Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 187, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1916 — Page 3

OARE DEVIL MOVIE ACTORS

Some of the screen stars risk death every week in order to provide sensation lovers with thrills-women < of film drama will try any stunt once

ONE way of earning a living is bv jumping from one speeding train to another; by riding motor cycles off open drawbridges; by running pellmell over moving freight trains, only to clutch an overhead cable and to hang suspended in midair; by grapDling with an infuriated man in the YW cab*,of an onrushlng locomotive, and » in a hundred ways risking life and limb. This is what scores of motion - * picture actresses and actors do every day with hardly the wink of an eyelash in the performance of the stunts. It is all in answer to the cry for realism in the movies which has recently been raised by directors, ilea Li sm is now a watchword: Above all, the production must be realistic. The directors argue iiaat the public has become tired of faked dangers and mechanical feats that make ordinary scenes appear hazardous. The desire for realism may be all right for the public and the director, but it is hard on the performers. ._ . ' Patrons of the pictures are so familiar wilh Beenes depicting rough riding, descents of mountain sides on horseback and leaps from cliffs in which the rider falls clear of the mount and in other ways flirts with death that they never stop to think of the real danger incurred by those actors who dare so much for the silgnt drama. Of course there are certain pictures in which the danger is faked. But those pictures are almost equally balanced by the kind which depicts- a real danger encountered to accomplish the desired result. Jumps From Moving Trains. “When I first began to jump off moving trains,” said Helen Holmes, when asked for her impressions of daredevilling in the films, “I must confess I was somewhat timid, but now I take it as something which must be done to complete the picture. “In one picture in which I worked about six months ago I went through the action with my heart in my mouth, and for a moment at least I felt like quitting. It was a railroad picture in which I was to drive a big engine across a bridge which was to be blown up as the engine reached the middle. “A torpedo on the track about twenty feet from the spot where the dynamite charge was placed to wreck the bridge was to give me my signal to dive from the cab to the river thirty feet below. From the moment that the engine reached-the wooden trestle I kept thinking what would happen if the torpedo did not go off and I should be carried down Into the wreckage. “The run of about thirty yards seemed interminable, but everything worked according to plans and I made the dive safety, but I was shaking like a leaf when fished from the river. I was so frightened I could hardly keep myself afloat. “But now I have become so used to risking my neck that I accept it as a matter of course. It is much like the case of an aviator when he starts flying. At first he is cautious and only makes slight • ascents and safe descents, but soon the spirit of daring enters his soul and he is looping the loop and doing spirals 2,000 feet in the air, and other dangerous stunts.” Danger in the Quicksand. There was Marion Swayne, who thought it pretty hard when she was called upon recently to allow herself to be rescued from quicksands on a treach- — erous bit of picturesque Florida beach. It would not suffice to have her buried in a sand hole bn a solid portion of the beach where she could easily be extricated without danger to herself. George Foster Platt, who was directing the five-reel feature entitled “The Net,” insisted that the best results could only be obtained by having the star caught in the real quicksand. Outside the range of the* camera a group of men were ready with planks and rope to rescue the actress In case the scene as planned miscarried and she should need other help than that offered by Bert Delaney, the leading man and hero. Miss Swayne was reluctant at first to try the .scene, but finally consented and timidly went out to the treacherous sandbar. The feeling of helplessness that came over her when her fe<£ sank slowly from under her without means of staying them alarmed the screen star. As she sank to the waist her features registered a genuine fear, and at this point the camera man began “shooting” the scene while the gallant hero with a stout rope lassoed her. It required all his strength to drag her from the sands which were engulfing her. When on solid ground again Miss Swayne with a tremulous voice said: “I suppose-on the screen that will look easy, but I don’t care to try it over again.” Leap From High Cliff. Wide publicity was once given to a stunt picture In which a trained acrobat jumped a horse from a hilltop into a cljasm, inflicting Injuries upon himself and the animal and getting into trouble with the humane society officials. This man was not a regular member of the picture company, but was engaged at a big price to perform the daring act. .. Anna Little had a somewhat similar experience, although part of it was not done intentionally. Under the direction of Frank Borzage, a glutton for realism, Miss Little was to slide down the side of a cliff some seventy feet high on horseback to escape a band of 'lndians in pursuit. The ride called for a skilled equestrienne, unflinching courage and a sure-footed horse. It was impossible to rehearse the scene because the director knew that after having gone through it once neither Miss 3 ,. Little nor the horse could be persuaded to repeat the action. This scene was to be the big thrill in the picture. Much care was taken in preparing IL Three camera men were stationed to catch the slide frop» three different angles, thus insuring a *ood pic- , tore from at least one of the machines. Barely Escaped Death. Careful Instructions had been given the actress gAd she started on the slide. At first the horse

