divisions called for by the stage directions, and the actual

divisions of the stage into “traps,” “sliders,” and “bridges.” The

imaginary divisions need not concern us here.

In the front and center of the stage is a trap called the “grave trap,”

on account of its use in the grave scene of “Hamlet.” It is a small

wooden platform made to rise up and down in grooves between four

uprights. The stage may have other traps. The trap as an aid in stage

illusions is referred to in Chapter IV. of Book III. of the present

work.

In ordinary stages the traps are floored over, and before they can be

used a portion of the floor of the stage has to be removed. This is done

by releasing a lever and letting the section of the floor drop into a

groove and slide under the immovable parts at the side of the stage. The

opening left in the stage is filled by the floor of the ascending trap.

Back of the grave trap there are three narrow strips of openings which

are technically called “sliders,” then a wider opening which is known as

the “bridge.” The rest of the stage is taken up by alternate bridges and

sliders. The sliders consist of narrow strips of wood which are made to

slide horizontally, right and left, under the stage. They slide in

grooves cut in the joists, and are moved backwards and forwards by means

of ropes which wind around windlasses which are operated from the

mezzanine floor underneath the stage. When both sliders are slid away

right and left, the open space in the floor and the space underneath is

known as the “cut,” and it is in the “cut” that the scenery is placed

which is to be raised up from below. Scenes are raised up the “slider

cuts” by means of lengths of wood sliding up and down in grooves forming

very wide and narrow elevators. The scene is attached to the lower bar.

The floor of the bridge is like the slider floor in construction; the

only difference is in the width of the opening left in the stage when

the section of the floor has been removed. To fill this space a platform

of the same dimensions as the opening which is left in the stage where

the bridge is removed is used. The bridge is used to raise bodily any

heavy scene, furniture, or a group of figures, but it only raises its

load level with the stage, while some of the new hydraulic bridges, or

the counterbalanced rising bridge, which we will shortly describe,

permit of lifting the part of the scene to any height. There have

recently been many reforms in this part of stage management. The level

underneath the stage floor is known as the mezzanine floor. This is the

working level for all the traps, sliders, and bridges, and it is on this

level that all the windlasses are placed which work the ropes to remove

the sliders, bridges, etc. The mezzanine takes the same position

regarding the manipulation of the stage machinery below as does the fly

gallery above. In some cases the mezzanine floors are multiplied so that

there are three or four. The lowest level of the stage is known as the

“cellar,” or “well.” From the cellar spring the uprights which support

the joists of the stage floor. At the bottom of the cellar are placed

the drums and shafts used for lifting the bridges. In many theaters

there is what is known as the “back stage.” It has no movable portion,

no gridiron, flies, or cellar. This space is most useful for distant

scenes. In the finest stages, as that of the Vienna Court Theater, the

entire cellar is constructed of iron and steel, and everything is worked

by hydraulic power. Scenes are not only raised up from the cellar and

let down from the gridiron, but are also “built up” on the stage. Such

scenes may be only small “profile strips,” or they may be large

constructions like a throne, in which the heavy foundations called

“rostrums” run in on wheels. Where the run of the opera is to be long,

sometimes they are built at great expense and are very ingenious; but

they always take up considerable room, and require time to adjust.

In continental theaters what is called the “chariot and pole” is largely

used. Narrow slits in the stage permit of an upright pole passing

through it, the scene being fastened to it. The truck, or “chariot,”

which supports the pole runs on the floor of the mezzanine on rails.

This manner of shifting the scenes is sometimes very useful. The

chariots can be worked singly or in gangs, and they can be worked

simultaneously with the borders and the drops, as the ropes which

manipulate them can all be brought under the control of one drum or

windlass.

Having now described a stage of the ordinary variety, we will take up a

large stage built on conservative lines. The stage of the Metropolitan

Opera House is one hundred and one feet wide, and the depth is

eighty-four feet. The height from the stage to the gridiron is ninety

feet, to the first fly gallery thirty-six feet, and the depth of the

cellar is twenty-eight feet. The stage is divided widthwise into four

bridges which run entirely across the stage. Each bridge is divided into

four parts, so there are really sixteen working bridges. The wings, or

side scenes, are held in place by means of sliding scene posts. The

general method of securing the side scenes by scene frames and extension

braces will be understood by reference to the engravings in the chapter

entitled “Fireworks with Dramatic Accessories,” in the present work.

When not in use, the wings for the opera are temporarily piled against

the side of the house. At each side of the stage are huge scene-rooms.

The stage proper is supported upon an iron framework, and there are

three mezzanine floors, though one only is used. When it is desired to

raise any part of the stage above the level in order to represent broken

ground, or for what is called a “runway,” or for any other purpose, a

narrow trap door is lifted and a man at each end of the bridge raises it

up to the desired height. The bridges can be raised to a height of

twenty-three feet. They are counterweighted, so that it requires very

little effort to raise them. It is considered that with this system the

stage can be worked about as well and quickly as in the far more

elaborate hydraulic stages, as those of Buda-Pesth and Chicago;

certainly the simplicity of arrangement is a point in its favor, and,

being purely mechanical, it is not liable to break down at a critical

moment. The simple bridges are not favored by all stage machinists,

however. The wing posts slide up and down through the floor and drop

down flush into it. They are at the ends of the bridges.

[Illustration: PLAN OF STAGE OF METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE.]

[Illustration: STAGE SHOWING BRIDGES.]

[Illustration: STORING SCENES IN THE CELLAR.]

In the Metropolitan Opera House no use is made of the cellar for raising

up the scenes, as they find it more satisfactory to operate the scenes

from overhead, and nothing of the London pantomime order is done. The

cellar is valuable, however, for storage purposes. Going up several

flights of stone stairs, the visitor arrives at the first fly gallery.

Here, as in the other parts of the house, every precaution is taken to

guard against fire. The floor is of cement resting upon iron girders,

and the visitor is at once struck with the solidity of everything. On

each side of the fly gallery is a large iron pipe through which passes

at frequent intervals a series of belaying-pins to which are secured the

ropes. All of the drops and borders, as well as the curtain, are worked

from the left fly gallery. In theatrical parlance, a scene which is

lowered to the stage is called a “drop,” while the scenes which

represent the sky are called “borders.” The drops at the Metropolitan

measure forty-five by seventy feet. The painted canvases, whether drops

or borders, are secured at the top. The canvas is hemmed so as to permit

of a wooden pole, or batten, being thrust through it. This bar is

secured by means of clamps to the ropes which are to raise the scenes or

drops. At the very top of the building, underneath the roof, is what is

called the gridiron. It is an iron framework which supports the pulleys

over which the ropes run to raise the drops, borders, and the border

lights. Each scene-drop is supported by five ropes, and most of the

borders are also supported by five ropes, though three are sometimes

used. These ropes are attached at equal intervals along the length of

the scene or border.

[Illustration: WORKING FLY GALLERY.]

Each of the five ropes passes over a pulley on the gridiron, or

rigging-loft. The ropes are then assembled and pass down on the left of

the stage to the first fly gallery, where the fly men are located. In

raising or lowering a scene, the five ropes are pulled at the same time,

and are secured to the fly rail by means of the belaying-pins. In all

theaters the arrangement is not the same as in the Metropolitan; in some

cases there are two or three fly rails, each provided with

belaying-pins. Usually one rail will be in front, as shown in our

engraving, and the others back and at a slightly higher level. The ropes

for the drops, etc., which are not in immediate use, are fastened to the

belaying-pins on this rail. The fly men climb up to the second and third

fly galleries when heavy scenes are to be raised, and, catching hold of

the ropes, descend to the first fly gallery on the ropes.

There were one hundred and eighty coils of rope used in the stage

machinery of the Metropolitan Opera House, each containing one thousand

one hundred feet, and one thousand feet of wire rope was required to

hang each border light, they being, of course, very heavy. Twelve

thousand feet of wire rope was needed for the curtains and border

lights.

The curtain is raised by hand, by means of a winch using wire ropes. An

asbestos curtain is also provided, and may be dropped instantly from the

level of the stage in case of fire, so that the conflagration can be

confined to the “back of the house.”

[Illustration: ELECTRIC SWITCHBOARD.]

We present an engraving of a corner of the stage, showing the great

switchboard and the prompter’s desk, though, of course, in Grand Opera

the prompter takes up his position under a hood directly in front of the

conductor, just beyond the footlights. This hood can be dropped down

under the stage when not in use.

Just before the conclusion of the act the conductor of the orchestra

rings an electric bell in the working fly gallery. This is a signal to

the fly man to get ready to lower the curtain, for the conductor knows

the exact bar in the music at which the curtain should descend. At the

proper moment the conductor rings again, and the curtain descends. When

the men in the fly gallery receive the first signal--that is, the signal

to get ready--they turn a switch which lights a colored electric lamp

directly over the small prompt desk shown in our engraving, where the

stage manager or his assistant takes up his position. When the conductor

rings the curtain down, another colored electric lamp is lighted on

turning on a switch by the men in the fly gallery. Of course, audible

signals would not answer. The stage manager or his assistant stands in

front of the little desk and orders the curtain up and down, depending

upon the applause of the audience, which governs the appearance of the

artists. This little corner very much resembles the interior of the

conning tower of a ship. Here are speaking tubes and electric bells

which connect with all parts of the house, from the box office to the

cellar.

