Moving Picture News (Jul-Oct 1913)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

22 THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS MIATT-PATENTS DEPARTMENT Recent Inventions, Letters Patent, Trade-Marks, Designs, Copyrights, Etc., Relating to the Art, Digested and Reported Exclusively for the Moving Picture News by Geo. Wm. Miatt, Patent Lawyer and Expert, Temple Court, cor. of Nassau and Beekman Streets, New York City When the original Constitution of the United States was adopted the subject of monopoly was approached in a spirit of liberality in so far as authors and inventors were concerned, as is shown by contemporary records of the great popular discussion which preceded the adoption of the Constitution by the several states, and especially by the records of the debates in the Constitutional Convention itself, which indicate clearly that the almost unique distinction of universal approval was accorded Article 1, Section 8, Subdivision 8, which provides that Congress shall have power to "promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited terms, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." There can be no doubt about this original intention, as interpreted long ago by Chief Justice Story. "Patents for inventions are now treated as a just reward to ingenious men, and as highly beneficial to the public, not only by holding out suitable encouragements to genius and talents and enterprise, but as ultimately securing to the whole cominunity great advantages from the free communication of secrets and processes and machinery, which may be most important to all the great interests of society — to agriculture, to commerce, and to manufactures, as well as to the cause of science and art." This liberal view of the subject has always attained until recently, and is a natural if not a necessary result of the very language and intent of the power thus given to Congress, and which it is now sought to denaturize and prevert by the pending Oldfield bill and other equally questionable measures, notwithstanding the fact that the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to curb and prevent any abuse of the spirit as well as the letter of the existing patent law which has stood the test of generations. The accompanying perspective view illustrates in a general way the flashlight apparatus which is the subject of Letters Patent No. 1,063,778, issued to James Logan with an electrical switch designed to be operated by the shutter operating mechanism each time that the shutter is opened so as to close the circuit to a sparking device to ignite flashing powder. In addition, means are actuated for causing the powder-receiving members to be moved one step forward so as to provide a new charge of powder for the next closing of the switch and opening of the shutter of the camera. In this way one or more flashes may be given to each plate in the camera if desired, or the flashes may be given as rapidly as new plates can be substituted in the camera without any reloading of the flashing means. 1 indicates the cabinet having a substantially transparent door 2. Arranged in the cabinet 1 is a flashing device 3 connected to a suitable electrical supply 4 which provides a spark for igniting the powder and also provides current for moving the successive charges of powder to a correct position for being ignited. Interposed in the circuit between the flashing device 3 and the source of supply 4, and also in the circuit of the induction coil 5, are a pair of wires 6 connected by a suitable button 7 to a switch 8; 9 is the camera; 34 is the base of the flash device connected by wire 35 with the induction coil 5; 45 and 46 are battery connections. What next? About five feet of film is said to be sufficient to record the characteristics and peculiarities in the movement and carriage of the average criminal, and hence we read that the New York Police are to utilize motion pictures (subject to the approval of the Mayor) for the identification of criminals. The films are, of course, to be projected onto a screen when needed for comparative purposes. Announcement is made of the experimental manufacture of a "neutral" mirror in which "to see oursel's as ithers see us," at least in so far as color tints are concerned. Even the best French plate glass has a blue cast which absorbs pink tints, and hence does not correctly reflect the delicate tones of my lady's complexion and hair, which is presumably the reason why she is deluded into the use of artificial coloring. A Nebraskan is the inventor, and it was only after a long search that he found a German manufacturer that could produce the desired glass, not only neutral but containing the elements of color which neutralize the blue tinge of the silver on the back of the mirror, the scientific problem solved being thus stated: "By balancing the color components of the glass so that the selective absorption in the glass will compensate for the selective reflection of the silver backing, a neutral mirror must result." Much difficulty was experienced in obtaining a patent, because the best mirrors heretofore made are presumed to be perfect and the examiner was not convinced until he had seen the ordinary "best" mirror and the improved "neutral" mirror side by side. Our sisters, our cousins and our aunts may now, by the aid of this now and truthful mirror, see for themselves that: "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily. To throw a perfume on the violet. To smooth the ice, or add another hue Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, Is wasteful and ridiculous excess." Courson, of Rarberton, Ohio. In carrying out tlie objects of the invention, a cabinet is provided in which a rotating powder-receiving device is mounted, associated with means for operating the same. Arranged in any desired relationship to the cabinet is a camera provided A novelty recently introduced is a stcrcopticou wliiv'li uses films instc;id of glass plates. Ob\ iously the films would be blistered by the heat if used in an ordinary stereopticon, but this dilTicultj' is obviated by interposing a heat-absorbing