hesitated, but urged on he braced his forefeet and prepared to reach the bottom in safety. Everything moved swiftly, the camera men ground their machines and the director shouted encouragement through his megaphone. But about twenty feet from the bottom the horse caught his foot in a rock fissure, stumbled and hurled Miss Little over his head. She flew through the air head first, landing in a clump of mesqulte bushes more than ten yards away. - Spectators rushed to her side, expecting to find her either dead or seriously injured, but aside from the shock and a number of scratches she escaped unhurt. The dumb actor In the scene was less fortunate, suffering two broken legs, and had to be shot This untoward Incident In m&king the scene caused a complete revision of the scenario. Miss Gertrude McCoy Is known as another daredevil of the screen. She gives a good account of herself In every branch of athletics, besides being a skillful driver of a motor car. Miss McCoy drives her own machine and has used It to advantage in many of the pictures In which she is starred. Her most recent exploits have been In connection with what Is known In the movie vernacular as “water stuff.” Strange as it may seem, the stunts In her latest picture do not show up with the same dangerous thrills that really characterized their making. This Is often the case in motion pictures; what looks hard is often easy. Foolhardiness Meant Injury. A “water-stuff” picture which almost put Miss McCoy’s life in jeopardy was taken for “The Isle of Love” and was made near Jacksonville, Fla. In one of the early scenes of the photoplay the star yields to the temptation to go bathing In a pool upon a rocky bit of coast The shore at the point where the picture was taken happened to be made up of myriads of shells and pebbles compressed into a crumbling, jagged stone formation. The water, moreover, was far more shallow than Miss McCoy suspected. Despite the warning of her director, Edwin Middleton, she Jumped boldly into the water, cutting her feetj ankles and legs severely. She was too good & picture player, however, to stop while the camera was grinding. Although suffering from a number of fxtremely painful cuts she bravely finished the scene. This episode, which certainly' was not down on the her up for nearly a week. As the final “punch” of "Lost In the Everglades,” which is part of "Gloria’s Romance,” th» film serial

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER, INP.

in which Billie Burke Is appearing, a perfectly good seven passenger automobile is driven straight out into the Atlantic ocean off Palm Beach, Fla. This may be termed recklessness or pure extravagance, according to one’s point of view. Needless to say the damage done to the car by its Immersion in the salt water was considerable. To prove that the film manufacturers aren’t the only people who can be reckless, Miss Burke wore a Lucile creation that had been specially designed for her use in the picture, and utterly regardless of the certain ruin of the frock she hopped out of the runaway auto as it cleared the first line of breakers, found herself up to her knees In the surf, laughed gayly and then waded ashore. Auto Jumps the Gap. In order to eliminate as much danger as possible, this scene was carefully staked beforehand; that is, everything was simplified. A sloping platform was erected at the place where the leap was to be made and well re-enforced. Across the ditch some thirty or forty feet away a pile of brush wood had been placed to break the fall as the car landed. Down a sloping piece of ground approaching the jumping-off place Miss King came with lightning speed in her little machine and took the leap while the cameras clicked. She landed without serious mishap In the pile of brush, and beyond a severe shaking up and a few bruises was none the worse her experience. “It’s the buts and ifs connected with such stunts as these.” she remarked later, “that make the dangers undergone really greater than they seem to be* If something had gone wrong there might have been a very different story to tell. Bat—and here the but comes in—l suppose it’s all in the day’s work, so I have nothing to complain of,” she concluded with a laugh. The dangers have also to be faced by the camera man. An example is the recent experience of a news camera man in Mexico. A pictorial weekly representative, hearing that Villa’s body was being brought to Chihuahua for identification, hurried thither. “From the time I crossed the border until I returned,” he said, telling of his adventures, “I was a constant target for Mexican abuse. It was not until I reached Chihuahqa, however, that any physical violence was offered. Then there was a demonstration In the market place despite the fact that I was under the protection of a Mexican army officer. Shots were fired at tne and I was glad tq get back to the good old U. S. A. with a whole skin; but I got some pretty good pictures, after aIL”

