A Level-headed " Super."

Otago Witness, Issue 2085, 8 February 1894, Page 49

A Level-headed " Super."

" I remember," said a well-known actor the other day, " once to have seen the rale of a hero played with all the spontaneity of real genius by a poor stage supernumary, It happened during a battle scone in • Henry V ' at a Philadelphia theatre. In a lull in the firing the audience discovered that a fly at the top of the stage was ablaze. A stampede was imminent. Half the people in the house were already on their feet. Two men could be seen aloft, making desperate efforts to tear away the burning Bcene. This added to the consternation. Another instant and a panic would have ensued, in which many % lives would have been lost.

" Such was the situation when out of the troop of soldiers on the stage stepped a 'super,' and in a roaring 'aside' addressed to the trembling audience he shouted :

" ' Kape yer sates. Don't yer see de firs is in de play ? '

" The effect was magical. Few believed the statement, but unconsciously everybody dropped back into his chair and the play went on. A roar of laughter followed, and although it was five minutes before the fire extinguishers completed their work, not a trace of fear reappeared among the members of the audience. I never knew that man's name, but I have always thanked God for his presence of mind and his rich Irish brogue."