The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 29, 1897, Page 19

FHE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 1897. 1y THE CURFEW-BELL GIRL SUPPLANTED BY A MAN HE. . BOLIRE MRS CREL AND MAKES A Rl A VERY SELEGT LOT OF PEOPLE AMAZED BY THE DARING SWING kel such a me I saw D rt in the great [ was one O eneand saw the | a thousand | f the play her part | cuous one. I then | ye scene in front of | The curt L and rose | \ the general’s quar- owerful bit of acting | when the order is | alarm on the oli 3 ent the curtain fell. The | was in darkness and filled with a asof the tomb. From behind the | 1 came a rumble as of distant thar- he curtain rose again and as if the entire auditorinm was rais in the air—on a level with the bei- of a lofty churcn tower. I saw ths oking woman run up the darkening | lantern that shed only | mmest light. Pale mconbeams cast itter on the treetops end brought | into strong relief when she | e landing where the bell was. | st ready to ring. Once the! uck. The bell swung back and would nave struck again had | zed it. | vung over the sides of the again and out over the other | Again and again she swung and the emained silent. The climax of tke was reached and the cu ent later the honse was ringing and she was bowing to the audi- ng a e e er! Bac 1se All this pressed me as powerful act- iid stage management, just ressea a thousand others who -looking woman play her how was it all aone? How did the | ng woman bear up under the | ow was the wonderful stage transformation brought about? | To ascertain these things I saw Mrs. Carter play her part again, this time from | behind the scenes. where all the gl amour | of effect was absent or perverted, and the | of acting resolved itself into work, | I might sdd, the hardest kind ot art rrom the left sice I saw the stage sat he first scene of the third act. It did look at all as it did from the front on revious night. Peering between two s of scenery I saw the lower portion tower as a background, while the non and piece of breastwork were in tne immediate foreground. The move- ments of the several characters did not produce at all the same effect as when seen from the front. Each step, each move was studied and worked cut with precision, so as to produce the proper el- | fect on the audience. The actors were actors here. | But was Mrs. Carter an actress? That is tion. She was surely woman, dis- | When the curtain fel Mrs. Carter sank | ment that was real. | as a bit of thistledown. | away, leaving the belfry in the center of Y ESSAYS ER'S ROLE woman's feelings. While the seen from the side was otally differen: from when seen in front, the emotions displayved were just the | same. There was no dependence on ac- cowsories to produce the effect of a wo s beart filled with anguish to the extent of muking entreaty to her enemy | for the life of a loved one. E second of her time on tle stage during this scene was filled with work— | | nard work. The effect of nervous excite- | playing all & general ef ment was produced only at the expense of much muscular exertion urged by brain and will power. That which, from in iront of the scene, appeared so easy was w exertion to the verge of exhaustion. o a chair as thoroughly tired out asa ong man would pe after a hard day’s The stage now became & scene of excite- It was necessary to make a complete transformation 1n a few m Tnis was accomplished by giving the eneral's quarters scene only a small space at the front of the stage; the scene following was made up just behind it. Up to this point there was no visible in- dication of the belfry. But when the general’s quarters scene was finished out | of the regions above dropped the belfry. The cumbersome structure, forty feet in height, dropped on to the stage as lightly All was now ready for the climax of the | piay. The two scenes are really one, as far as the actors are concerned, for there is o rest between them. The last has really begun before the curtain has fallen on the preceding one, and therein is the marvel, for it seems impossible for such a continuous strain to be kept up so long. Mrs. Carter’s part in this act is of the “‘hardest” kind. Wrought up to the highest possible tension, each moment filled with anguish that is all but real, she goes throu. h every move with apparently the greatest ease. The movements of the mu=cles of her face are all so carefully studied and so conscientiously worked out that one follows the other with the precision and ease of the ticking .of a | clock. This is art. | From the time the curtain rises on this scene until it falls is hardiy five