The inscriptions under the bells are as follows: “Prompter,” “Stage,”

“Office,” “Carpenter,” “Music-Room,” “Wardrobe,” “Engineer,”

“Orchestra,” “Gas Table,” “Thunder,” “Trap,” “Fly,” “Property Artist,”

“Box Office.” This means of communication for giving orders and “cues”

is very useful; for instance, when the proper moment for thunder has

arrived, the stage manager pushes the button and it thunders. Here is

also a book upon which is inscribed the exact time of beginning and

finishing the various acts. A door at the right of the desk gives access

to the stage in front of the curtain; there is a corresponding door on

the other side of the house. These doors are very useful, as they enable

the artists to appear in response to _encores_, without raising the

curtain, which means loss of time which is much needed in changing the

scene. It is a wonderful sight to look through the little peep-hole in

the door at the audience. Tier upon tier of splendidly clothed humanity

rises up to the family circle at a dizzy height above. The whole is

bright and gay, and is very different from the practical world behind

the stage, where stand the stalwart stage hands ready for their duties;

but, after all, the world behind the stage has a charm which even the

casual visitor willingly admits.

The electric lighting of the Opera House is very interesting, the

switchboard especially. It is believed to be the finest theater

switchboard in the world, and cost a good-sized fortune. It is known as

the Kelly-Cushing switchboard. From the switchboard every light in the

house is controlled both in front of and behind the curtain. Of course,

the necessity of arranging all the lights used upon the stage so that

the colors may be changed, greatly complicates the switchboard. It is

arranged so that the operator can move all the rheostats at once, if

desired, thus producing a gradual brightening or dimming of the lights.

This is done by the large lever at the right of the switchboard.

Underneath will be seen the fuses. At the right will be noticed a number

of small switches. These control the pilot lights which are fastened at

the top of the switchboard. These pilot lights show the exact condition

of every light both in the house and on the stage; and the electrician,

who has absolute control over all the lights from the great switchboard,

can see at a glance what lights he has on, whether red, blue, yellow, or

white, and their brightness. The footlights, which are between the

conductor and the curtain, are provided with fifty candle-power lamps.

The drop scenes, and especially the borders, are lighted by means of

what are called border lights. The border lights consist of a batten

which runs clear across the stage and which is suspended from the

gridiron by means of wire ropes. The batten is backed with a tin

reflector. There are two hundred and thirty-four lamps in each of the

border lights, which are eight in number. The electric lamps are of

thirty-two candle-power, and are arranged alternately in colors of red,

white, blue, and yellow. It is, of course, possible for two of the

colors to be turned on at once if desired. Any degree of brightness may

be obtained by manipulating the rheostats on the switchboard.

The cables for furnishing the electricity for the border lights are

attached at the level of the first fly gallery on the right side, or the

side opposite to the working fly gallery. The border lights are usually

maintained at a height just above the first fly gallery. In case of any

breakdown in the electrical system, gas is provided for the borders and

the footlights, the burners being secured to the battens of the border

lights the same as the electric lights. Rubber tubes which furnish the

supply of gas are attached on the same side as the electric cable. At

the sides of the proscenium opening are what are called “side lights.”

They are one hundred in number, and are of sixteen candle-power. They

are provided in the four colors already mentioned. Up in the first fly

gallery, at the side of the border lights, are eighteen arc-light

projectors, nine to the side, seven of which are what are called “open

boxes,” that is, they have a ground-glass front, and two of them are

provided with lenses and are called “lens boxes.” These arc lights take

the place of the old calcium lights, and are better and more economical.

The wings are lighted by what are called “bunch lights,” several

incandescent lights being placed in front of a reflector. They are

supported by a standard. The electric light can be obtained at nearly

all parts of the stage from boxes which are provided with an iron cover.

Gas may also be had for use in various effects. In some operas, as many

as a thousand incandescent lights maybe going on the stage at one time,

in addition to the arc-light projectors already referred to. There is

little wonder that under this intense light the ordinary complexion is

paled, and artifice is required to come to the aid of nature. There are

about nine thousand incandescent lights in the entire house, although

they are not all used at one time. Every part of the house is

beautifully lighted, even to the cellars.

When the Opera House is used for balls, splendid chandeliers are used,

which are stored in the cellar when not in use. The whole stage and

orchestra are boarded over, making a superb ballroom. The Opera House

does not have its own plant for generating electricity. It is all

obtained from the street circuit. It is believed that there is less risk

of a breakdown or from fire than if an isolated plant was provided.

Electricity is used in many of the effects and for running the

ventilating fans and the elevators.

When the house was rebuilt after the fire, the gas table made way for

the switchboard. The complicated gas plot is not used at the present

time at the Opera House, the electrician carrying the lighting in his

mind, the effects being determined upon at the rehearsal. Much of the

lighting depends on “cues;” thus, in the first act of “Siegfried,” when

Wotan appears in the mouth of the cave, this is the signal for light

being turned on him with a projector; and further on, when he strikes

the stage with his spear, white light is thrown on him.

The electrical organ at the Metropolitan Opera House is interesting. The

organ itself is fixed in the first fly gallery on the right, but it may

be played from any part of the stage. At the extreme right of the stage

is the organ trap. When it is wished to use the organ either for

rehearsal or for a performance, the keyboard is raised by the trap and

carried to any part of the stage, a large cable carrying the wire which

runs up to the organ. This arrangement gives great satisfaction.

Every precaution is taken to guard against fire, which once played such

havoc with the Opera House. Lines of hose are on every floor, and

automatic sprinklers are in all of the rooms. Axes and fire-hooks are

disposed at frequent intervals. A fireman is on the stage at all the

performances, and the men are carefully trained in a fire drill. The

asbestos curtain affords absolute protection to the audience, as even a

fire of the most serious character in the “back of the house” would give

the most ample time for all of the audience to get out comfortably. It

may be dropped either from the flies or the stage. It is lowered at

night as a precaution.

[Illustration: PAINTING SCENERY FROM THE PAINT BRIDGE.]

The paint bridge is a wide platform at the level of the first fly

gallery, and furnishes a means of communication between the two fly

galleries. The canvas which is to be painted is run up the side of the

paint bridge. The scenic artist thus has access to all parts of the

canvas. On the paint bridge are long tables covered with large

earthenware dishes in which the paint is kept. The visitor will probably

be surprised to see the enormous quantity of color which is used in

painting scenery; the color is mixed with a size. At the Metropolitan

the scenery is painted by daylight, but it can also be lighted

artificially by incandescent lights. The production of a new opera

necessitates the making of large quantities of scenery.

The property-rooms are most interesting. Here you may see Siegfried’s

anvil, his forge, Wotan’s spear, the Lohengrin swan, or the “Rheingold;”

while under the second fly gallery will be seen the parts of “Fafner,”

the dragon in “Siegfried,” which will be described in another chapter.

The armory is a room containing a vast collection of helmets, casques,

breastplates, swords, spears, lanterns, daggers, etc.; while in a case

lighted by electricity are the splendid jewels, crowns, etc., which make

such an effective appearance when seen on the stage. Here will also be

found a model of the old dragon which was burned up in the fire. Hung up

on one side of the wall is an elephant’s head with a trunk which is

freely flexible, and in the next room will be found the head of a camel

which winks his eyes. In here are also stored the shields and weapons

which the great artists use when they impersonate Northern gods and

warriors. Under the property master’s charge are modeling-rooms and

carpenter shops.

The day on which the opera is to be performed the property master gets

out all of the things which will be needed in the production. They are

carefully stowed away convenient to the stage, or upon it, so that they

may be brought to their proper place without a moment’s delay. When it

is considered that the size of the objects varies from the dragon to a

pack of cards, it will be seen that there is a great chance of

forgetting something; but should this occur, everything is arranged so

that the error can be remedied with the smallest loss of time. With

properties, as with stage carpentry, everything depends upon invention,

and for every new opera the property master is obliged to devise new

properties and new effects for which he has often no precedent.

When the curtain falls for good after the _encores_, the stage machinist

blows a sharp blast on his whistle, and as if by magic all the singers

and the chorus who have not gone already, leave the stage, and their

places are taken by a swarm of stage hands. The fly men raise the drops

and the borders out of the way, while the men on the stage take away the

movables and the set scenes. The wing scenes are unfastened and are

placed at the sides of the stage temporarily, while the new set scenes

are brought out and take their place. If rising ground is to be made,

the men raise the trap doors and, reaching underneath the bridges, haul

them up to the proper height and secure them with pins. Then canvas to

represent the ground is placed over the front of the stage and up over

the broken ground. Rocks and trees of _papier maché_ and canvas are

brought in and placed in position. If any things like chandeliers are

used, ropes are dropped from the gridiron to secure them at the proper

height. The stage machinist stands in the middle of the stage and gives

an order now and then to some of the men, the scenes and the drops and

borders are raised or lowered, or the set scenes straightened until all

are in order and able to pass the critical eyes of the machinist and the

stage manager. All of this is done without confusion, so carefully is

every man trained in his duties. Then calls are sent to the various

dressing-rooms, and the chorus or “supers” are brought out and placed in

position. When everything is in readiness, and the proper time has

arrived, according to the music, the prompter, from his little box under

the stage, gives a signal which is transmitted to the fly men, who wind

away on the windlasses and raise the curtain. It might naturally be

supposed that all is now quiet at the back and sides of the stage, but

this is not always the case; the wings and the stage back of the last

drop are filled with those who are to go on next, and one may encounter

Sicilian bandits, peasants, Northern gods, or the _première danseuse_

nervously practicing her steps with the master of the ballet. The

favored visitor is allowed to walk around in this new world without

being molested, and the opera as seen from the floor of the stage or

from the “flies” is a sight never to be forgotten.

