Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 264, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1915 — Seven Corpulent Men Stuck in Gotham Elevator [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Seven Corpulent Men Stuck in Gotham Elevator

NEW YORK. —Seven corpulent theatrical men, one of whom was Bob Harris, brother-in-law of Lew Fields, almost too weak to Talk, tottered into a Broadway case and whispered; “Beer, hogsheads of it” They were the

chorus in a new tragedy, “Up or Down, or Who Stole the Oxygen?” the first rehearsal of which in the elevator of the Broadway Theater building, had just ended under the direction of the elevator operator, William White, who was not named for his color. The act began when the chorus found .itself stuck at 5:30 o’clock a foot beneath the first floor ceiling in a 3 by 5 by 7 space and with walls one and a half feet thick on all sides. The seven improvised a few lines

until Lew Fields drove up in a limousine to take his brother-in-law to dinner. Fields sent for a patrolman, who sent to the West Thirtieth street station for another, who sent for several more. Altogether they summoned firemen. The lines of the chorus became more forceful as policemen, firemen, and others tried to start the elevator from the roof, the basement, and by psychic suggestion. Then they grew muffled and hysterical as skirts were pulled over beads by the sweltering occupants. At eight o’clock Lew Fields had a happy thought and sent to the elevator company for an expert. Twenty minutes later the seven had been pried from the car and the search for cooling brew began.