minutes, but the nerve tension becomes higher and bigher every moment during that time until the climax is reached in the over- i without assistance Mrs. finished act, rapidly runs to the rear of the stage and down through a traptoa position under the belfry. When the curtain rises she is seen emerying through the stage floor carrying a lantern in her hand, The stage isin darkness except for a calcium light in the right wing, which produces the effect of dim moonlight. Almost as quick as one can think she runs from one landing to another, up about thirty feet. Now she has reached the last stair and thrown tnhe lantern away. Up one more. : A man below pulls the bellrope. The bell strikes once. She has reached the top and steps on the parapet. The bell swings back, and with a frantic movement she seizes the clapper. The man below pulls the rope and the bell swings from side to side in silence, while the curtain slowiy falls. In all she takes five swings each way and as far as the bell will swing. When the curtain is down, entirely Carter jumps from the clapper of the bell and hastily runs down the stairs. But what a change from the woman who went on the scens only a few moments ago! The awful strain has " powering of General Thorp, the escape of the prisoner and the ordering of the ring- ing of the alarm bell. The tain falls for less than a minute, but during that time the scenery that was nsed for the general’'s quarters is moved the stage. darkness. Inthe tew moments Mrs, Carter, without any rest after her exertions of the just! This change is made in total done its work and she is exhausted to the varge of collapse. When she reaches the stage she has much the same avpearance as a bicycle rider has after a two-mile spurt against time, Her face and arms are dripping with perspiration. But strong arms support her and bring smell- ing-salts, so that she can respond to the curtain call. When this uct was over I was puzzlea and almost doubted what I had seen. i -~ 7 | Ly ez i | | How was it possible for a frail woman like Mrs. Carter to play two exhausting ~cenes and then without even resting a { moment perform a difficult and danger- | ous acrobatic feat. Surely there must have been some trick about it by which the thrilling swing in the beliry was not a swing at all, but just something that looked like it. I determined to settle the question to my own satisiaction, and as Mr. Belasco came along at that moment I e I 1 I asked his permission to go tp and swing on the bell after the performance, At first he was a little dubious about granting my request, but finally con- sented, *'if the stagze manager was willing.” “Take my advice and don’t do it,”’ were | the words of Mr. Millwood, when the sub- | ject was mentioned to im. “I don't believe he'll want to if he once gets up there,” said Mr, Belasco at this point; “so I guess we might as well set = R L/t,,;,,,\ | W ’?fll L the scene again and let him try it.”” And so it came about that I swung on the bell and convinced myseif that the act is a novel and difficult acrobatic feat, to say nothing of the danger of it, for a momentary loosening of the grip means being dashed to death on the floor thirty feet below. When all was ready and there was a small and select audience on the stage and in different paris of the house, Mr. Belasco led the way up the tower, just to show me the way and let me see how the bell worked. When the top was reached, and I looked over the sides, 1 realized for the first time just how dangerous the undertaking would be. The vast vault of the almost empty theater seemed to stretch back miies into the distance. In the dim light the sides of the stage could barely be seen, and as I peered over the edge of the tower the neople standing on the stage looked far away. I never knew thaf thirty feet was so high before. Rapidly I turned over in my mind the possibilities of my being able to swing on the beli, and I concluded that I could. There were no straps of any kind to hold on to, only the clapper, but that afforded a good grip. “You had better go up with him,” said Mr. Belasco to Mr. Miliwood. *“You know there is no telling what accidenis may happen.” By this time I had thoroughly realized that there was no ‘“‘trick” about the swing. And now that I have doneitI will say that I think it much more diffi- cult and dangerous than it would be to zo through the same experience In reality. Everything about it is calculated to shake the nerves. 