The Moving Picture World (1907)

40 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD. way could an accurate illustration of the various forms of epilepsy be presented at a moment's notice. Not long ago a man had moving pictures taken of the working of a car seat of his invention side by side with that of another car seat which he alleged infringed upon his patent. By means of a thumb book of pictures showing the workings of the two seats he clearly proved his con- tention to be true in court and won his ; case. An odd use of such pictures was found the other day by a rowing coach. His crew had been photographed while going at full speed by a moving picture machine. Afterward, in looking slowly over the photographs, he discovered one of the oarsmen right in the act of aJaulty movement. He declared that never had he been satisfied with that particular oarsman's stroke, yet could never tell exactly where the trouble lay. But, the mistake hav- ing been made clear in this manner, it was soon remedied. The United States army has had pictures taken of a soldier going through the manual of arms. Thumb books with these pictures are made up and furnished to the recruit, who by looking carefully through them can easily trace every minute movement that goes to make up the completed action. Football coaches use similar means to show new men the best methods of kicking the ball. A crack punter goes through the form of kicking the ball, and every movement is faithfully recorded by the machine, which furnishes the beginner with better insight of the art of kicking than all the coaching in the world. . Nowadays many of the big corporations have moving pictures taken of the workings of the various depart- ments of their plants. One of the best things of this kind was the reproduction of a scene in the forging room of the Westinghouse Company, which was shown after a banquet of the officials of the concern at the Waldorf- Astoria. The pictures showed the welding of a giant ring of iron used to encircle one of the largest dynamos. The lights for taking the pictures were so arranged that every single detail stood out with remarkable clear- ness. One could almost imagine that he was looking at the actual scene. There were half a dozen workmen busily engaged in the work of welding the huge piece of metal, which was suspended from a traveling crane in such a way that it could be handled easily and quickly, and every part of the work was shown from the moment the metal left the forge until the finishing touches were made by means of a large triphammer. As a demonstration it was in every way as clear as if one had been standing in the workroom. One of the striking features of the representation is the fact that at no time during the ten or fifteen minutes necessary to forge this piece of metal did any of the workmen glance in the direction of the picture machine or in any way show that they knew every action was being photo- graphed. The Valine ©f Film Negatives. The costliest negative ever taken by one moving pic- ture concern shows the occupation of Pekin by the for- eign soldiers during the Boxer rebellion. A photographer took the pictures of the allied troops as they scaled the walls of the city. That film cost $7,000. Many of the films taken of the Boer and Japanese wars were almost as costly. The greatest picture ever taken was that of the fight v between Jeffries and Sharkey, at Coney Island, in 1898. £ The film'was 37,125 feet Iong-^-over seven miles. On this were 198,000 photographs, and the machine ran con- tinuously for no minutes. Some idea of the cost of this film may be had when one learns it is estimated that the total expense per min- ute of running the machine is $50. The film is used at the rate of 74 feet a, minute and costs 25 cents for each foot. Usually in taking pictures of long duration three ma- chines are used, two in operation, one in reserve. The films come in lengths of 250 feet, and the.machines alternate. Movisa^ Pictures at Dallas. -• There are now in Dallas more than a dozen—nearly a score, in fact—moving picture shows. They literally line Main and Elm streets from one boundary of the business district to the other. From early morn till late at night the man whose business keeps him on the streets walks down the sidewalk under a row of big tin horns,, which shout into his ears the latest gag, joke or jest, sing the most popular song or whistle the newest ditty. They are the. "outside performances" of the moving picture show. They are the prelude or the overture, as it were, to the fifteen rninutes' entertainment promised the pros- pective patron on the inside. The story sent out from St. Louis some^wreeks ago to the effect that a "moving picture wave was sweeping over the Southwest," and that "the public was developing a mania for this sort of entertainment" is nowhere, per- haps, south of the Missouri city, better realized than in the Texas metropolis. ■ If the "craze" had just begun in the big Western ..town when the story was sent out it overspread the thousand miles between that city and Dallas in a remarkably short time. The first moving pic- ture show was opened up in Dallas two or three months ago. At first it was largely an experiment. Patrons were so scarce -that two doors were cut in the front en- trance and one side of the house turned over to the simple-minded darkey. For some weeks it jogged along and failure loomed up and down the future as prom- inently as a treasury deficit. Then all of a sudden.the "craze," or whatever it was, struck the city. The public began.to attend the moving picture show. First the au- diences were largely women and children. Then the men began to drop in and while resting view the swiftly chang- '■.