Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1921)

October -?p, i g 2 i 2323 NEW THEATRE Construction ^ Equipment p^oj^^T^oN Department ALEX. G. CRUIKSHANK CAMERA TECHNICAL EDITOR System Makes This Projection a Model of Perfection How Chief Hagert Runs Baltimore Rivoli's Booth Termed the model projection room of Baltimore motion picture theatres, the allimportant "key to the situation" in the rear of audiences at the Rivoli is all that it lays claim to be. The projection room staff is composed of Conrad F. Hagert, chief ; Carroll G. Bayne and Sidney Marks. The equipment consists of : Three Powers 6B machines with type E lamps ; Peerless arc controllers ; Powers speed and footage film indicators; improved shadow box; automatic fire shutters ; 3 liquid guns of the Fire Gun Manufacturing Company of New York; 3 powder containers of Fite Fire Company of Newark, N. J.; motorized Fulco rewinding apparatus; Acme (N. Y.) 75-100 amperes spotlight; Safe-T-First firm cabinet of the Hull-Salmon Manufacturing Company of Baltimore, Md., and optical system condenser. There are several important features emphasized by Chief Hagert. First could be the fire shutter system and this, he modestly admits, is his own contrivance. It is a pulley arrangement by which metal shutters are suspended over each hole that looks out over the audience at the screen and stage. There are nine such, one at each of the five observation ports and the four projection ports. Hanging conveniently at each Powers machine is a handle and if there should be a fire a jerk at any of the handles would drop all shutters into place. Thus patrons would be prevented from even glimpsing that something untoward was happening in the projection room. The shutters also would tend to keep smoke from floating out over the audience and would withstand a big amount of flame itself. "A film burns so rapidly a person would hardly have time to close each window," said Mr. Hagert. "The pulley and shutter system enables one to accomplish it in short order and lets him devote those other invaluable seconds to fighting the fire, confident that unless he is forced out of the room for help the patrons would not know of the fire." Still another commendable anti-fire ar rangement is that which instructs a projectionist to push a button outside the fire door after he has closed all openings in the room proper. This button, which is right alongside of the fire hose, bucket and other equipment, starts an exhaust fan in the ceiling of the room. After the fan operates a minute the projectionist is under orders to return to the room. While general requirements call for a fan capable of drawing 50 cubic feet of air out of the room per minute, the Rivoli's which is a product of the ILG Electric Ventilating Company of Chicago, 111., draws out 3300 cubic feet. In the minute that it op erates it is figured to clear the projection room of all smoke. An improvement now being planned calls for keeping all oil in an anteroom and piping it into the pit. A spigot then will be used to release it. "Rivoli Theatre Log" is the odd title noticed on a large book seen on Chief Hagert's bench. In it is recorded each and every stop, its duration, etc. Then when a question arises as to who did so and so when so and so occurred reference is made to the log and there in black and white is (Continued on page 2325) The model projection room of the Rivoli theatre, Baltimore, Aid. Standing in the rear is Chief Conrad F. Hagert. The operators are Carroll H. Bayne (center) and Sidney Marks (right)