The Moving Picture World (May 1908)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD constant risk" of breakage, not to speak"of the decided gain in portability. A-large. factory with special machinery is being rapidly pushed to completion in Elberfeld and we are informed that a very few weeks will see the new film on the market. Since writing the above we submitted a piece of the Cellit film to a crucial test on a Projectograph machine in the office of Mr. Chas. E. Dressier, before a crowd of interested spectators. After being fully ten minutes in the lantern it showed no signs of combustion, and, on being removed, it presented its original appearance, save for'a slight buckling from the intense heat of the arc light. Pieces of celluloid film, tried in the same manner, consumed in from two to three seconds. A naked flame was then applied to the Cellit film and it did ignite in a few seconds, but extinguished of itself when removed from the flame! In the show room of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company a test was made on a Powers machine, and although the cone of light was focussed down much smaller than usually employed, no effect on the film was noticeable after six minutes. The witnesses of these tests unanimously agreed that if the cost was not prohibitive the use of this film would be- come universal and its effect on the moving picture in- dustry would be of incalculable value. Desiring an impartial opinion before giving this new product our unqualified endorsement, we submitted a sample to Mr. F. C. Beach, editor of the Scientific American, and after putting it to the most severe tests and submitting it to microscopical examination, * he handed it back with the remark that he considered it one of the most important discoveries of the age. Fair Play for Experience Craching Condensers The many letters that come to us asking how to pre- vent condensers from cracking can be answered very briefly. First, buy a good lantern: second, buy good lenses; third, see that there is sufficient play between the edges of your condensers and the rim box that holds it, so as to allow for heat expansion; fourth, keep your con- densers protected from cold draughts. There are only two things which cause condensers to break, viz., sudden changes of temperature and fitting too tight in the rim. The first will cause a break that is often of spiral form, while if it is the result of'too much tension the glass will generally break straight across or from the edge to the middle in a straight line. We have used one set of con- densers in the lantern of the American Lantern Slide Interchange on their test nights for eight years and never had one break, although they have been subjected to the heat of the arc for as long as four hours on a stretch. The dissolving lantern that costs all the way from $60 to $90 is an elegant tool to break condensers with and the cost of these will soon amount to the difference in the price of a good lantern. The best is always cheapest in the end. In answer to numerous inquiries the pub* lienors desire to say that there is in stocK a limited quantity of all bacK numbers of the World. These will be mailed for five cents each to old subscribers only, who desire special numbers, or new subscribers may date bacK their subscription to begin with any number. A Word for the Operator Everything tending to the elevation of the moving pic- ture operator to a standard that will raise him to a better plane of recognition than he generally receives" at present should be heartily endorsed at all times. One of the best steps in this direction is the enforcement of an examina- tion of the operators or those claiming to be such, and the issuance of licenses to those who qualify. For too long a time the impression prevailed to too great an extent that an operator's calling was witho.ut any special qualities and the men who operated the moving picture machines were simply laborers and could claim no better dis- tinction. It was not until those who had investments in the business suffered serious losses and the various of- ficial departments of cities and towns found it necessary to give the business special attention it was realized that a qualified operator possesses some qualities that only experience and study can obtain. Up to that period it was claimed by many, both in and out of the business, that the operating of a picture machine was purly and simply mechanical and any boy with an ordinary amount of intelligence could fill the bill as satisfactorily as the men who were serving as operators at good salaries and who maintained that they were in a class by themselves. It is quite true that to satisfactorily and safely operate a moving picture machine it is not necessary for one to be a graduate of an electrical institute, or to start as an apprentice in the operating line, and serve as such for several years to get experience. Such a position would be ridiculous. No argument in that direction can possibly have any weight. Some young men have qualified to a very satisfactory degree as operators after instruction and practice extending over a period of but two or three weeks. A list of a number of men who did this can be made up very readily. On the other hand, there are scores who have handled moving picture machines for several years yet have not, and probably never will, become operators in the true sense of the term. There is really no standard in a technical sense by which an operator can be measured. So far as the electrical knowl- edge required is concerned any one of ordinary intelli- gence can acquire that in a single lesson if properly in- structed. As to the mechanical part the qualifications can be as readily acquired. In other words it is practical knowledge that makes the operator, and not the theoret- ical. This brings into-view the target aimed at. If it is true that the operator to be relied upon in the work to be done is the practical one (and no one with experience can say it is not) why, then, should not the same rule apply to the examination of applicants for licenses as operators ? There are many excellent reasons for putting the ques- tion. With all due respect to the various official depart- ments that have supervision of such examinations and licensing ,and with assurances of every confidence in their good faith, it must be said that the line of examina- tion is drawn too close theoretically and the practical man is not given as fair an opportunity as he should receive. This has been evidenced by the failure of some very ex- cellent men to secure licenses. Some of the men are known to the writer to have operated successfully, and without any mishap due to either incompetency or neglect on their part, for several years. Yet when they presented themselves for examination all this record went for