International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

March, 1934 Th INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Three moved to Bayonne, New Jersey, about six miles away. Here Dave helped out the family expense account by selling newspapers and acting as a Western Union messenger boy until he was about 16. During this time the owner of the Bayonne Times, a Mr. J. T. R. Proctor, had taken a kindly interest in him on account of his loss of an arm and started him at night school where he studied shorthand and bookkeeping. He thus succeeded in getting a position as a timekeeper in the Tidewater Oil Works. This position he held until he was about 19 and the craze for bicycles became so great that he started in the bicycle business for himself and, in spite of his only having one arm, he bought the parts and tubing and built bicycles to order, doing his own enameling and putting out a finished bicycle ready to run. About the year 1903, when he was thirty years old he purchased a lot on Avenue D, Bayonne, 25 by 100 feet, and built a one-story wooden building 25 by 52 feet and in this building he installed six pool tables and put up Loop." Good old loop, we still use it. Every single company in the United States which was engaged in making motion pictures at that time was made a member of the newly-formed Patents Company and given a license to operate, except Dave Horsley with his Centaur Film Company. He made application and a committee of three visited his place to look it over. While Dave was in the rear with one of the committee the other two stood on the front steps and one of them said to the other: "Why, this son-of-a-sea-cook ain't got nothing. All he's got is a washtub and a sink. We won't give him a license and he won't last thirty days." As soon as the Patents Company had things fixed up to run they formed the General Film Company to handle the film exchanges and rent film to the exhibitors and collect each week from the owner of every projector in the United States $2 license fee to use the "loop" and they either had to pay or they did not get any film to run. Panorama of the David Horsley Motion Picture Studios and Menagerie on Main Street at Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles. a big sign on the front of the building, "Horsley Pool Parlor." Here he did very well until 1907, when the panic started. Oh, boy ! What a panic ! Every one of the boys and young men that used to spend their evenings shooting pool at Horsley's were the very first ones discharged when the panic struck. This put the Horsley Pool Parlor out of business. One of the pool parlor customers was a young man named Charles Gorman. Charles was a scenic artist and worked for the Biograph Motion Picture Company, in New York. He lost his job, too, in the panic. Gorman and Horsley having nothing else to do but talk, talked about the moving pictures which were then just coming into general use and they decided to pool their interests and start in the moving picture business. First thing they needed was a name for the business, so they took half of Gorman's name — the man — and half of Horsley's name — the horse — and as a half a man and half a horse is known in mythology as a Centaur, they called themselves the Centaur Film Company and started in. Securing some lumber they covered the rear yard over with a wooden platform and on some wires overhead they strung muslin to diffuse the light. While Gorman was getting this ready Horsley with a jack knife and a screw driver and some sprockets from an old projector made a box and installed the parts and called it a camera and, as his own cameraman and director, started in making motion pictures. The first picture made by them was "The Cowboy's Escape," a one-reeler. One reel was enough at that time. The Centaur Film Company had a hard struggle during its first three years of existence. One of the hardest things was to borrow money from their friends and relatives to buy film and pay other expenses. About the end of their first year, or in 1908, a company was formed known as the Patents Company for the purpose of corraling all the patents then in existence pertaining to the making of motion pictures, the principal one of which was that known as the "Latham Just as soon as the General Film began to operate they opened film exchanges in every large city in the United States and at once cut off the supply of all those who had been engaged in the film exchange business. Thus Miles Brothers, who operated an exchange in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles, in charge of Fred C. Dawes, were closed up. Bill Swanson, in Salt Lake City and Denver, was closed up. Carl Laemmle, in Chicago and Milwaukee, was closed. Charles Bauman and Adam Kessell and William Fox all were put out of the film business because they could not buy film. Very soon they all arrived in New York to find out what was to be done about it. Someone said: "Why, there's a one-armed guy over in Bayonne named Dave Horsley making moving pictures. Better go see him," and one by one they went over to see the one-armed guy. Although he was very much like the proverbial onearmed paper hanger, he did not have the hives. Realizing that he alone was not able to compete successfully against the Patents Company and the General Film he did all in his power to aid and assist those who were anxious to start producing pictures and took them in and showed them everything he knew about the business up to that time. Carl Laemmle with Robert H. Cochrane formed the Independent Motion Picture Company and rented a whole floor in a building in New York and began to make one-reel pictures called IMPS. Bill Swanson, with Joe Engel and Ed Porter, started making the Rex Brand pictures. Bauman and Kessell sent Fred Balshofer out to Edendale and started to make the pictures known as the 101 Bisons. Mark Dintenfass, at Coytesville, New Jersey, started the brand known as the Champions. Edwin Thanhauser started a studio at New Rochelle, New York. Then came the Reliance Brand, then Ludwig G. B. Erb and Pat Powers came on with the Powers Brand and so on down the line, until the beginning of 1910 saw as many independent companies making pictures as there were in the trust. However, all was not milk and honey for the independents, by any means. (Concluded in April Issue) Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.