After any one has viewed the production of an elaborate opera from

behind the scenes he will never again be in the slightest degree annoyed

by the length of the _entr’acte_. The only wonder is that the elaborate

scenes can be gotten ready in the fifteen or twenty minutes which elapse

between the falling of the curtain at the close of one act and the

raising of the curtain at the beginning of the next act; and it must be

remembered that the artists are frequently the cause of the delay.

The dressing-rooms at the Metropolitan are not luxurious, but often the

artists fix them up attractively. The dressing-rooms for the supers,

chorus, and ballet are, of course, large.

Few of those who hear the first production of a new opera realize that

the successful performance is the result not only of the singing of

celebrities and perfect orchestration, but also of the patient care

which has been bestowed upon the opera for months by the stage manager

and those who have helped him.

When the director of the opera company decides to produce a new opera

the libretto is given to those who are charged with the construction of

scenery, costumes, and properties. The first thing to be avoided is the

gross anachronisms which are so often seen upon even the stages of

first-class theaters. The examples of chronological errors which might

be cited are almost endless, and for interesting examples the reader is

referred to “Pictorial Art on the Stage,” by E. W. and E. H. Blashfield,

in the “Century,” vol. xxxv. At the present time celebrated artists are

often engaged to make drawings of the scenes and costumes. The results

obtained for spoken dramas by Mr. Frank Millet and Mr. Hamilton Bell are

noteworthy. If artists are not engaged to do the work it is entrusted to

carefully trained specialists. They first consult books of costume and

works bearing upon the period which is to be illustrated. These matters

are discussed by the director, and the designs are modified if

necessary. The scenic artist is then called in to sketch and model the

scenery. He has a miniature stage on the scale of half an inch to a

foot. Little scenes are made for it of pasteboard, and carefully

painted. They are placed in position, and are modified from time to

time, as required. It is really wonderful to the layman to see how many

things have to be taken into consideration in modeling a scene. The

number of persons upon the stage, the properties, the music, and the

difficulties of setting the scenes, all have to be most carefully

considered, as well as arrangements for traveling on the road. Finally

the miniature stage with all its properties is fully equipped, then the

whole force at the disposal of the stage manager is set to work to

prepare costumes, properties, and scenery. All possible care must be

taken to insure the proper effects of color when the costumes and

scenery are brought into juxtaposition. Frequently over two hundred and

fifty costumes must be made for a single opera, so that the

costume-rooms of an opera house resemble a mammoth dressmaking and

tailoring establishment. It is no small task to preserve the thousands

of costumes from dust and moths. Before each performance all the

costumes required must be gotten out, brushed, and placed in the proper

dressing-rooms. All repairs are made to the garments before putting them

away again. The number of properties which are required for an opera is

frequently several hundred, and they are of all sizes, from finger rings

to immense constructions which require the united efforts of a dozen men

to move them. It is naturally to be supposed that _papier maché_ and

plaster of paris are two of the most valuable adjuncts of the property

master’s art. Probably nothing in the way of an opera requires such

Yankee ingenuity as does the office of property master. We have not

space to go into the subject of rehearsals and how the final production

of the opera is accomplished, but we shall endeavor to give a few

examples in the next chapter of how some of the effects are produced.

Before taking up the minor stage effects, as well as those which might

be called “theater secrets,” we will first describe some interesting old

stages, then stage effects in which the entire stage is required for the

production of a certain effect. In leaving the subject of opera it is

only fair to say that the enormous expense attending the maintenance of

the opera house itself, the cost of properties, lighting, etc., to say

nothing of the remarkable salaries of the singers, really warrants the

exaction of what are seemingly high prices. Opera is such an education

to music lovers that it is unfortunate that it cannot receive such

financial aid from the state that its success under good management will

be assured. On the Continent every care is taken to foster the opera. In

Paris, we believe, the government allots an annual subvention of 800,000

francs.

CHAPTER II.

SOME REMARKABLE STAGES, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

AN ELECTRIC CURTAIN.

We present an engraving of the electric drop scene of the Comédie

Française, at Paris. The curtain is held by five ropes, _a_, which pass

over pulleys, _o_, at the upper part, and wind round a wooden drum, B,

to which motion is given in one direction or the other in order to cause

the curtain to rise or descend. Such motion is obtained by the aid of a

belt connected with an electrical shunt motor, F; a counterpoise, D,

held by a rope which passes around a drum, assures an equilibrium at

every point. It is an easy matter to maneuver the curtain by means of

the motor, the curtain being raised as required. Three different

velocities in descent and two in ascent are obtained. The maximum

velocity of descent is five feet per second, the medium is three feet

six inches, and minimum is three feet five inches. The velocities of

ascent are respectively two and one-half and three and one-half feet per

second. This was, we believe, the pioneer of all theater curtains which

were worked by electricity. There have been many since.

[Illustration: ELECTRIC DROP SCENE OF THE COMÉDIE FRANÇAISE.]

THE FAN-DROP CURTAIN.

In Japanese ballets a large fan is sometimes used in place of a drop

curtain, and in some of the Paris _cafés_ a fan is also used, as this

enables them to make evasion of the law relating to theatrical

performances. We present an engraving showing the fan at the Paris Opera

House, in a ballet called “_Le Rêve_” (The Dream).

It scarcely differs in principle from an ordinary fan, but the sticks

are twenty-three feet in length; that is to say, two stories high. There

are in all ten sticks that revolve around the same axis (letter K in our

second engraving). They are connected by strips of canvas of the same

width. The two extreme sticks, A and B, and the two center ones, C and

D, are prolonged beneath the axis of rotation. It is these four sticks

only that are acted upon in order to open and close the fan. Others

participate in their motion through arcs of iron which connect one with

the other. The maneuvering apparatus is readily understood by

reference to our engraving, the ropes from the four working sticks of

the fan running over windlasses. The fan is arranged in advance under

the stage. In the middle of the first act it is mounted vertically, all

closed, upon the stage, behind the streamer which completely hides the

maneuver. The fan is manipulated by two men, one at each windlass;

moreover, the work is facilitated by the use of cables, provided with

counterpoises, which are hooked above to the four principal sticks and

pass over guide pulleys placed in a semicircle. The cables are concealed

behind a decoration representing foliage which hides the edges of the

fan.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--VIEW OF THE FAN AT THE PARIS OPERA HOUSE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--APPARATUS FOR MANEUVERING THE FAN.]

AN ELEVATOR THEATER STAGE.

We present an engraving of the theater stage of the Madison Square

Theater, New York City, which shows a remarkable advance in stage

management. The first movable stage is probably that which the late

Steele Mackaye patented in 1869. The details of Mackaye’s patent were

not completely worked out, but this was done by Mr. Nelson Waldron, the

stage machinist, who elaborated the system and obtained a patent on it.

The stage in the theater we refer to is moved up and down in the same

manner as an elevator car, and is operated so that either of its

divisions can be easily and quickly brought to the proper level in front

of the auditorium. This enables the stage hands to get one scene ready

while the other one is in view of the audience. The shaft through which

the huge elevator moves up and down measures one hundred and fourteen

feet from the roof to the bottom. The stages are moved up and down in a

compact, two-floored structure of timber strapped with iron, and knitted

together with truss-beams above and below, and substantially bound by

tie and tension rods. The whole construction is fifty-five feet high and

twenty-two feet wide and thirty-one feet deep, and weighs about

forty-eight tons. A vertical movement of the structure or car is

twenty-five feet two inches at each change. The car is suspended at each

corner by two steel cables, each of which would be capable of supporting

the entire structure. These cables pass upward over sheaves or pulleys

set at different angles, and thence downward to a saddle to which they

are all connected. Secured to this saddle is a hoisting cable attached

to a hoisting drum, by the rotation of which the stage is raised or

lowered. Only about forty seconds are required to raise or lower the

stage in position, and the entire structure is moved by four men at the

winch. The movement is effected without sound, jar, or vibration, owing

to the balancing of the stage and its weight with counterweights, which

are suspended from the saddle to which the cables supporting the stage

are attached.

The borders and border lights are supplied to each of the movable

stages, and each stage has its own trap floor, with traps and guides and

windlasses for raising the traps. The space for operating the windlass

under the top stage is about six feet. Our illustration shows that while

the play is proceeding before the audience, the stage hands are setting

the scene on the stage above.

[Illustration: STAGE OF THE MADISON SQUARE THEATER, NEW YORK CITY.]

SOME REMARKABLE AMERICAN STAGE INVENTIONS.

The fact that there have been many important and brilliant inventions

relating to stages made by Americans has been overlooked, and nearly all

of the literature of the subject does not consider them at all. This is

probably owing to the fact that in many cases the inventions have been

planned out on so large a scale they can hardly be used, and,

unfortunately, they usually exist only on paper. Still, we cannot help

but admire the genius of such men as Steele Mackaye, whose inventions in

this line were most remarkable, and to whom we have already referred in

reference to the elevator stage. We now purpose to describe one of the

most gigantic affairs that was ever devised for obtaining scenic

effects. It was intended for the “Spectatorium” at the World’s Fair at

Chicago, in 1893. It will be remembered that the unfinished building was

just outside the lower end of the Fair grounds. Unfortunately the scheme

was not carried out.