TRAINING TODAY’S BOYS AND GIRLS

Fighting Instinct Diverted Into Other Channels. REAL ENEMIES IMPERSONAL Healthy Group Rivalriee and Competltions Will Absorb Energies That Otherwise Are Likely to Be Misdirected.

By SIDONIE M. GRUENBERG.

THERE are three possible attitudes toward the Instincts of children. At one extreme we find the rather crude naturalism which assumes that whatever Is “natural” must be right; this leads to Indifference and indulgence. At the other extreme is the somewhat less crude but equally arbitrary Puritanism which suspects every desire and impulse of being satanlc in origin; thlf leads to suppression and sterility. Then there is the more or less rational eclecticism that chooses to encourage some impulses and to suppress others. When we take into account the teachings of modern psychology and biology we shall make our selections and adapt our methods more effectively. Today we do not simply repress or indulge; we try to utilize the driving forces of the growing child to forward our own ideals of what a child should be. We take the child as we find him, and try to makqjiim a little stronger here and to rub off a little there. In the matter of fighting It Is particularly difficult to form balanced judgments and to develop sane plans. With our usual habit of emphasizing one aspect of a problem to the exclusion of all others, we either fix our attention on the Injuries resulting from conflict and become extreme pacifists, or we fix the attention upon the need for resisting aggression, for defending our “rights,” and become belligerent. In one case we make fighting an end In itself; in the other case we make the avoidance of fighting the goal of effort. With the child, however, fighting means more than defense, and it need not always mean that; it means something different from the consequences to person and property. It is almost entirely a matter of exertion, of overcoming difficulties, of conquest—or defeat sometimes, but even then chiefly as incidental to the conflict. Our problem Is therefore to make full use of youth’s eagerness to exert effort, to sacrifice, to devote Itself. But we must guard, on the one hand, against drawing upon the antisocial

With the Child, Fighting Means More Than Defense—It Is a Matter of Overcoming Difficulties.

and Inhuman motives, and, on the other hand, against allowing the exertions to result in Injuries, whether personal or economical. In childhood, playing soldier means, usually, merely parading or hunting or stalking. Presently, however, the children become interested in each other as members of groups. Because of this Interest It becomes possible for us to cultivate an attitude of exclusiveness or antagonism toward all who are not members of the immediate group. In extreme cases this attitude ends in antisocial group action, and at best it ends In a rather narrow kind of nationalism or “patriotism.” But it is also possible to make use of the social Interests and impulses In cultivating an ever-widening conscientiousness of Identity with other people. In the first case we have a perpetual source of antagonism or animosity toward strangers and foreigners. In the latter case there Is the opportunity to direct the fighting Instinct against the enemies of the race, the obstructions to human welfare. | But even before the child becomes interested in team plays or group action of any kind, we utilize essentially the same Interest in conflict when we encourage rivalry, whether at home or in school, through prize contests or through invidious praise and blame. We have guessing cor tests and spelling matches, and in athletics we have races of various kinds. In these the individual is encouraged to put forth his best efforts, not for the purpose of attaining some predetermined standard, not for the purpose of cultivating his own abilities, but for the purpose of excelling some other particular child. The bread-baking contests and the dressmaking competitions for girls, like the cornraising or shop contests for boys, utilize the same motives of rivalry as we find In the ordinary athletic contests or street fights. Bnt the form of the conflict and the material consequences are in no way objectionable. When the older children are organ*

