The Moving Picture World (April 1907)

HIE MOVING PtCfUfeE WORLD. 89 too much pigment. -To do this work properly requires ^ knowledge of the" science of optics and of light. Any- bod\. a mere child, can paint a tree green and a sky blue, but when the tins must be graduated according to the phenomena of nature it takes an Artist's eye." * * * THE LATEST FROM YOUNGSTOWN, O. An elderly couple entered a local picture show one morning this week, and, taking seats near the front of the little theatre, folded their hands and waited patiently for the motion pictures to be shown on the canvas. They had been there for half an hour when two electric work- ers, who were engaged in finishing some of the interior wiring, entered the place. "Are you waiting for the show?" one of them asked. "Yes, sir," replied the man, "we want to see the moving pictures." "It will be two hours before the performance begins," explained the workman; "the place is open now in order that we may do some wiring." "Two hours yet, did you say?" "Yes, two hours or more." The man reached under the seat and brought forth a unch basket. "If that's the case," he said, "I guess me and mother will make ourselves comfortable. We drove six miles this morning and we are going to see the show before we go home." THREE POINTS OF VIEW. The Rev. R. F. Johnson, rector of the Gate of Heaven parish at South Boston, has sent a letter to Mayor Fitzgerald in which he enters a vigorous protest against ranting a license for a moving picture show at the en- trance of Marine Park. Rector Johnson says the senti- ment at South Boston is just as strong against this license as it was two years ago against a dance hall and show house at the Park. Two years ago over 4,000 signatures were received against the dance hall, and the Rev. Mr. Johnson claims an equally strong petition can be presented against the moving picture show. Ex-Councilor J. J. McNamara takes a different view of the matter from the clergy. "I am by all means in favor of granting a license for a picture show at City Point. The show is entertaining and respectable and has no hurtful effect on the neighborhood, as far as I can see." "My experience with moving picture shows," said Dr. Herbert J. Keenan, of West Broadway, "leads me to be- lieve that, if properly conducted, they are instructive and entertaining to the young people who most frequent them. The small fee charged tends to keep rowdies away, and a great many children pay for their admission with penny savings which, otherwise, would be dispensed in purchas- ing candy and pastry/' - • ; Moving Picture Exhibits and the Department of electricity. Gas and 'Water in New YorK City. The Department of Electricity, Water and Gas, New York City, in conjunction with the Fire Department and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, has been con- ducting a crusade against the manipulators of moving picture machines in New York City. About a year ago the electrical bureau of the Department of Electricity, Water and Gas began a careful inspection of these de- vices and discovered great indifference to rendering this apparatus even a reasonably safe fire hazard. New York City, in fact, is the pioneer in this movement toward mak- ing these machines safe. In most instances, when this crusade was begun, the celluloid films were placed upon an open reel at the top of the machine and allowed to fall into a flannel bag at the bottom of the machine, with- out any protective device's or shields surrounding this highly inflammable material. Under the direction of the experts of the electrical bureau the machines are now be- ing equipped with sheet metal cases encasing the reels both above and below the projection apparatus. Where the celluloid film leaves the upper case, and again where it enters the lower case, it passes between brass rollers, which would smother any flame which might be started outside of the cases. This would effectually prevent the greater portion of the film taking fire and creating an extensive conflagration. It has been demonstrated that the operator sometimes held the film in the beam of light from the arc lamp, while making the adjustment at the arc, so long that the film took fire. In order to obviate this possibility the ma- chines are now fitted with an automatic screen, so ar- ranged that the beam of light can not fall upon the film until the machine has come up to speed. In this way, if the operator stops the movement of the film, the filter is interposed between the arc light beam and the celluloid. The department has also prescribed certain regulations affecting the use of resistances, flexible connections^and arrangement of auxiliaries. The Department of Electricity, Water and Gas, in or- der to make violations of its recommendations as few as possible, is now issuing permits good for thirty days. The number indicated on these certificates must corre- spond to the number of the name plate on each machine. This obviates, in a measure, the possibility of the operator securing a number of certificates upon one good machine by moving it from place to place, and operating a cor- responding number of bad machines in different sections of the city.— Electrical Review. Owing to the demand on our space, we have very reluctantly, omitted several items from the list of New Films, also a number of articles of interest, which will appear next issue.— Ed.