it holds all the scenery that goes aloft. When the
scenery is raised, the "lines," as the ropes or cables are called in
stage language, are pulled down and tied off to this "pin-rail." These
lines attached to the scenery are usually in sets of three, sometimes
four, and extend straight up through the blocks in the gridiron and
across the gridiron down to the pin-rail in the fly-gallery. As they
are usually fastened to three or four different points on each piece
of scenery they are necessarily of three or four different lengths,
but the lines are tied and handled as one at the pin-rail, and pulled
all together. In a set of three lines, the line nearest the pin-rail
is called the "short line," the next one the middle line, the far one
the long line. "Trim it," you hear the order given. This means to
"level" whatever piece of scenery it is. "Tie it off" is the way they
direct that the lines be made fast to the pin-rail. In rainy or damp
weather the ropes get longer; in dry they shrink; then it is necessary
to "trim the drops," letting out the lines and tying them over before
the performance. This is done under the direction of the master
mechanic or stage carpenter. Often there is a counterweight or bag
attached to the lines above the fly-gallery to help carry the weight
of the heavy scenery as it is sent aloft to its resting place in the
flies, out of sight of the audience and out of the way of everybody on
stage.

The various drops are known on the stage as "solid," "cut" or "leg"
drops. Borders about forty feet long by twelve feet deep, hung
horizontally, mask in the top of all scenery, and hide the "flies"
from the audience on the lower floor, and may be interior, exterior,
foliage, straight, arched, or sky borders (plain blue). In troughs
hung across the stage by steel cables from the gridiron, their height
regulated from the fly-gallery, are the various border lights, each
usually in three circuits, red, white and blue. These are hung at
intervals of about six feet, the first being about that distance back
of the act curtain and the others spaced about every six feet to the
back wall of the stage. On the average practical modern stage there
will be anywhere from four to seven border lights. On the stage,
between the curtain line and first border light, are the first
entrances, known as left first entrance and right first entrance. The
right and left of the stage are always the dancer's right and left as
she or he