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2240 Ike Van Ronkel, Direct Examination.
1 By Mr. Caldwell :
Q. Is every motion picture business or theatre in Chicago indicated, or its position indicated, on that map? A. No, sir; just the theatres. It is a regular street map, a Rand & McNally street map, and, for instance, if we have one on 42nd Street and Grand Boulevard, we put a tack in there, and say, 43rd Street, we have one there, and we put a tack in there, and then we have one around the corner from there, and we put a tack around the corner. The map being small in thickly congested neighborhoods, the tacks are pretty
2 close together.
Are those tacks being constantly changed? A. Yes, sir; as the customers leave us and come back to us — they will leave us one week, and then come back to us the next week, and we use another tack to denote the ones that are building— we go to the Building Department and get an idea as to who is building or putting up the theatre, and we get out after them.
Q. You keep a watch out of the records of the Building Department, to see what new motion picture theatres are going up, so you may get the patronage of that prospective
3 theatre? A. Correct; yes, sir.
Q. And your competitor does the same thing? A. The three solicitors of the Mutual, Universal, and General, generally meet there at the same time.
Q. And it is a race for the business? A. Yes, and a hard fight, too.
Q. Now, after the General Film Company started in business in Chicago, was that followed by an increase in the cost of the service to the exhibitor? A. No, sir.
Q. What was the average price paid, say, in January, 1909? A. Well, of course, at that time I only had charge of one office. Mine compared about the same as it is now, though the customers are getting a great deal more for their money now than they did at that time, as formerly they ran two reels a day, and now they run four a day, and the price has not increased in proportion.
Q. Did you say what was the average cost of service to an exhibitor in January, 1909? A. The office I had charge of, about forty-five dollars.
Q. And in 190S? A. In 1908, I could not be positive, I don't think. I don't think we had time to find out. We