The Moving picture world (April 1920-May 1920)

736 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 1, 1920 Give Us the Location The following letter from Carl Ellis, Harlem, Montana, is typical of many this department receives : Find enclosed twenty-five cents for second question booklet. Can you tell me where I should apply for admission to the Projectionist and Stage Hands' Union? Have desired to join for quite some time, but lacked the necessary information. Have been projecting pictures for eight years, and think it about time I joined. Also what are the requirements and fees for joining? When asking such questions for Heaven's sake give me the exact location of your town. Sometimes I am able to find it and sometimes not. Harlem is not listed in the towns of Montana on my atlas, and I just simply cannot spare time to search the whole state map. A man is always within the jurisdiction of the union he is nearest to in distance. Montana has unions in Helena, Butte, Anaconda, Billings, Great Falls, Lewiston and Missoula that I can think of oflfhand. You belong in the one you are nearest, but it is not at all certain the union you are eligible to will take you in. As to requirements for joining, why you must have been within the jurisdiction of the union you apply to for not less than six months. You must be working as a projectionist and must be able to pass such explanation as the union may see fit to impose, which in most cases I have personal knowledge of amounts to very little. The cost of joining varies, different unions charging different initiation fees. Some are as low as ten dollars and some more than a hundred. Well Put, Indeed Recently Betty Flack, a member of the spring graduating class of the Greenport, Long Island, schools, wrote the editor of this department asking information as to the early history of the moving picture industry, that subject having been given her as the theme of her graduating paper. We sent Miss Flack such data as was at hand, and she in return mailed us a copy of the paper she prepared, at the ending of which was a sentence we think would call for something more than a mere passing glance if it came from the pen of a seasoned writer. From a school girl it is remarkable. It reads : The world has been conquered by the motion picture, because it has given to the world something its heart and mind desired; something which has made the world brighter, better and happier. Seems to us that that sentence epitomizes the motion picture in its relation to human affairs pretty thoroughly. If it is original with Miss Flack, as we have no reason to suppose it is not, she is entitled to distinct credit for having put a long story into one perfectly worded sentence. Projectionists Not Admitted The Society of Motion Picture Engineers has decided it would be unwise to admit to membership any one not a recognized engineer in some branch of the industry. This matter was discussed at some length at the Pittsburg meeting when the admission of projectionists to membership was broached. Long Focal Length Condensers At last we have found a place where condenser lenses of any desired length, up to even the most extreme requirement of the high amperage chart, may be had. Cannot quote prices but the lenses may be had from C. & A. Matisse, 551 n6th street. New York City. Figure 1. Cosmograph Projector. This model is for standard film. The Cosmograph Dwyer Brothers and Company, of Cincinnati, are placing on the market a new, and in many respects a unique portable projector of the now familiar "suitcase" variety. It is to be known as the "Cosmograph" and is designed for use in class rooms, for semi-private entertainments, for advertising purposes, and home projection. The Cosmograph will be made in two sizes, one for regular standard, and one for narrow width standard film, which is, it seems to us, a distinct recommendation, in that it leaves to the purchaser the choice as between the use of inflammable and noninflammable film and puts such hazard as may lie in the use of inflammable film squarely up to the user. Narrow Width Projector Is Small. The narrow width standard projector is quite unique in the matter of size. It is the smallest and lightest really practical and substantially built motor driven projector we have ever examined. Complete, with motor, it is something like fourteen inches long by a foot in height. The castings are all of aluminum and the whole machine weighs only seventeen and a half pounds, though the addition of the carrying case brings the weight up to twenty-two pounds. Figure 2. Standard Cosmograph Projector. Weight, 17% pounds. A — framing lever; B — motor speed control; C — switch, controlling both motor and lamp. Projection light is supplied by means of a tubular "Mazda," which gives what seema to be very satisfactory screen brilliancy. Regular Projector Ii Larger. The regular Cosmograph, used for standard film, is a considerably larger machine, but it nevertheless fits into a carrying case eighteen inches long, a foot high and eight inches wide, same being substantially constructed of wood, and lined with fireproofing. The case is neat in appearance, though we incline to the view that the purchaser would prefer the "leather" covered case to varnished oak. When ready for action the projector rests on top of the case, to which it is rigidly anchored. When projection is under way both reels are within the carrying case and entirely enclosed. The frame of the projector is of aluminum, which makes for lightness. As will be seen in the accompanying illustrations, the motor is attached to the front of the projector, just to the right of the objective as we look toward the lamphouse. It is of the "universal" type, and is direct connected to the mechanism by means of a universal joint. Control of Speed. Control of projection speed is accomplished by rotating the brushes upon the commutator, the handle used for this purpose being located immediately under the objective. The framing lever also is located immediately under the objective, but the one does not interfere with the other. The lamphouse is of heavy Russian iron, 6.5 inches square by four deep, front to back. Back of the 400 watt Mazda lamp is a silver-surface glass reflector, rigidly secured in place. The condensers ordinarily used are of the corrugated type, but there is provision for instant change to either piano convex or meniscus bi-convex, if those lenses be preferred. Combination Projector. The lamphouse swings over from moving picture to stereopticon, which latter is incorporated in very excellent form. Both the light and the motor jr.re handled by a single four-point snap switch, conveniently located on the working side of the projector. The take-up is of the friction disc type, similar in action to that employed on professional projectors. Both reels are in the carrying case when projection is in process. The path of the film is up out of the case, through a fire trap, over what corresponds to the upper feed sprocket of the professional projector, on up. forming upper loop as at "A" figure I, down through the stripper plates, which correspond to the "gate" or "film trap" in other projectors, over the aperture, to the intermittent sprocket, over the lower sprocket and through a fire trap back into the case and onto the take-up reel. The feed reel and take-up reel as almost side by side. Rewinding is accomplished by changing the position of the reels, throwing the gear shift out and starting the motor. There Is No Gate. The Cosmograph has no "gate." Instead are two "stripper plates" of spring steel. By means of a convenient arrangement these plates may be pulled outward sfficiently to relieve all tension, whereupon the film is slipped down through across the aperture to the intermittent sprocket. This arrangement should work well. It saves both manufacturing cost and space in operation. The mechanism is equipped with the usual governor controlled automatic fire shutter. The intermittent movement is encased in