TOO MUCH REALISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13453, 1 June 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

TOO MUCH REALISM.

STARTLING CINEMATOGRAPH I ADVENTURE. ;Ox the rai'way'at Stoats Nest, near Pur- [ ley, some few miles south of London, , a man named William Zeitz, aged 48, met with an accident in curious circumstance.'?. It was bad enough for him, as his injuries included a scalp wound, broken ribs, and shock. Zeitz possessed a docile dog—a big brindled Danish hound—which ran about his home at Croydon, and advantage was | take i of this fact by a firm of cinematograph film manufacturers to arrange a thrilling | train-wrecking scene, and the frustration of | villainy by means of the faithful animal. I This* was the programme: Two ruffians (represented by the firm's men) were to place sleepers on the metals with the idea of wrecking the Brighton express. From his box a signalman notes the tactics of the would-be -wreckers, and dashes out to remove the obstruction. But the ruffians overcome him, bind him to the rails, and decamp. Enter the canine hero, with the signalman's dinner in a basket. The modern Dog of Montargis immediately grasps the position of affairs, and trots off for help. With a rattle and a roar the express dashes up, but just as a terrible catastrophe appears unavoidable the signalman's wife arrives, stops the train, and saves her husband. So far, so good. But accidents will happen, and one occurred in this case. At the crucial moment there was a slight error. The train failed to stop as arranged, went plump Into the- sleepers, and sent one of them flying against Mr. Zeitz, with the unfortunate results mentioned. In an interview, Mrs. Zeitz said: "It is quite true we arranged to wreck a train lor some cinematograph people, but we did not intend to do any damage. "It was all make-believe. I was the signalman's wife, and my husband he was to be bound and then saved by me. Everything worked well until the train came up; bub it did not stop, and only just in time my husband.got clear, and the sleepers were hurled about, one of them striking him. " We did not get the consent of the railway people. Never again will Ido such a .thing." ~-..-... * . j