518 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION H. 



continuously strained. Statements have been made to the effect 

 that in those rare cases where the structural design admits of too 

 marked and unpleasant an augmentation of sound, a successful 

 remedy is to be found by fixing wires in particular directions 

 across the upper internal portions of the edifice. 



There is a remarkable tendency in the modern theatre to bathe 

 both stage and auditorium in a mass of glaring light. On the 

 stage there is certainly much too much of it : in the old days the 

 greater portion of the stage was thrown into obscurity, the lights 

 being directed on the performers, an arrangement which i-endered 

 the scenic illusion still more complete. For in everyday life, 

 when witnessing any passing circumstance or event, what we are 

 most struck with, is not the surroundings but the individuals 

 engaged. In the auditorium again, the flood of light from the 

 central chandelier, though defended on the ground of assisting in 

 the expulsion of vitiated air, miglit easily be dispensed with, 

 proving as it does a source of no small annoyance to the people in 

 the upper tiers and gallery. 



At present, the heated atmosphere and noxious products of 

 combustion are strong objections to the use of gas. Gas footlights 

 are a terrible ordeal to the poor actor ; unless well accustomed to 

 them his eyes ai'e worried with the flickering glare, and his throat 

 often parched up, at a distance of some few feet even, by the 

 oppresive heat and combustion products arising ; in addition, the 

 various vapours resulting produce such rarefaction as to render it 

 necessary for his voice to be considerably raised. In Spain, the 

 latest regulations to hand prohibit the use of gas in toto after the 

 next six months. Where employed at all, the gas pipes should be 

 laid in the walls, and not external to them. The necessity of 

 this method of fixing pipes is well illustrated by the fatal panic at 

 Spitalfields (London) where the prime cause of the disaster 

 appears to have been the knocking or pulling down of such a gas- 

 pipe affixed to the wall. It is curious to learn that at the Opera 

 House here, the tubing connecting the gas-lights on the flies is of 

 rubber, the condition of which, according to the last report of the 

 Colonial Architect, is described as decayed and dangerous ! 



There can be no doubt as to the expediency, from a health point 

 of view, of resorting to electricity as the very best of illuminants, 

 but even that is liable to danger unless sufficient precautions be 

 adopted. For instance, at the new Burg Theatre in course of 

 construction at Vienna last year, considerable damage was occa- 

 sioned by a flaw in the cable, while a little over a month ago, a 

 similar accident took place in one of the courts of the Melbourne 

 Exhibition. 



Whichever the source of light, meter or dynamo, sliould be 

 situated outside the walls of the building, and at least, the lighting 

 of the stage and auditorium should be separate. Tlie gross difi- 

 ciencies in this connection at Her Majesty's have already been 