In brief, Mr. Mackaye’s idea was to increase realism in the

performances, and, at the same time, lessen the time of the waits

between the scenes. To this end he devised means for producing various

scenic effects in imitation of natural or other scenery, with special

reference to the proper presentation of important historical or other

events, as, for instance, the discovery of America by Columbus or the

burning of Rome by Nero. His arrangements permitted of the exhibition of

various occurrences, either on land or water, in such a manner as to

give the effect of the actual occurrence. Thus, near and distant moving

objects were to be moved at different rates of speed for the production

of perspective moving scenic effects. His invention consisted primarily

of the combination of movable stages adapted to support and carry the

scenic arrangements and properties or persons. The building might, of

course, be of any desired form; a proscenium wall or arch was to be

provided, and Mr. Mackaye devised an adjustable proscenium opening to

meet the various requirements of the drama. Back of the proscenium arch

was a series of stages which could be made in any desired shape and

fitted to support and carry scenes, properties, or persons. They were

provided with rollers or wheels and ran on tracks or floated on tanks.

These stages, or cars, as they might be termed, were to be moved over a

track which was really a segment of a circle. In order to save space the

cars were so arranged that they would telescope. As already mentioned,

the cars could be driven at any rate of speed; thus, where there were

four concentric stages, the one the furthest away from the audience

could be moved much slower than the one nearest the spectators. Electric

motors and cables were to haul the moving stages over the curved tracks,

or guideways. Ample facilities were to be provided for the use of

vessels; the various tracks on which ran the scenic car being arranged

so that they could be flooded without interfering with the moving of the

scenes.

Waves were to be produced by what was known as a “wave maker,”

consisting of a plate pivoted to a reciprocating frame which works in

guideways fitted within channel bars, which are secured to plates

forming a canal connected with the curved water ways or channels. The

wave plates were to be connected by a pitman rod to the crank wheel or

shaft of an electric motor. When it was desired to give the effect of

waves upon the surface of the water contained in the reservoir of the

foundation floor of the scenic department which overspreads this

department to sufficiently conceal the tracks in the water channel, the

wave maker could be set in motion by the operator or prompter turning on

the current to the motor. Channels, conduits, sluices, and gates were to

be provided to cause the water to flow from one channel into another.

The current was to be made by spiral blades or archimedean screws

journaled in proper supports and geared to electric or other suitable

motors. The rotary motion was to be imparted to the blades to force the

water through the channel and thereby produce a current.

Powerful electric fans were to be provided for the purpose of forming

currents of air for producing the effect of a gale of wind blowing in

either direction, and a motor in the dome over the scene would permit of

the currents of air descending, ascending, or moving in a rotary course,

so that the effect of a stiff gale, a hurricane, or a cyclone could be

produced. The air could also be sent through flexible tubes, so that it

could be guided in any desired direction.

Mr. Mackaye had several other devices, also, for producing atmospheric

effects upon the stage. What he termed “cloud creators,” or

“nebulators,” consisted essentially of a cloud cloth having the cloud

forms of shadows placed thereon and adapted to move in front of an

illuminating lamp so as to cast the cloud shadows over the landscape or

scenic arrangement, or produce the effect of moving clouds upon a sky

foundation or other surface. The cloud cloth may consist of any suitable

material, on which may be placed various cloud effects or forms, the

cloth being secured to a sliding frame or fitted over rollers, so as to

move in proximity to an illuminating coloring device, from which light

may pass through the transparent or semi-transparent material on which

the cloud effects or shadows are placed so as to cast the shadows upon

the scenic arrangements or sky foundations, thereby imitating clouds

moving through the sky, or cloud shadows moving over land and water.

Rain was provided for by a series of perforated pipes connected with a

water supply, so that a gentle rain or a hard shower could be produced.

These pipes were to cross the stage, being secured to the fly galleries.

The fog producer consisted of a trough containing lime. This trough,

which was suspended from the fly galleries and the roof, was to be

lowered into another tank, slacking the lime, and thus forming a fog,

the wind-making permitting of the lifting or the dissipating of the fog.

A whole series of the “nebulators,” “umbrators,” and fog and rain

producers was arranged for, the patent drawings showing six. The

audience could see nothing of the mechanism, as each was masked by

borders. The scenes, with Mr. Mackaye’s system of lighting, could be

painted in their natural color, the high lights not needing to be

emphasized as in ordinary scene painting.

Another curious invention is what Mr. Mackaye was pleased to term a

“luxauleator.” It was a stage appliance which was intended to prevent

the audience from witnessing the operations or movements of the actors

behind the proscenium opening between the acts or when it was desired to

shift or rearrange stage scenery. The invention consisted of a series of

lights, set in backings or reflectors, placed in the form of a border or

other suitable arrangement around the proscenium opening so as to throw

the space in the rear of the opening into complete shade while flooding

the other space, as the auditorium, in front of the opening, with rays

of light, and so crossing each other and blending in such a manner as to

intercept all sight of anything that may be placed or moved in the

shaded portion of the stage. By this means the ordinary drop curtain may

be dispensed with, and, at the same time, it renders it unnecessary to

extinguish the light in the auditorium when removing or shifting stage

scenery. This was tried in a model and was found to be satisfactory. In

view of Mr. Mackaye’s remarkable invention, it can never be said that

America is behind England and the Continent in the matter of stage

business, and the inventions of Mackaye are representative ones of a

whole class of American inventors, although their work was perhaps not

so brilliant as his.

Another interesting theatrical construction is that of Mr. Claude L.

Hagen, the master machinist of the Fifth Avenue Theater, New York City.

In brief, the invention provides for a building preferably of circular

form, in the center of which is a circular pit or cistern provided with

an entrance which may be used by carriages and persons on foot. This

entrance is provided with a lock gate which can be closed, so that the

cistern or pit can be filled with water for aquatic purposes. The pit

can also be used for a circus ring, horse show, etc., or can be filled

with chairs, or used for a standing audience or promenade; the center

may be occupied by an electric fountain.

From the edge of the pit rise the tiers of seats and boxes in a similar

form to that of the Coliseum at Rome. The stage is designed to permit of

a series of tableaux or pictures being built permanently, so that it

will not be necessary to resort to the scene painter’s art to give light

and shadow. There are no borders or overhead scenery, but the light is

arranged to move in the same manner as the sun, surrounded with large

cylinders of glass so covered as to cause the lights on the scenes to be

the same as in nature.

The proscenium opening is at one end of the circular building, and the

circular stage surrounds the entire auditorium, revolving into the empty

space underneath the tiers of seats and boxes. The space underneath the

tracks in which the stage runs being used as an arcade, connection with

the lower portion of the tiers is by means of stairways at the foot of

each aisle, there being similar exits midway of the aisle, connected

with drawbridges to the stairways on the exterior of the building. The

top of the tiers of seats opens on to a wide promenade which connects

with a roof garden or _café_ on the portion of the building over the

stage, behind the proscenium aisle. Entrance to this promenade is made

by means of endless traveling stairways which form parts of a broad

stairway. The moving stairway in case of accident is automatically

locked with and into the solid portion of the stairway, thereby forming

an ample means of egress. The arrangement for the stage is of great

interest, as the scenes can be built in the most elaborate manner, and

the effect is, of course, far more realistic where real earth, trees,

fences, etc., can be used. Where a piece is to have a long run, as a

spectacular performance, this added realism will prove of great value,

and the labor and time which is expended in preparing the stage for each

performance will be saved; for at the termination of the scene the

electric motors or other sources of power are put into motion, the

entire stage is rotated, and the next scene is moved in front of the

proscenium aisle.

A portion of the revolving stage consists of a tank filled with water,

so that marine scenes with ships and boats can be produced. For example:

in case a drama of “Columbus” was to be produced, Columbus is discovered

bidding his friends farewell on the shores of Spain; he then gets into

his boat, and the stage is caused to slowly revolve, bringing into view

his ship. The land then disappears from view, and this is succeeded by

scenes of the voyage, storms, etc. Then the floating branch of the tree

is discovered; then the coast of America appears; then the disembarkment

takes place; and this is followed by the journey into the interior. Of

course, the movement of the stage can be reversed, and the return

journey made.

The circular stage platform can at any time be cleared of all its

appurtenances, and the stage can be used as a race track, being caused

to move in a direction opposite to that in which the horses run, and at

such a speed as to keep the horses in view through the proscenium

opening. Thus, the whole course of a steeple chase, a hurdle or other

race, or even a fox hunt, can be shown to an audience, with the fences,

walls, waterways, and other scenery moving in the most natural manner.

The whole plan seems to have great flexibility, and it is to be hoped

that at some time one of these interesting buildings will be built.

A REVOLVING STAGE.

