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46 THE HOUSE THAT SHADOWS BUILT
kinetoscope. This device for showing the pictures consisted of a high box like a fat pillar, into which the spectator looked through a peep-hole. So postured, he beheld, seemingly on a glass plate, a girl doing the skirt dance or a man making realistic gestures. Edison intended to exhibit the kinetoscope at the World’s Fair. However, a hitch in manufacturing prevented that. Now among the by-paths which branched from the main road of this invention was the Anchnitz tachyscope, a device even less perfected than the kinetoscope. When its owners found that Edison could not get ready in time, they set up shop at the Fair. This, too, was a peep-show device. Its star actor was an elephant, which walked glimmeringly across the tiny field of vision. That was wonder enough !
I should like to record that young Adolph Zukor saw this exhibition and stood thrilled; that the five-cent piece he gave up at the door was the initial investment which grew into his present fortune. In sober truth, he cannot remember whether he saw the tachyscope or no. Probably he did not. He had heard of the moving picture — yes. However, this America was an exciting new world, full of wonders. . . .
Besides, when spring came to Chicago he had found a new interest. The original White Sox were in their glory; the town had gone mad over baseball. The boys in Tompkins Square made a god of John L. Sullivan. The clothing operatives and apprentice clerks in his Hun