The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry (1914)

30 Ci)e Cfteatte entirely to this demand, Mr. Shepard encountered his first serious difficulty, when preparing to launch his new type of amusement enterprise, in the scarcity of suitable moving-picture subjects with which to make up a good program of the desired length and quality to conform with his original plan of diversity. This he accomplished, however, after selecting from the entire European and American market and having some special subjects made. The next and most serious obstacle arose after finally securing a program to his liking and getting out an elaborate line of special printing with which to lavishly advertise his new attraction, when, to his dismay, he found it impossible to secure dates in any of the first-class theatres. He had planned to first play from one to three-day engagements in the smaller cities of the eastern states to prove the merits of his attraction before invading the larger week-stand cities, and relying on his extensive acquaintance and past association with these theatre managers, expected to have his request for booking welcomed by them as usual, but to his chagrin and disappointment they, with scarcely an exception, ridiculed his project and refused positively to have the standing of their theatres lowered by playing a picture show which wouldn't draw enough business to pay for the lights, anyway, as they put it. Many of these managers, with whom Mr. Shepard had been most cordially intimate, expressed sympathetic regret that he should have used such poor judgment as to sink his money in such a foolish project, and, out of wellmeant kindness, urged him to abandon it without getting in deeper with consequent loss sure to follow any attempt at exploitation. In spite of the keen disap