For some years past the public has been demanding more and more

realistic representations of plays. Managers have found great difficulty

in satisfying this demand, owing to the time required to set elaborate

scenery. The public will not stand long waits, which are often

sufficient to cause the failure of a play or opera. These delays are bad

enough between the acts, but in plays or operas which necessitate

changes of scene during the acts, the waits become well nigh unbearable;

and many of the works of Schiller, Goethe, and Shakespeare become well

nigh monstrosities, as many of them are divided into interminable acts

and scenes. This difficulty has been sometimes avoided by the use of an

elevating stage such as we have just described, or by the so-called

“Shakespeare stage,” in which the front part of the stage remains

unchanged, while on the raised rear stage different scenes succeed one

another. This is regarded as eminently unsatisfactory. Baron von

Perfall, manager of the Munich Theater, published a book setting forth

his ideas in regard to the thorough transformation of the stage as it

then existed. The manager of the royal stage in Munich made a practical

and successful test of the invention of Herr Lautenschlager, the

mechanical director of the Royal Theater of Bavaria. The revolving stage

was used in a representation of Mozart’s “Don Juan.” When the nature of

the invention first became known, many people associated it with a

device used on Japanese stages, which consists of a revolving platform

in the center of the stage, a similar device being employed in America

and England for displaying “living pictures;” but this arrangement has

only a superficial resemblance to the revolving stage we are

considering. The arrangement used at the Court Theater at Munich is

essentially as follows:

[Illustration: CHANGE FROM THE THIRD TO THE FOURTH SCENE OF THE FIRST

ACT OF “DON JUAN.”]

On the ordinary stage floor is placed a revolving disk, or platform,

which raises the floor slightly. This circular platform is fifty-two

feet five inches in diameter, and presents not quite a quarter of a

circle to the proscenium opening, which is thirty-two feet nine inches

wide. It turns on rollers that run on a circular track; the revolving

mechanism is driven by electricity. If a scene is set on the quarter

circle presented to the audience--perhaps a closed room of considerable

depth--something similar can be arranged on the opposite side of the

platform which opens to the rear of the stage, as well as on the other

quarters, so that four different scenes are set on the stage at the same

time. For a play of four acts, requiring a different setting for each

act, all four scenes can be prepared beforehand, and at the end of the

first act the stage is turned a quarter of a circle (which requires

about ten or eleven seconds), and the scene desired for the next act is

presented to the audience; and so on at the end of each act. In case

three changes were required in one act, after the portion of the stage

occupied by the first scene had been turned away from the audience, it

would be cleared and set for the first scene of the next act. The scenes

need not be limited to representations of closed rooms; any desired

scene can be set on the turning stage, and, if necessary, the whole

stage can be used the same as any ordinary stage. Difficulties will

occur only when two scenes requiring great depth--for instance, two

landscapes with distant views--follow one another. But Herr

Lautenschlager has shown that even these difficulties can be overcome by

setting the scene along the radius of the circular stage so that the

portion used decreases considerably toward the rear, and in this way he

gains the entire depth of the stage for another scene. Much more of the

artistic element enters into the setting of a stage of this kind than of

a stage that is set on straight lines.

The reader will understand the above after an examination of the

accompanying plans, which show the stage set for the third and fourth

scenes of the first act of “Don Juan.” The third scene shows Don Juan’s

garden, in which the peasants invited to the _fête_ gather and the

maskers meet. This is changed to the hall in which the first act closes.

As shown by the plan, considerable depth was required for this scene.

Our large illustration shows how this change is accomplished, or how it

would appear if darkness did not prevail when the stage was being

turned. Before the garden had completely disappeared, a portion of the

hall would be visible, with all the life and motion, the dancers, and

the gaily dressed crowd of guests.

[Illustration: PLAN SHOWING THIRD AND FOURTH SCENES OF FIRST ACT.]

The “under machinery”--the traps, chariots, bridges, etc.--are worked in

various ways, and they are as accessible and as easily managed as in the

ordinary stage. The overhead work is about the same as in any other

modern iron theater.

A stage of this kind, constructed of iron, and equipped with electrical

driving devices, would meet the most exacting requirements of the

present age. The success of Herr Lautenschlager’s plan in the Munich

Theater gives ground for the hope that it will soon be adopted in other

theaters.

The inventor of this stage, Karl Lautenschlager, was thoroughly educated

as an engineer, and has had so much experience in the management of the

mechanical devices of different theatres that he is admirably fitted to

plan a thoroughly practical stage which meets the entire approval of

those interested in “stage reform.”

A revolving stage was patented by an American, Mr. Charles A. Needham,

in 1883. It certainly seems to contain the germ of Herr Lautenschlager’s

invention. A Mexican, J. Herrera y Gutierrez, of the City of Mexico,

invented in 1892 a theatrical arrangement in which the conditions of the

revolving stage are reversed. In the center of a circular building were

five auditoriums forming a circle which was capable of turning. The

stages were rectangular and surrounded the auditoriums. A different

scene was set upon each, and the auditoriums were turned, facing each

scene in turn.

THE “ASPHALEIA” STAGE.

In some theaters there is a whole series of traps worked by hydraulic

power. These traps are capable of raising a whole section of the stage

if desired. In the so-called “Asphaleia” stage--in which each trap goes

right across the stage and is divided into three parts, each of which

rests on the plunger of a hydraulic press, so that it can be raised and

lowered either independently or simultaneously with the rest of the

traps in that division--the whole of the floor can be raised or lowered

as desired. It will be readily seen that by this means a stage manager

has at his disposal a very effective aid in setting a large scene. Each

section of the floor of the stage can be fixed in an oblique position,

and the traps can be arranged one after the other so as to form a

succession of steps, bridges, balconies, or even a ship, in a moment,

with perfect safety, and without previous preparation. The old clumsy

timberwork set pieces and the building up of scenes is avoided, and the

method of working is in many ways an ideal one, but, after all, does not

seem to possess the flexibility of a series of divided bridges such as

are used at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. The hydraulic traps

permit of the easy representation of uneven ground, which strengthens

the possibility of illusion and gives a chance for a far more

picturesque arrangement than is permitted the plain ordinary stage. The

trap arrangement of the “Asphaleia” stage should be regarded as

something more than a mere arrangement of traps. In this theater it is

arranged so that entire scenes can be raised and lowered through the

slides simultaneously. It is possible to raise up from below the stage,

in view of the audience, a complete scene representing a room. With

these facilities the waits are very much shorter. The hydraulic stage of

the Chicago Auditorium is a fine example of good hydraulic work. In the

“Asphaleia” stage even the drop scenes are manipulated by hydraulic

power from a central point. The fire curtain is also actuated by a

hydraulic cylinder fixed to the middle of the fire curtain. Valves are

provided in various parts of the stage, which permit of dropping the

curtain. For detailed information concerning the splendid stages at

Halle, Buda-Pesth, and Chicago, the reader is referred to Mr. E. O.

Sachs’s series of articles on “Modern Theater Stages,” in “Engineering”

for October 23d and November 13, 1896, and to his monumental books upon

the same subject.

[Illustration: THE “ASPHALEIA” STAGE, SHOWING HYDRAULIC TRAPS AND

HORIZON.]

In our engraving it will be noticed that the horizon is represented by a

canvas background like a panorama. In the “Asphaleia” theater the back

of the stage is much wider, as compared with the opening of the

proscenium, than it is in ordinary theaters. Its whole area is

surrounded by a continuous cloth scene, on which there is painted a sky

called the horizon, which runs from the back of the stage and up each

side for quite a distance. In order to produce the effect of an unbroken

surface the corners are rounded off very carefully so that the eye of

the spectator is not brought up by the wings. With this system it is no

longer necessary to use so much rock and tree work, and it is quite

possible to represent boundless plains or the illimitable expanse of the

sea. This continuous horizon not only helps in the illusion, but it

reaches so high up that borders are no longer needed. The horizon, like

the canvas in a cyclorama, represents a uniformly illuminated surface,

which gives the same impression as the sky. The horizon is carried by

the rollers, and it may be painted so that at a moment’s notice the

different aspects of the sky can be represented, from the deep blue of

Italy to the mists and fogs of the North, and from the fleeciest clouds

to a sky heavy with thunder. It is even possible to change the nature of

the sky during the action of the play or opera.

Another very important feature of the “Asphaleia” stage is the system of

lighting; gas battens and footlights are dispensed with. In the

“Asphaleia” theater there is a special arrangement of the proscenium;

all the lighting is done from the side. There are many other interesting

features of the “Asphaleia” stage, which is almost entirely fireproof,

and tends not only to minimize the danger of fire, but also to insure

the safety of the workmen and artists. This form of theater stage is, of

course, expensive in its initial outlay, but it is much cheaper in its

actual working. Opinions seem to be very much divided as to its merits;

at any rate, it is a most interesting example of the most modern form of

engineering talent being devoted to the building of a thoroughly

scientific stage. M. Georges Moynet says in “_Trucs et Décors_,” from

which we take our engraving, that the manipulation of the scenery at

Buda-Pesth is very slow and that the cellar is very damp.

We have just described the “direct ram” system of operating traps and

bridges, but it will be readily seen that the space required for the

rams is practically lost, so another system is sometimes used. This is

called the “crane” system. In this the bridges and traps are maneuvered

by wire ropes which are worked by hydraulic rams placed against the

walls of the stage building. Some of these systems are very complicated,

but the results are very satisfactory, and are said to be economical,

doing away with much handwork, especially so in the day-time.

The Court Theater at Wiesbaden possesses a very novel feature. The

entire space occupied by the musicians is really a gigantic trap, the

whole floor being raised or lowered by hydraulic power, noiselessly and

in a moment. This device was installed by Herr Fritz Brandt, of the

Berlin Court Theater. The idea of having an orchestra movable was to

permit of the musicians playing at the bottom of the pit when the

production of a Wagnerian opera was given, as Wagner believed that the

musicians should be out of sight. He made arrangements at the theater at

Bayreuth by which the orchestra is entirely concealed from view, the

sound coming from the bottom of the deep orchestra well. At Wiesbaden,

if a small operetta is to be given, the platform for the musicians is

raised to the normal height. This arrangement is valuable in other ways,

for in the case of a ball the platform may be run to any height. The

hydraulic rams are powerful enough to raise the entire load of

sixty-five musicians, so that if desired the orchestra can be see-sawed

up and down according to the requirements of the score. The Lyceum

Theater, New York City, is similarly equipped.