1 had determined to go through every part of the belfry act just as Mrs. Carter did. Starting at the bottom of the winding stairs I went upward. The first siep caused the whole structure to shake with a peculiar tremor not at all soothing to the nerves. When I reached the parapet the bell was there, but I missed the clapper the first time I reached for it and almost lost my balance. The next time it swung I got a firm hold and was carried swiftly out over the other side. Everything seemed to be swimming around me. The black depths of the theater looked likea bottomless pit. Back I swung and out over the other side. This was worse than the other, for now I looked down and was conscious of only depth beneath m: I forgot that there were people in the house and thought only of holding on. The small portion of belfry just under the bell I was totally oblivious to. In fact, [ could not see it at all, but simply swung as if I had been a thousand miles out in ihe universe. I could see nothiug around me, but had a queer rushing feeling, as if swirling through space. At about the fourth swing, just as I was getting my senses back and about con- cluding that I could swing, the bell gavea jerk and my hands almost slipped from their hold. It startl ed me for only an in- stant, and in that in stant I realized the difficult and da ngerous part of the swing. The bell is swun g by somebody else, and it is necessa ry to keep swinging easily with its motion. 1 had lost this and called to the swinger to stop. But I had not swung as high as Mrs. Carter had, whereiore I determined to try it again. This time there was the same hard grit, and I had difficulty in hclding on. Butlmade the swing successiully, and felt the thrilling sensation of being whirled through space to its utmost de- gree. “You are the only person except Mrs. Carter that has ever swung on the bail,” said Mr. Belasco after. I had put on my coat and again reached the stage. Which only made Mrs. Carter’s per- formance ali the more marvelous, consid- ering that she goes through it every night. WiLL SPaRKs. The iistrionic mind of T. Daniel Fraw-| ley was one day not long a o illumined | by of those opportune ideas which go to make life worth living in this dissipated and convivial world. He conceived that | existence for him in this vale of fond re- | grets might be rendered a degree more | tolerable by means of a dinner party ten- | dered by him to a select few of his con-/ freres in the dramatic p-ofession. The select few so honored were to in-| clude John Drew and Miss Isabelle Irving, | whose conformity with the excellent | scheme was made convenient by their | presence 1n the City contemporaneously | with the occurrence of the idea to the| Frawley intellect. Besides these two dis- | tingmshed outsiders, there were a few | nome stars of no little magnitude—suf- | ficient at Jeast to recommend them to the | discriminating host as fit material to| adorn his hope for a properly good time. | Mr. Worthing, Mr. Carlyle, Miss Bates, Miss Moretti and others of his own com- pany were among these latter. I'he settinz for the scene which followed | on the hee!s of these nortentons prepara- tions lay 10 a certain flat in the Western Addition—a flat which Messrs. Frawley and Worthing j intly utilize in their common affliction of bachelorhood for the | repose of tueir weary bones by night and for the occasional reireshment of their epicurean palates with a meal served with “all the comforts of home” by day. A staid and trustworthy housekeeper visibly adds to the effectiveness of this altrurian arrangement, and it was upon this worthy heroine that Histrion Frawley larzely depended for the successful execu- tion of his scheme to promote gastronomic | felicity among the friends that were dear to him, To her he confided the proposi- tion as far as ever he was able, supple- menting that mysterious and vague bit of inteiligence with an airy behest that she “go abead and do the rest.” And all on a summer day the occasion descended. The guests had lain awake during the preceding night anticipating it and were all ready even when the dawn proke, 1f Frawley’s flat had really been an ark and the gzuests Lad been jreparng for a forty days’ flood there couldn’t have been a mcre unanimous move toward get- ting under that hospitable roof. Mr. Frawley beamed with his usual benevolent smile upon the distinguished array and was glad to the innermost depths of his soul that the aforesaid opportune idea had occurred to him. Up to this point the affair had been a glittering success, the radiance of which lit the circumjacent aimosphere for miles around. Then there rose above the nori- zon a cloud no bigger than a man’s hand —at least not much bigger. This particu- lar cloud was in the shape of a