Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1919)

November 32, 1919 aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiii^ iiiiiiiii>iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii»^ I Equipment Service | illllllllUllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllitlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHh^ Automatic Makes Hit in Foreign Countries THE foreign market is "opening up" and American-made products are in demand the world over. In no field is this demand for American products so marked as in the motion picture field. The Automatic Ticket Selling and Cash Register Company, manufacturers of the well-known Automatic Registers, report that the Trans-Regional Trading Corporation, their export representatives, have asked them to supply double the number of machines they contracted for, and have also inquired as to the possibility of tripling the export output. This is a high tribute to American mechanical equipment. American exhibitors were quick to recognize the advantage of having rapid ticket selling service and box office protection, and this selling record bears out the oft made claim that the whole world wants what America endorses. Business men — and exhibitors are business men first and theatrical men second — realize that to make the biggest possible net profit from an enterprise, every dollar of revenue must be protected and preserved. The days of loose, hit or miss methods in business are over, and it is the general re:ognition of this important business fact that has brought the Automaticket Register and the Automaticket System into world prominence. The Capitol Theatre, which is the last word in modern motion picture theatre designing, has put its endorsement on this register by ordering a battery of four Four-Unit machines. Not the least important feature of this splendid ticket selling system, is the fact that it makes accounting so simple. The average exhibitor can't afTord to " keep books " on an elaborate scale, and getting an automatic total of his sales at each price for the daj-, is a big and important help. Another great advantage in the Automatic System is the fact that it makes the making up of tax reports so simple a matter. In fact, it automatically yields the figures each day for this purpose, and it is so accurate and dependable, that reports based on mechanical register readings have been specified as acceptable by the United States Government. It is no wonder that this marvelous mechanical device has been taken up so generally by all the countries of the world the minute foreign trade channels were opened. The fact that it is used by most of the most progressive theatres and circuits in the Country, would naturally lead any shrewd observer to the conclusion that the Automaticket Register is vitally essential to the financial success of a motion picture exhibiting enterprise. Winter Building the Only Answer to the Year's Construction Delays By A. E. Wells, President, Wells Brothers Construction Co. /^N the verge of winter, construction blocked in hundreds of " cities, a shortage of many materials of construction and of labor and yet withal, an acute shortage of homes, offices, stores and in many cities, of office buildings, factories and warehouses — what is the ansiver? The answer lies in winter construction, in proceeding with work during December, January and February, which have been normally " closed " months. Winter work is not new. It has been practised for years, its safety adequately demonstrated, its economy proved. It should be more generally practised. Any owner who, thru prosecuting work during cold weather, can get occupancy of factory or warehouse or can lease apartments, offices or store space on May 1, stands to gain far more than the added costs of winter work. Not only the owner, but builder, engineer and architect, gain. Theie is financial loss to the contractor who breaks up his trained organization, only to build it again in the spring. New men must take time to accustom themselves to working together and owners pay the bill in increased costs. Architects' and engineers' offices are frequently idle thru much of the winter. Building superintendents have nothing to do and owners pay for unproductive overhead. Perhaps the best way then, to reduce the cost of building is to keep architects', engineers' and contractors' forces busy twelve months of the year. WHY DOES CONSTRUCTION STOP IN WINTER? Primarily the reason why building has been inactive is thai concrete docs not harden so rapidly when its temperature hovers near freezing. But we heat our homes, offices and stores and coal is comparatively small operating cost. We are today able to enclose a structure, warm it with simple coke stoves, heat aggregates prior to mixing with "Portland cement, and keep the concrete or mortar warm until hardening has occurred. Without these precautions, cold weather work is impossible but the precautions are simple and reasonably inexpensive. Why not do the logical thing and consider the winter as an open season for all but the most exposed class of construction. Our organization has continued to lay brick and place concrete under zero temperatures even in the northern cities of Canada. A part of our normal equipment is sufficient tarpaulins to enclose practically any structure and sufficient salamanders or coke stoves to keep such enclosures warm. Boilers of any type, frequently those used to furnish steam for hoisting, supply live steam for heating aggregates and water and for thawing snow and ice from forms and reinforcing steel. While a heavy snow may temporarily delay the delivery of materials, yet deep snow is seldom encountered. It is temperature alone that commonly hampers work, and temperature need not be feared. j PLANT LAYOUT FOR COLD WEATHER WORK In laying out a plant for handling concrete in winter, or where the work is likely to run into winter before completion, there must be provision for the proper heating of materials and water. In case of sand and gravel in open storage piles, it is only necessary to lay a grid of steam pipes under the material piles and place a tarpaulin over the pile. From one main thru the center, branches should extend in both directions every six feet. These branches should be drilled with %-inch holes spaced about 18 inches apart. Several hundred yards of material stored in one pile can be heated in this way with the steam from an ordinary hoisting boiler. Several days prior to concreting, steam should be turned into the pile during working hours which will be sufficient, except at times of extreme cold, to maintain the necessary temperature. When material is stored in bins, a series of pipes should be laid on the floor of the bins, feeding from a main pipe at the top of the sloping floor. Steam radiates thru the entire contents of the bin and if a canvas cover is pulled over the top when work is stopped at night the material will retain its heat, except in very cold weather, when a small amount of steam may be needed at night. It is necessary also to heat mixing water and a steam line running directly into the water tank is the customary way; a one-inch line being sufficient to heat w^ter for a one-yard mixer. But concrete poured into forms exposed to cold would lose its heat before hardening had progressed sufficiently. Forms must therefore be protected and the most satisfactory means is a complete canvas enclosure, with salamanders or coke stoves to maintain a temperature of 45 degrees or over, within. Several hours before concrete is poured, salamanders are started in the story below the forms, unless that story is already heated. Immediately after pouring, a sufficient number of salamanders are placed above the new concrete to insure its safe and thoro hardening. These will furnish heat for the floor above. This method of enclosure and heating necessitates that the