A THEATER WITH TWO AUDITORIUMS.

The people of New York City have the reputation of being the most

tireless theater-goers in all America; a statement which is verified by

the ever-increasing number of large and well-filled places of amusement.

Of late years the growth of the popularity of the style of

entertainments which are classed under the name of “vaudeville” has

called into existence a special type of theater, which, in addition to

the regulation stage and auditorium, includes special halls of

entertainment, with lounging-rooms, _cafés_, etc., and, for use in the

hot summer months, the inevitable roof garden. To judge from the nightly

programme of a first-class house of this type, the excellence of the

performance is measured, after its quality, by its length and variety.

The more rapidly the various artists can make “their exits and their

entrances,” the more concentrated amusement can be packed into any given

hour of a “continuous performance.”

[Illustration: A THEATER IN NEW YORK CITY WITH TWO AUDITORIUMS.]

It was with a view to enlarging the stage capacity that the proprietor

of Proctor’s Pleasure Palace, in New York City, resorted to the bold

expedient which is shown in the illustration on page 284, from which

it will be seen that a single stage is made to do duty for two separate

auditoriums. The way in which this was accomplished will be seen by

reference to the sectional diagram, which is taken longitudinally

through the auditorium proper, the stage, and the new auditorium, which

is known as the Palm Garden, being so named after the palms and tropical

plants and vines with which it is decorated. The part of the diagram

which includes the auditorium and the stage shows the construction of a

typical summer theater of to-day--the _café_ in the basement and the

roof garden being special features in a house of this kind--which

introduces no new structural features of much consequence beyond a

strengthening of the roof supports. Stripped of its galleries and

scenery, a theater consists of two four-walled structures, the

auditorium being about square in plan, and the stage floor about the

same width as the auditorium, and half the depth. The walls of the stage

are carried considerably higher than the roof of the auditorium, in

order to accommodate the drop curtains, which are hung by ropes that

pass over pulleys attached to what is known as the gridiron, a stout

framework located near the roof of the scene loft. When the drop

curtains are not in use they are raised clear of the proscenium, as the

opening from the stage to the audience is called, and hang in parallel

rows as shown in the diagram. Below the stage floor are shown the traps.

Here, in the older theaters, were frequently located the dressing-rooms

of the performers, though the more modern arrangement is to build them

at the sides or the rear of the stage.

In carrying out the idea of a double stage a hall was built immediately

behind the theater proper, and a proscenium arch was cut through the

rear wall of the stage, the floor of which was carried out into the hall

and provided with the regulation footlights. The new proscenium was

provided with its own curtain, and all that was then necessary was to

paint the backs of the existing wings and drop curtains with scenery,

and the doubling of the stage was complete.

The original intention was to have three or four performances of such a

character that they would not interfere with each other going on upon

the stage at the same time, and during the summer months this was

frequently done. Ordinarily, however, the curtain opening to the palm

garden is kept lowered, and it is raised only during the intermissions,

or when special acrobatic, gymnastic, or animal acts are in progress. A

passageway leads from the auditorium to the palm garden, which are both

accessible to the audience at all times.

This is the first time that such an experiment as this has been tried,

and its results will be watched with considerable interest. The effect

as one looks through the stage may be judged from the larger engraving.

[Illustration: SECTIONAL VIEW SHOWING THE STAGE AND THE TWO

AUDITORIUMS.]

CURIO’S PIVOTED THEATER.

One of the most ingenious of the ancient theaters of which we have any

record is that devised by Curio, which is described by Pliny. In the

half century before Christ, a wealthy Roman citizen constructed a

theater capable of holding eighty thousand persons. The stage of this

theater was ornamented with three hundred and sixty columns, and between

these columns there were in all three thousand statues. Curio not being

able to do anything more magnificent, was, according to Pliny, obliged

to substitute ingenuity for extravagance; he therefore constructed two

large wooden theaters near each other, and they were so arranged that

each could be revolved upon a pivot. In the morning plays were put upon

the stages of each of the theaters, the latter being back to back. In

the afternoon the theaters were all at once revolved so as to make them

face each other, the people being carried with them. It was only

necessary to connect the corners of the two theaters in order to have an

amphitheater in which gladiatorial combats might be exhibited.

[Illustration: SECTION OF CURIO’S PIVOTED THEATER.]

[Illustration: PLAN OF CURIO’S PIVOTED THEATER.]

It is rather extraordinary that the Romans should have allowed

themselves to be carried around in this unstable machine. The theater,

of course, was only for temporary use, but during the last day of the

celebration, Curio was obliged to change the order of his magnificent

entertainments, since the pivots became strained and out of true. The

amphitheater form was therefore preserved. The mode in which these

theaters were constructed has occupied the attention of several learned

persons. The architects in the first century before Christ were

accustomed to build wooden theaters; the first stone one was built in

Rome by Pompey. It will be seen that the transformation due to Curio’s

imagination might have been effected, as Pliny indicates, by a rotation

around the pivots, P and Q, of the two great theaters, whose framework

rested upon a series of small wheels movable on circular tracks. The

stages, C and D, of the theaters were constructed of light framework,

and were so arranged that they could be taken down and pushed back at C′

and D′, and thus allow the two theaters to revolve on their own axes so

as to come face to face, while leaving between them only the space

necessary for rotary motion. This space was then filled with light and

movable pieces of framework, A and B, which formed on the ground floor

vast doors for the entrance of the gladiators, and, in the story above,

boxes for the magistrates.

THE OLYMPIAN THEATER OF PALLADIO AT VICENZA.[14]

[14] By Albert A. Hopkins.

The oldest permanent theater in Europe, at least of those built since

the time of the Romans, is the Olympian Theater at Vicenza, Italy, and

it is the last of its race. Before considering this curious theater it

would, perhaps, be well to glance for a moment at the history of the

theater in ancient and modern times. In the old Greek Theatre the

spectators were seated in a semicircle in front of a raised platform on

which a fixed architectural screen was provided. The action took place

upon this stage. The dramas of the Greeks and Romans were of the

simplest kind, the dialogue being simple, rhythmical, and often intoned.

The amphitheater, in which the seats rose in tiers, could accommodate a

large number of spectators. A theater with a radius of three hundred

feet could seat twenty thousand spectators. The best counterparts of the

Greek theater are some of the concert halls which were built specially

for oratorios and concerts. The Greeks fully understood that the facial

expression of the actors was lost, the spectators being so far away from

the scene of the action of the drama. They attempted to overcome these

difficulties by requiring the actors to wear masks with strongly marked

features, and to increase their height they were provided with

high-heeled shoes. The opera glass in the modern theater has, of course,

done away with all objections of this kind.

The modern theater is the result of the blending of the old circular

theater of the Greeks with the rectangular theater (so-called) of the

Middle Ages. The earliest mediæval theaters in Italy and Spain consisted

of courtyards with balconies which were impressed into the service, and

plays were often performed in churches; but in France the climate was so

bad that the tennis courts were used. The trouble with the tennis court

was that, owing to the difficulty of roofing a large open space, the

room could be only forty or fifty feet wide, and only six hundred to one

thousand persons could see and hear to advantage. The accommodations had

to be increased by tiers of boxes. The conch-like arrangement of

classical times was soon found to be unfit for a spoken dialogue, which

cannot be well heard more than seventy-five or eighty feet away, or the

expression of the actors’ faces appreciated at a greater distance, so

that the next improvement was the rounding off of the corners of the

room and the multiplication of boxes, which were placed tier upon tier

in the same manner as high office buildings are erected, to give

increased accommodation, owing to the smallness and great value of some

of our city blocks. In 1675 Fontana invented the horseshoe form of

theater, which has not been departed from. In opera houses and lyric

theaters the curve is elongated into an ellipse with the major axis

towards the stage. In theaters for the spoken drama, where people must

see and hear, the contrary process was necessary and the front boxes

were brought near the stage. The introduction of painted movable

scenery seems to have been due to Baldassare Peruzzi, who used it in

1508 in the production of “_La Calandra_,” which was played before Leo

X. Further improvements led to the necessity of a recessed stage with a

framing like that of a picture. Such is in brief the development of the

modern theater.

Palladio (1518-1580) was a native of Vicenza, a town in northern Italy,

forty-two miles west of Venice. He was an architect of the first order,

and it is difficult to mention any architect who exercised a greater

influence on the men of his time as well as on those who succeeded him.

He was an enthusiastic student of antiquity, and, fascinated by the

stateliness and charm of the buildings of ancient Rome, he did not

reflect that reproductions of these, even when they possessed great

archæological accuracy, were often lifeless and unsuited to the uses of

the sixteenth century. His writings and architectural work rendered it

easy for those who came after him to reproduce buildings which were

faultless in their details, but which were cramped, formal, and cold.

The Certosa of Pavia would have been impossible in London, yet under the

inspiration of Palladio, Sir Christopher Wren was enabled to construct

in London the Cathedral of St. Paul, which would have done honor to the

great Italian master himself.