Izcd for team pl«y, we begin to get the kinds of sacrifice that the group always demands of the individual, and In many the more victorious forms of athletic sports are quite the equivalent of good fighting, so far as the participants are concerned. The motives are still those of rivalry, but the prospective gain of victory is now no longer for the Individual, but for the group. And when boys all but exhaust themselves for the “glory of the school,” the moral results are of the highest kind. We go a step further when the corn clubs conquer insects and fungi, and control tl\e soil and the seasons for the glory of their county or district, for soon the Interest may be extended from the mere “beating” of the rivals f 0 the increased contribution to the corn crib at home. The same kinds of results morally are obtained when we utilize the group rivalries in a “Cleanup Contest.” The girls will make their streets and yards and porches as attractive as possible, at first for the purpose of making a better showing than those of the next street Presently, however, the interest may be directed so as to center upon the chas-

Interest May Be Directed So as to Center Upon the Chasing of Dirt as the Villain.

ing of dirt as the villain of the drama. Now the older children can be led to abandon the group rivalries as they had already outgrown the Individual rivalries, and the object of attack can mow be made some Impersonal enemy, rather than some particular person or gronp.. There Is enongh to ‘fight for and to fight against Boys and girls who have learned to work together in the various kinds of contests need not abandon the fighting motives, and the powerful organizing Influences that these motives exert upon onr activities. But they must learn to fight real enemies, and for larger and larger groups. Disease still remains to be conquered, and the best physicians and nurses approach their work in the spirit of the soldier. Fire prevention and fire destruction call for as much thought and effort as the best can put forth.. The vast engineering and economic and social problems furnish worthy foes for the fighting instincts of our boys ana girls.

Bibles.

The first Bible printed in Americai was in an Indian language, translated by John Elliott, pioneer missionary to the Indians, and published at Cambridge, Mass., the New Testament in 1661, the entire Bible in 1663. In 1663 one William Bradford proposed to print an English Bible by subscription, the price of the book to subscribers being 20 shillings or a pound sterling. In 1777, during the Revolutionary war, there were so few Bibles in the little group of states that congress voted to print 30,000 copies. Even this was found impracticable. Type and paper were wanting, and by way of compromise 20,000 Bibles were then ordered to be Imported from Europe by authority of congress, the reason being given that “its use was so universal and it* importance so great.” But even this could not be done owing to the war embargo. The work was then undertaken in 1782 by Robert Aitken of Philadelphia as a private enterprise. Tho books were few and very dear.—Christian Herald.

He Proved It.

During the recitation of a college class in natural philosophy, the professor observed a tall, lanky youth in a rear seat, his head drooping, his body relaxed, his eyes half closed, and his legs encumbering the adjacent aisle. “Mr. Frazer,” said the professor. The freshman opened his eyes slowly, but did not change his pose. "Mr. Frazer, what Is work?” “Everything is work,” was thf drawling reply. “Sir,” exclaimed the professor, “do you mean to tell me that is a reasonable answer to my question?” “Yes, sir.” “Then I take It that you would like me and the class to believe that this desk Is work?” “Yes, sir,” replied the youth wearily; “it is woodwork.” —The Christian Herald. >

Needed.

Senator Kern was talking about a noted foreign statesman. “The people want to get rid of him,” he said, “but I’m afraid they can’t do without him. They’re like the Jealous husband. “A husband was very Jealous of his capable, managing wife. She had got him his Job and he owed his various advances to her, but, nevertheless, he got so Jealous one night that he pointed a revolver at her head. “‘What are you going to do, Jim,*she asked, staring into the murderous weapon, calmly. “ Tm going to blow your brains out I* roared the frenzied husband. .“’Jim, don’t you do it,’ she said. •You need my brains where they are.’ *» -Washington Star.