The stable doors are open and a horse-drawn ambulance emerges, then heads off down the street at an accelerating clip, followed by attendants in a topless wagon. A police officer holds back foot and street traffic until the professionals are out of sight, then everyone goes about their business.
Like many of the Edison actualities supervised by William Heisse, I believe this was staged, although it is quite possible that given the calls of a busy and dangerous city, he could have set up his camera and waited for the action to occur. Whichever it was, the audience, whether in one of the nickelodeons springing up or on a peep show machine, would have had the impression of the busy, life-saving work these people did, and a soupcon of the second-hand thrill that their call to action portended.
Like many of the Edison actualities supervised by William Heisse, I believe this was staged, although it is quite possible that given the calls of a busy and dangerous city, he could have set up his camera and waited for the action to occur. Whichever it was, the audience, whether in one of the nickelodeons springing up or on a peep show machine, would have had the impression of the busy, life-saving work these people did, and a soupcon of the second-hand thrill that their call to action portended.