Palladio died before the theater at Vicenza was completed, and it was

finished, though not altogether after the original design, by his pupil

and fellow-citizen, Scamozzi. It was an attempt to reproduce the classic

theaters of Greece and Rome, and his friends assisted him by sending

designs of antique buildings to help him. It consists of an auditorium

under an awning in the form of a semi-ellipse, it not being possible,

from the narrowness of the situation, to use a semicircle. Its greater

diameter is ninety-seven and one-half feet, and its lesser as far as the

stage is fifty-seven and one-half feet. Fourteen ranges of seats for the

spectators follow the curve of the ellipse. At the summit of these

receding steps, or seats, is a corridor of the Corinthian order, which,

from the narrowness of the ground, could not be detached from the outer

wall at all places. Palladio therefore filled up the nine center and the

three external columnations, where the statues touch the external wall,

with pieces of statuary. The orchestra is five feet below the seats. The

scene, which is sixty feet broad, is an architectural composition of two

orders of the Corinthian style superimposed, which are surmounted in

turn with a light and well-proportioned attic. On the stylobate of the

second story are placed statues, and the inter-columnations are enriched

with niches and statues. The panels of the attic are ornamented with

reliefs of the “Labors of Hercules,” and the center panel over the

largest of the three openings in the proscenium, which is arched, with a

representation of an ancient hippodrome. Over the arch is the following

inscription: “VIRTVTI AC GENIO OLYMPICORVM ACADEMIA THEATRVM HOC A

FVNDAMENTIS EREXIT ANNO MDLXXXIIII. PALLADIO ARCHIT.”

[Illustration: SCENE AT THE OLYMPIAN THEATER AT VICENZA.]

In the lower order the middle interval has a high open arch, and the two

others, on the side, have square openings through which are seen streets

and squares of stately architecture, each ending in a triumphal arch.

The position of the diverging avenues will be understood by reference to

the plan. The magnificent palaces and private dwellings which are here

portrayed furnish a very effective setting for the plays which were

performed in the theater. Though the distance to the back of the theater

is only forty feet, yet by skillful and ingenious perspective and

foreshortening it appears to be four hundred feet distant. For this

skillful and ingenious conceit, which is unclassical in spirit, we are

indebted to Scamozzi. The exterior of the theater is by no means

comparable to its internal beauty. It was built not at the expense of

the government, but by some private Vicentine gentleman of the Olympic

Academy. The theater was completed in 1586, and was inaugurated by the

performance of the “_Œdipus Tyrannus_” of Sophocles.

The general lines of the interior of the theater are noble and calm. The

theater looks as well on paper as in reality, for, like so many of

Palladio’s buildings built of brick and stucco, which are now in a

dilapidated condition, it has an enduring shabbiness. It must be said

that in this remarkable building Palladio conciliated the precepts of

Vitruvius and the needs of a contemporaneous society. M. Eugène Müntz

has expressed the conception of the theater when he said that it was a

“mirage of a Paolo Veronese in architecture,” and indeed, with its

profusion of statues and niches and columns, it does resemble the works

of the great painter of Verona, who, in his great light-filled frescoes

and canvases, crowds the space with monumental architecture, and fills

the buildings with the well-dressed courtiers of Venice, until the whole

becomes a gorgeous pageant.

[Illustration: PLAN OF PALLADIO’S OLYMPIAN THEATER.]

CHAPTER III.

STAGE EFFECTS.

The present chapter deals with the various effects which are liable to

be called for in almost any opera or other dramatic production. It

should be remembered that the effects of sunrise, moonlight, thunder,

lightning, wind, rainbows, fires, etc., may be obtained in a great

variety of ways, so that only an outline of some of the methods of

producing the illusion can be given. Stage management is a constant

study. Stage managers and stage machinists and property masters vie with

one another in producing more and more realistic illusions. It is a

curious fact that this business is largely a matter of invention, and it

is little wonder that it is in the hands of exceptionally clever men.

SCENE PAINTING.

Scene painting is an art by itself. There is no other branch of painting

like it, either in the variety of subjects embraced or in the methods

employed. The scenic artist must be at home in landscape, marine, or

architectural painting. He must be able to produce at any time the

mountainous passes of Switzerland, the flat meadows of Holland, the

palace of Versailles, or the Windsor Hotel. The method by which he works

and many of the materials he employs are altogether different from those

used by the ordinary oil or water-color painter. The scene painter works

upon canvas. He first makes a pasteboard model of his scene and gives it

to the stage carpenter or stage machinist, who builds the framework and

secures the canvas to it. It is then ready for the “paint frame.” This

is a huge wooden affair hung up with ropes with counterweights attached.

It is usually placed against the wall at the back or side of the stage,

and has a windlass attached by which it may be raised or lowered. The

artist works upon a bridge built in front of this frame, the paint

bridge usually giving a passage between the two fly galleries. A paint

bridge is illustrated in Chapter I. of the present division of this

work. By hoisting or lowering the paint frame the artist is enabled to

reach any part of the scene. He is provided with plenty of brushes,

ranging from a heavy two-pound brush, such as is used by house painters,

to a small sharp one used for drawing fine lines. In addition to these

he has several whitewash brushes for laying in flat washes and skies.

The colors are kept in buckets, tin cans, and earthenware vessels. His

other requisites are a palette knife, plenty of twine, and sticks of

charcoal. He is then ready to go to work. His first duty is to “prime”

the scenes. This is done with a plain coat of white. Distemper color is

used in scene painting. The colors are mixed with sizing, which is

simply a weak solution of glue. The priming coat is laid on with a heavy

whitewash brush. After the canvas is primed and dry, the artist is ready

to draw. After the rough charcoal sketch is made, it is carefully gone

over with an ink specially prepared for the purpose. The architectural

work must be done with precision; regularity of outline and accuracy are

absolutely essential. The perspective requires to be laid off with the

greatest possible care, as the effect of many scenes depends almost

entirely upon it. The next step is the laying in of the groundwork. The

sky is, of course, the first point. This is done with whitewash brushes.

The principal point is to get it on thickly, and here the great

advantage of painting in distemper is made plain. The color dries very

quickly, thus affording the artist a high rate of speed in working; and,

secondly, the color dries precisely the same shade it had before being

mixed. Scene painters of different nationalities have various methods of

working, some using a great deal of color, others very little. Some idea

of the rapidity of working can be obtained when it is stated that a

scene painter of the English school has been known to paint a scene of

twenty by thirty feet in less than four hours. Some of the colors used

cost as much as $2.75 per pound. Indigo is used in very large quantities

by scenic artists. Ten pounds of indigo are sometimes used in a single

scene. A scenic painter, however, is not confined to colors in producing

effects. A number of other materials are of great importance in this

kind of painting. Gold and silver leaf are freely used for certain kinds

of scenes, as well as foil papers and bronze powders. Jewels in the wall

of the Eastern palace cannot be imitated with a sufficient degree of

realism to stand the glare of the light, so jewels are made of zinc and

set in the canvas; they are made of all colors; they are often covered

with colored lacquers, or the painted surface is lacquered. In ice

scenes mica powders are used in large quantities to produce the glitter

and sparkle. Nearly every scene painter has a large collection of

stencils which are very useful for producing architectural decorations.

The last thing the scene painter does before the introduction of a new

play is to have his scenes set upon the stage at night in order that the

lighting of them can be arranged. The artist sits in the center of the

auditorium and minutely observes every nook and corner of the scene

under the glare of the gas or electric light. Here a light is turned up

and there one is lowered until the proper effect is obtained. The gas

man or electrician takes careful note of his directions, and the stage

manager oversees everything.

SUNRISE EFFECT.

The sunrise effect is obtained in several ways. A semicircular screen is

placed across the stage and forms the background, as for mountains. Upon

a platform immediately behind the center of the stage is placed an arc

projector that is maneuvered by hand, and throws a luminous disk upon

the canvas of the screen. Upon the stage are suspended colored

incandescent border lights. In other suitable places there are arranged

groups of lamps provided with reflectors of special form. These lamps

may be introduced successively into the circuit. Colored gelatine plates

may be slid over the reflectors so as to give the light the color

desired. Our engravings show the various systems of lighting employed,

showing the cords, pulleys, and other devices for turning the gelatine

shades around or raising them so as to give the desired effect. The

electrician first puts into the circuit the group of lamps that produce

the blue light, and at the same time turns the blue shades over the

lamps. At a given signal the operator pulls the rope so as to bring the

red colored shades in front of the lamps. When the signal is given to

him, the operator in charge of the arc lamp places a red glass in front

of the lenses of the projector and switches the current on to the lamp.

The resistances in the circuit of the various incandescent lamps are

successively withdrawn so as to heighten the red light of the rising

sun. In some theaters colored incandescent lamps are used, as at the

Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, as described in Chapter I. of

the present division of this work. This system is, of course, preferable

in many ways.

To return to the sun-rising effect: after the sun has risen above the

mountains the red light is diminished, the red glass placed before the

aperture of the projector is gradually removed, and the color screens

are removed from in front of the lamps. Motion is given to the sun by

means of an inclined plane up which the arc lamp is carried by means of

a winch which is slowly manipulated by the assistant.

[Illustration: COLOR SCREEN CHANGING.]

[Illustration: COLOR SCREEN CHANGING.]

[Illustration: BUNCH OR SIDE LIGHTS.]

[Illustration: SUNRISE EFFECT.]

SUN EFFECT.

