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Show MY LEIGHTON'S eye NEARLY BLOWN OUT BY EXPLOSION OF CHNNON - - Tha entire right aid of his face blackened and bleeding, his hair singed and his right eyebrow burned two-:. two-:. thirds ft, Harry Lighton, star of the Leighton players at the Grand theater, was picked up by his associates from the stage of that theater, stunned and offering as a result of an accident that all bat cost the actor the loss of his right eye. That it did not rain the eye is miraculous, mirac-ulous, as the flesh about it is scorched and blistered. Mr. Leighton is appearing appear-ing at the head of .his company in spite ox his injuries, but with the greatest .difficulty.' . The- premature discharge of the big revolving cannon used in the gunroom ' scene in the third act of "The Cherry Pickers," Joseph Arthur's thrilling military drama that is being, presented ' by Mr. Leighton and his eompany at d the. Grand this week, at the, Sunday , morning rehearsal of the play is respon-V' respon-V' 1 lible for Mr. Leighton 's injuries. The f accident ' is ' the seeond that has hap-' hap-' pened at the Grand as the result of firing the big gun. Considerable dam- age was done the Grand's stage in the first accident, as the cannon used was too large. A smaller gun was substituted late last week, but even the latter is a formidable for-midable piece of artillery and , Mr. Leighton had issued instructions that the utmost care be used in firing it in what is probably the most dramatic scene witnessed on a Salt Lake stage in years. The Sunday morning rehearsal of "The Cherry Pickers" had proceeded to the gunroom act, in which Mr. Leighton as John Nazare, a half easte native of India and an officer in the army of that country, is confined in the gunroom of a fort with a fellow half caste. Both have been sentenced to be shot as spies. Suddenly in the person of Nazare the other half caste discovers an enemy for whom he has been searching for years to avenge a brother's death. Nazare, preferring to be killed by his companion compan-ion rather than be shot as a spy, tells the man to swing the eannon upon him as he stands chained to the wall and blow him to pieces. The scene in the rehearsal Sunday had reached this point and Mr. Leighton Leigh-ton as Nazare stood with his back .to the wall of the gunroom, his face almost on a level with the mouth of the gun when suddenly, without an instant's warning, the big machine went off with a roar. Mr. Leighton 's face was scarcely three feet from the mouth of the gun and directly in range. How he happened to turn his head at. the right moment and receive only a portion of the terrific ter-rific charge of powder on the right side of his face is a mystery that the star is inclined to aeeept without explanations. explana-tions. A horrified cry went np from the members of Mr. Leighton 's eompany as he dropped to the stage. He was carried to his dressing-room and a doctor doc-tor summoned at once. It was feared for several hours that Mr. Leighton would lose the sight of his right eye in spite of all that could be done. Constant Con-stant work over the injured man, however, how-ever, disclosed the fact that while the flesh had been scorched to the very eyelids eye-lids and the eyebrow practically burned off. the optical organ was uninjured. The collar and clothes of the actor were badly singed. The rehearsal was at once called off and Mr. Leighton I spent the remainder of the day in his room under a doctor's eare. |