Moving Picture World (March 1908)

i8o THE MOVING PICTURE: WORLD Lessons for Operators. By F. H. Richardson, Operator, Chicago. CHAPTER IV. Fuses. There are several kinds of patent as well as link fuses, but aside from the fact that some of the patent ones emit no visible flash when they blow out, they perform no office that is not equally well taken care of by a plain piece of fuse wire. However, either the link or patent fuses are much more handy and quicker fitted into place than is the wire. It is a mistake to run with operating room fuses barely large enough to carry the current. Care should be taken that they are smaller than the main house fuses or the house fuses may blow first, leaving everything in dark- ness. But that is the only precaution necessary. There is absolutely nothing about the lamp that can possibly be injured by a momentary excess of current and the writer generally uses 50-ampere fuses in the operating room. There is no sense in all the time blowing fuses. The Lamphouse. There is not very much to be said on this subject. The style one likes, another does not, and there is a great diversity of opinion among operators as to what is best. In general the essential feature of a good lamphouse is good ventilation (though some operators strenuously ob- ject), with top screen coarse enough to not be readily clogged with carbon ash. Size depends on use it is to be put to. If on the road, a small one is preferable, but for stationary work the writer prefers one of ample propor- tions. Where a filmbox is used the lamphouse should be thor- oughly insulated from it by means of asbestos board at least half an inch thick. The holes where the wires enter should be bushed with porcelain insulators securely fast- ened in place but at the same time easily removable. This may be done by using the kind that have a screw thread on their outer diameter. Screw them into the hole and then screw on a metal ferrule on the inside. The laws of most cities require that the lamphouse door be equipped with a spring, but door springs are only a nui- sance to the operator and serve no particularly useful pur- pose, as no one who knows his business is going to run with a lamphouse door open anyhow. Unless a spring is required by law, simply have a good latch and keep* it securely fastened when the lamp is burning. Keep the lamphouse clean. Once a week (if used every day) re- move it from its base and take it outdoors. Clean the vent screens, top and bottom, thoroughly and shake every particle of dirt out. Clean the sliderods and oil with a little vaseline. The Lamp. There are several good lamps on the market and it is not the writer's purpose to recommend any special make. In general a lamp should possess the following points of excellence to meet your approval: Simplicity, good me- chanical construction, few parts, strength, perfect insula- tion of carbon-holder arms in such form as to not be readily injured or displaced, plenty of adjustment—up, down and sidewise, good wire contacts and good, true carbon grips with clampscrews" that will not be eternally and everlastingly bending or twisting off. Take your lamp out once a week and clean it thoroughly. Take it all apart to the very last and smallest screw and clean every- thing thoroughly. Then grease all parts with a mixture of graphite and vaseline (about half and half). Wipe off the surplus and put together and you will be astonished how much more easily and accurately you can gauge your light. A dry, rusty lamp is an abomination and no man can get good results from it, no matter how expert he may be. Look well to the wire ends where they join the lamp* scrape them perfectly clean—until they shine. These particular connections are subjected to heat from the arc and if badly made the heating will be largely aug- mented, with resultant cutting down of the current and possibly burning off the wire. Many operators "bob" the lamp to raise or lower the light in relation to the lens. All lamps worthy of the name have adjustment screws by means of which any reasonable movement may be made, and these screws were not placed there to be looked at—they were intended by the maker, who probably knew almost as much about the lamp as you, my wise friend, to be used. "Bobbing" the lamp is sure evidence that the operator is either ignorant of what the adjustment screws were made for or too lazy to use them. When you get a new lamp, test the carbon holders at once and ascertain by clamping carbons in place whether or not they are true. If the carbons do not come in line sidewise, true up the holders by filing or otherwise, as seems best. This is important if you desire a good light at all times. With the Edison lamp it will be found that after it has been used a while there will be a tendency to slip down the post. This is for the reason that the metal crowfoot that is held in place by a screw in the side of the lamp has been bent or is worn. Straighten it or get a new one, is the remedy. The Edison carbon-holder arms are slotted and slide back and forth to allow one carbon to be set ahead of the other. Most other lamps are so simple that there is really nothing much to be said about them in the way of instruction. Oils — The Rheostat — The Carbons, next week. Agreement Between the Mnnufacturers etnd Renleri of the Film Sesrvic© Aoaoci&tion. CONDITIONS OP SALE. Licensed motion pictures manufactured under re-issued Letters Patent No. 12,192. dated January 12, 1904, are sold by , hereinafter referred to as the vendor; subject to the following conditions:... .1. From the date of this agreement, the purchaser shall buy exclusively licensed motion pictures obtained from the vendor, or from a duly licensed manufacturer of such motion pictures, under said reissued Letters Patent. 2. The purchaser shall not sell nor exhibit licensed motion pictures obtained from the vendor, but shall rent out such motion pictures only to'exhibitors, who shall exclusively ex- hibit licensed motion pictures obtained from the vendor or from a duly licensed manufacturer under said reissued Letters Patent, but in no case shall the exhibitor be permitted to sell or sub-rent or loan or otherwise dispose of said licensed mo- tion pictures. 3. The price to be paid by the purchaser to the vendor shall in no case be less than that denned in the foregoing schedule of prices, or in any other substitute schedule of prices which may be regularly adopted by the vendor, and of which notice shall be given to the purchaser hereafter. 4. To permit the purchaser to take advantage of any stand- ing order price mentioned in said schedule, said standing or- der shall remain in force for not less than thirty (30) con- secutive days. An increase in the number of prints to be fur- nished on a standing order shall be considered as a new standing order and must be in force not less than thirty (3°) consecutive days. Any standing order may be cancelled or reduced by the purchaser on thirty (30) days';notice. E x . tr ? prints shall be furnished to the purchaser at the price which the purchaser is paying under his standing order,'in force at the time the extra prints may be ordered. \ ' 5. The purchaser shall not sell, rent, or otherwise dispose . -■ . . . \