The stage effect which we are about to describe is produced by the

mechanism which was formerly in use in the Metropolitan Opera House, New

York City. The electrical sun was a big glass disk with an arc lamp of

two thousand candle-power behind it. It showed through a hole cut in a

drop curtain, and was set firmly in a frame covered with colored gauze

to represent the various hues which the sun imparts to the atmosphere,

and the colors it projects upon the clouds, during ascension and

declination. It is very effective in many operas, as in “The Prophet”

and “Tannhauser.”

CHANGE FROM DAY TO NIGHT.

One of the most beautiful effects produced upon the stage is the change

from day to night or from night to day, especially the former. This is

accomplished in various ways, as the following: To produce the proper

effect the back drop is made nearly double the height of the usual

scene; the upper half is painted to represent a sunset sky, and the

lower half to represent moonlight. It is hung so that the upper half

alone is visible. The scenery of the distance is then painted upon a

separate piece, which is profiled--that is, cut irregularly--to

represent trees, mountains, or houses. This piece is placed immediately

in front of the sky drop. A few feet further in front is held what is

known as a cut gauze drop. This has sides and a top of canvas painted as

the case requires, while the center is filled with fine gauze which

lends an aërial effect to the distance. Red lights are employed to give

a soft sunset glow to the scene. At the proper moment the back drop is

slowly and steadily raised. While the red lights are slowly dimmed, the

green lights are slowly turned on. The moon effect is obtained in

different ways, as we will shortly describe. The moon is sometimes made

in the night-half of the sky drop and rises with it. When it rises above

the distant horizon, the green lights are turned on to their full power.

STARS.

The star which we illustrate consists of a single sixteen candle-power

incandescent lamp fixed to a metal frame set in a drop curtain; only the

star itself, with a covering of red gelatine tinctured with blue,

showing through.

[Illustration: STAR.]

MOON EFFECTS.

There is hardly any illusion on the stage which is seen as often as the

moonlight effect, and there is nothing which can be as well

counterfeited on the stage as moonlight scenery. The artist usually

begins his task by painting a moonlight scene; by daylight such a scene

is ghastly, being painted in cold grays and greens, in which Prussian

blue and burnt umber play an important part, and the lights are put in

with white, slightly tinged with emerald green. The strong moonlight of

the foreground is produced by a calcium light thrown through a green

glass. A fainter light upon the scenery at the back of the stage is

obtained from what are called “green mediums”--lamps with green shades.

They are placed upon the stage just in front of the main scene, and are

“masked in” by scenery. A row of them is often suspended from the flies

in order to light the top of the scenes. In this case they are hidden

from view by what are called the sky borders; thus a soft green light is

given to the entire stage without the source of it being visible. The

position of the moon being determined upon, immediately under it a

number of small irregular holes are cut in the drop, beginning at the

horizon. These are covered on the back with muslin, and are painted over

on the front to match the rest of the scene. Behind these holes is

placed an endless towel about eight feet in height, running around

rollers at the top and bottom; the lower roller has a crank by which the

towel is turned. In the towel are cut a number of holes similar to those

cut in the drop. A strong gas burner is placed between the two sides of

the towel. When the crank is turned, the flashing of the light through

the passing holes in the towel and the stationary ones in the drop scene

produces a fine effect. Instead of a towel a large tin cylinder may be

used. Other interesting moon effects are described in the chapter

entitled “A Trip to the Moon,” in the present work.

[Illustration: ELECTRIC MOON.]

We now come to the moon proper, which is produced in a number of ways.

The form which we illustrate is one in use in the Metropolitan Opera

House, New York City. It is about eighteen inches in diameter, and is

made of porcelain or milk glass and is oval in form. Within are six

incandescent lamps of sixteen candle-power, connected with a rheostat.

It is very effective in many operas, as in “Tannhauser.” The moon is

moved by means of a batten, a thin piece of wood let down from above,

the course being marked for the operator by the apparent, though

exaggerated, movements of the moon as we see them in an orrery. The

mimic sun moves behind the drop, but the moon moves before it, and

therefore to keep up the illusion the wires it draws after it must be

colored the same as the drop.

RAIN EFFECT.

The rain machine is usually placed high up in the flies. A hollow wooden

cylinder five feet in circumference and four feet in length is provided.

Upon the inside are placed rows of small wooden teeth. A quantity of

dried peas are placed in the cylinder, and a belt is run around one end

of it and down to the prompter’s desk. By turning these cylinders the

peas run down between the teeth, and the noise produced by them makes a

good imitation of rain falling upon a roof. Traveling companies often

have to go to small theaters where such luxuries as “rain machines” are

unknown. A sufficiently good substitute is, however, easily obtained. A

sheet of heavy brown paper is pasted over a child’s hoop and a handful

of bird shot is placed upon the paper. The hoop is tipped from side to

side, and the shot rolls around the paper, producing a fairly good rain

effect.

[Illustration: RAIN MACHINE.]

Our engraving shows a French form of rain machine. It consists of a

wooden box seven or eight feet long, divided into compartments, as shown

in our engraving, by oblique pieces of tin which transform the interior

into a tortuous passage for the dried peas. The quantity of peas is

regulated at the top, and the violence of the drops of rain depends upon

the quantity of peas and the inclination of the box.

RAINBOW EFFECT.

In the last scene of “Rheingold” the gods enter Walhalla over the

rainbow bridge. The rainbow is a magnificent stage illusion, and is

produced as follows: The prisms are fastened one above the other in

front of an electrical projector. The light from it passing through the

prisms produces the various colors of the prismatic spectacle due to the

influence of the raindrops. As in nature, there appear to be two arches,

the primary and the secondary.

[Illustration: RAINBOW EFFECT.]

WIND EFFECT.

Wind is very useful in heightening the effect of stage storms,

especially in melodramas. Where the effect is well done the pitiless

blast is very realistic. The wind machine is portable, and may be placed

anywhere the property master wishes. The wind machine is made in various

ways, of which the following is one: A heavy frame is made in which to

set a cylinder provided with paddles, and resembling very much the

stern-wheels seen on Ohio River towboats. Across the top of the

cylinder is stretched as tight as possible a piece of heavy gros-grain

silk, but canvas is often substituted instead. The rapid passage of the

paddles over the surface of the silk or canvas produces the noise of the

wind. Often traveling companies are in theaters where there is no wind

machine. In this case one of the stage hands selects a heavy piece of

flexible hose and whirls it around his head. The extraction of wind from

the hose is not entirely satisfactory, however.

[Illustration: WIND-PRODUCING MACHINE.]

Our engraving shows a French form of machine for imitating the noise of

the wind. It consists of a cylinder mounted on an axle. The staves are

triangular in shape, and end in a sharp point. Instead of running these

staves over silk or canvas, cords are substituted. The cords are secured

below, so that they can be tightened so as to cut into the staves. The

cylinder is turned by a crank, and by turning it rapidly the friction of

the cord produces a good representation of wind.

THUNDER EFFECT.

The thunder and lightning effect is somewhat complicated, especially the

thunder, which may be regarded as the result of the combination of a

number of effects. First a large piece of sheet iron is shaken, which

produces an imitation of sharp, rattling thunder. This fails to give the

dull roar, a reverberation which is usually heard in storms. To produce

this effect a heavy box frame is made, and over it is tightly drawn a

calf skin. Upon this the stage hand operates with a stick, one end of

which is padded and covered with chamois skin. This is called the

thunder drum, and when accompanied with a flash of lightning produced

with the aid of a magnesium flash torch renders the illusion very

realistic. Often two thunder drums are used at the same time. Then the

“rumble cart” is also used. The rumble cart is a box filled with some

heavy material, and mounted upon irregularly shaped wheels.

[Illustration: RUMBLE CART.]

Our engraving shows a rumble cart as used in the Paris Opera House. With

this a little wind is added from the wind machine, and the rain effect

is sometimes worked simultaneously. The result of this complicated

effect is very good, and, of course, the effect may be varied as the

stage manager may think proper for the opera.

In large opera houses a more complicated system is employed than those

which we have just described. It is usually placed against the wall of

the third fly gallery. It consists of a kind of cabinet with five or six

slanting shelves. On each shelf are kept a half dozen cannon balls which

are retained in place by hinged doors. When the signal is given, the

stage hands open the doors of one or more compartments, and the balls

drop down into a zinc-lined trough, which is some twenty feet long. The

trough being built with inequalities of surface, the effect is enhanced.

At the end of the trough the balls drop through the flooring to the

gallery below by means of special slants. Arrangements are provided by

which the balls can be stopped before they pass through the floor. It

will readily be seen that by regulating the number of balls almost any

thunder effect can be produced.

LIGHTNING.

Lightning is produced in a number of ways, of which the following is an

example. A metal box having a large opening in the top is provided. At

the bottom is placed an alcohol lamp having a wide-spreading flame.

Immediately above the flame is a shelf or partition punched with fine

holes. This is, of course, heated very hot by the flame. The mixture

which is used to give the effect of lightning consists of three parts of

magnesium powder and one part of potassium chlorate. This is poured upon

the heated grill, through the top of the metal box. The sudden

combustion of the composition produces very vivid flashes of lightning.

A similar device has long been used by photographers for taking

instantaneous photographs in dark places or at night.

[Illustration: APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING LIGHTNING.]

Another method of producing lightning flashes is to secure two large

files to an electric circuit. The files, when they are rubbed over each

other, produce a series of brilliant flashes.

[Illustration: THE MAGNESIUM FLASH PISTOL.]

[Illustration: LIGHTNING PROJECTOR.]