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University M icrofilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8510626 Recklies, Donald Fred SPECTACLE AND ILLUSION: THE MECHANICS OF THE HORSE RACE ON THE THEATRICAL STAGE 1883 - 1923 The Ohio State University PH.D. 1985 University Microfilms I n te r n StO i n81 1 300 N. zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1985 by Recklies, Donald Fred All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V 1. Glossy photographs or pages ^ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. Photographs with dark background ______ 4. Illustrations are poor cop______ y 5. P ages with black marks, not original copy. 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sid es of page. 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages / 8. Print exceeds margin requirements______ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine . 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print. 11. P age(s) ____________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. P age(s) ____________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follo'. T. 13. Two pages num bered _____________ . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages ______ 15. Other _________________________ ___________________ University Microfilms international SPECTACLE AND ILLUSION; THE MECHANICS OF THE HORSE RACE ON THE THEATRICAL STAGE 1883 - 1923 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Donald F. Recklies, A.B., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1984 Reading Committee: Approved By George Crepeau Charles Ritter Adviser Department of Theatre Alan Woods Copyright Donald F. Recklies 1984 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to many people for their help in the preparation of this dissertation; my advisor Alan Woods, George Crepeau, and Charles Ritter for their help and patience with long-distance submissiom of materials; my wife Adele for her research aid; and the staffs of The Theatre Musaura, London, and The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York Public Library, without whose aid the research for this dissertation would have been impossible. 1 1 VITA 1966 ................... A.B., The Youngstown University, Youngstown, Ohio 1967 ..................... Sec. English Teacher, Maplewood Local School District, Cortland, Ohio 1968-70 ................. Graduate Assistant, Asst, to the Technical Director, Kent State University 1971 ..................... M.A., Kent State University 1 9 7 1 ..................... Part Time Instructor, Kent State University; Technical Director, KSU Porthouse Theatre at Blossom Music Center 1972-76 ................. Instructor, Concord College Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts, Athens, West Virginia PUBLICATIONS "Treadmills, Panoramas, and Horses in Neil Burgess's The County Fair," Theatre Studies 24/25 (1978/79). "The Lighting Practice of Henry Irving," Theatre Studies 26/27 (1980/81). FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field; Theatre Studies in Literature and Criticism. Professors John Morrow, George Crepeau, and Donald Glancy Studies in History. Professors Alan Woods and George Crepeau Studies in Theatrical Production. Professor Russell Hastings, Richard Huggins, and Michelle Guillot 1 1 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................... Ü VITA ............ ■...................................... iii LIST OF F I G U R E S ...................................... V INTRODUCTION ........................................... 1 Chapter I. UNASSEMBLED COMPONENTS........................ 15 II. THE AMERICAN MACHINES OF NEIL BURGESS .... 26 III. RACING MACHINES— THE PATENTED DEVICES OF BURGESS AND OTHERS ............................ 64 IV. THE BEN-HUR MACHINES ....................... ■ 135 V. THE RACING MACHINES IN F R A N C E ............... 193 VI. THE RACING MACHINES AT DRURY L A N E ........... 214 CONCLUSION............................................. 244 APPENDIXES A. Plays copyrighted by Neil B u rgess ........... 249 B. An annotated list of U. S. patents held by 250 Neil Burgess .................................. C. Patented Burgess Devices Affiliated to the Racing M a c h i n e s ....................... 253 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 260 IV LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. The Vice-Regal ball at Delhi in The Hope . 9 2. Earthquake and fire scene in The H o p e ......... 11 3. Agricultural horse-power ...................... 21 4. Chubb & Sons, factory shafting and belting . 23 5. Burgess's buggy-ride machine, U. S. patent 256,007 ........................................ 30 6. The County Fair racing m a c h i n e ............... 42 '7. Illustration from Burgess's U. S. patent 924,632 ........................................ 68 8. Illustration from Burgess's U. S. patent 277,137 ........................................ 72 9. Illustration from Burgess's U. S. patent 286,709 ........................................ 78 10. Sheet 1 from Burgess's U. S. patent 418,372 ........................................ 81 11. Sheet 1 from Burgess's U. S. patent 423.171 ........................................ 86 12. Sheet 2 from Burgess's U. S. patent 423.171 ..... .............................. 88 13. Illustration from Jefferson Patten's U. S. patent 501,099 92 14. Sheet 1 from Burgess's U. S. patent 736,360 ........................................ 95 15. Sheét 2 from Burgess’s British patent 9068 . 99 V 15. Illustration from Adrian William's British patent 12,230 . .................... 102 17. Illustration from F. M. Chapman's U. S. patent 423,372 106 18. Sheet 1 from Burgess's U. S. patent 471,126 . 109 19. sheet 1 from Hagen's U. S. patent 656,969 . 113 20. Sheet 2 from Hagen's U. S. patent 656,969 . 115 21. Sheet 4 from Hagen's U. S. patent 656,969 . 118 22. Sheet 1 from Hagen's U. S. patent 653,997 . 122 23. Sheet 2 from Hagen's U. S. patent 653,997 . 124 24. Sheet 1 from David Towers's U. S. patent 666.714 ......................................... 128 25. Sheet 2 from David Towers's U. S. patent 666.714 ......................................... 131 26. Cutaway rendering of the Ben-Hur r a c e ........... 142 27. Sectional view of the Ben-Hur treadmill carriages ............................ 147 28. Ben-Hur at Drury L a n e ......................... 149 29. Ben-Hur treadmills post 1905 166 30. Trick chariot in B e n - H u r ..................... 176 31. Cutaway view of the Paris Port de Mer race scene 196 32. View of the Paris Port de Mer race scene as seen by the audience .......................... 199 33. deVaulabelle's illustration of the Paris Port de Mer ma c h i n e r y .............. 206 34. Train wreck scene in The Wh i p .................... 218 35. Staged photograph of the start of the race in The W h i p .......................... 222 VI 36. Substage Machinery for The Whip at Drury L a n e .................................. 225 37. Cut-away view of The Whip race scene at the Manhattan Opera House ......... 229 V I 1 INTRODUCTION In the English speaking world the nineteenth century saw the flourishing of a technologically sophisticated, mercantile society, a society enriched by the continuing fruition of the industrial revolution in an environment of accessible resources and markets. Metropolitan areas burgeoned. The twin magnets of freedom from old social restraints and the availability of jobs in commerce and industry drew an enormous influx to working class urban neighborhoods near metropolitan