little pig—it was a roast pig, a Jat roast pig, a fat and sleek and slippery roast pig—and it was there to be eaten. Likewise to be carved! Alackaday! Host Frawley was to be the carver. It were merciful here to draw a curtain and leave the sympathetic imagination of the reader to form its own conclusions of what followed. But tru h is mightier than mercvy, and it must prevail. When the eyes of Host Frawley first it upon that little fat, sleek, slippery roast spectacular catastrophes, in which splat- tering gravy and flying streaks of fat meat would take a leading part, arose before him like a gathering of those funny little clouds which portend a cyclone in Kan- sas. The primrose hue which theratofore had glistened upon the prospective view, and made him a bappy host, faded in the twinkling of an eye. Gloom stalked adown the table and claimed him for its own. The peace of the whole company and the success of the entire occasion were im- periled, Something hercic had to be done; a time was come when the host must show his steel (and alas! the steel scemed frightfully inadequate to the task). It was at this tense and critical stage of lie game that the perturbed mind of Hosc Frawley was in a measure relievea by the glimmer of a promising expedient dimly discerned through the gathering storm. pig he scented a dark and terrible battle By a phenomenally clever transmission of in the air. Premonitions of all sorts oi | signals to Mr, Worthing across the room HOW FRAWLEY GARVED THE PIG. thai observing gentleman was made to understand the extreme gravity of tre situation, whereupon, with Napoleonic ingeruity, he proceeded to put into execu- tion a hastily formed plan to diver: the attention of the company until his un- fortunate collaborator might devise some way of extricating himself. While Worthing was distinguishing himself among his fellows by this re- markable move Frawley was covering himself with renown in & manner scarcely iess unique, the which consisted of spirit- ing the little, fat, sleek, slippery roast pig out into the kitchen. It Lad occurred to his astute 1ntellect that if he could once locate the animal in a stationary position and bave him all to himself, away from prying eyes, he might wrestle with him to a finist. Accordingly the carcass was placed upon the kitchen table and the cook was de- tailed to hold the unmearthly thing stiil while her master went through the act of reaucing it to a becoming state of edibil- ity. “If you will contrive to_keep the thing off the floor for ten minutes,” breathed Host Frawley, as he rolled up his shirt sleeves, “I'll buy yon a new dress and give you a week’s vacation. Just keep a tight hold and never let go until I tell you to.”’ Host Frawley had a large apron tied around bim by this time and in his hand gleamed a formidable knife. There was determination in his eye and strength in his arm. The battle was all but won. The clouds were clearing rapidly. If the company in the other room had remained diverted under Mr. Worthing’s tuition for a few minutes longer all might indeed have come out well. But the com- vany was suddenly seized with a propen- sity for exvloring, which struck Mr. Worthing cold with amazement and fear. An atteriy unaccountabie ambition to ac- quaint themselves minutely with every- thing about the place took possession of all present. If they had been executing the demands of a search warrant they could hardly have shown a more insistent thirst to peer into every roomin the house and see what was going on in them. What they saw when they reached the kitchen—which they selected witn cruel fatality as their first point of investiga- tion—has never been clearly related. Opinion at this distance seems to be divided on whether Frawley, at the pre- cise moment of their entrance, was on the pig or the pig was on Frawley. The only certainty established is that Frawley and the pig were in the midst of-a warfare be- side which the recent encounter between Corbett ana Fitzsimmons was a mere bit of pleasantry. ‘Words fail to describe the scene. sufficient that everybody did not I extract a ray of good cheer out of it—that in point of fact everybody seemed actually to aerive jov from it. Everybody except Host Frawley. Butinasmuch as the qual- ity of mercy is not strained it is realiy possible to stretch a point at this sacred juncture and let the curtain be drawn over a truth that s sad. Anyhow 1 doubtif any one of the guests could be prevailed upon to disclose itin all its nakedness, for not one could be found who did not havesuch a good time (despite the pig) that he forgot everything else, C. D.