Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1914)

304 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD and handsomest house in Louisville, recently increased his holdings in that profitable enterprise by taking: over those of A. P. Barnard, of New York, who is president of the Klnemacolor Company. A recent success at the Majestic was the Kalem production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which went remarkably well. A unique departure for dancing instructors will be taken at Louisville's big hall, the Arcadia, shortly, as it is planned to use the three-reel Kalem film showing the details of the new dances, in order to aid beginuers in grasping the somewhat difficult and complicated steps. The Empire Theater had to be closed considerably ahead of the usual hour last Monday night, on account of a fire next door, which destroyed Steruau Brothers' dry goods store. Manager II. E. Strube discovered the blaze, after the odor of smoke had been noticeable in the theater for a time, and turned in the alarm. No damage was done to the picture house, and the audience filed out quietly, without alarm. R. S. Shrader, manager of the Central Film Service Company's Louisville oflBce, spent Christmas at his old home in Indianapolis. S. B. Nestor, of Louisville, is organizing a company for the purpose of building and operating a new motion picture theater in the suburbs of Ix>uisvi]le. The exact location has not yet been determined, although Shelby and Rubel is regarded as a good point. Recent feature hits at the Novelty, which gets the flrst-rim of the Universal program in Louisville from the Central Film Service Company, were Warren Kerrigan, a local favorite, in the Victor threepart production, "Rory of the Bogs," and a twopart Imp, "Love or a Throne," featuring Leah Baird and William Shea. Motion picture exhibitors all over Kentucky, bat particularly those of Frankfort, are jubilant over the verdict of a jury in the county court in the capital city recently, which held E. K, Lyon, proprietor of the Grand motion picture theater, not guilty of violating the State law against Sabbathbreaking in operating his theater. Under the instructions of the court, the jury held the operation of a picture show to come within the legal definition of necessary labor, and accordingly acquitted Mr. Lyon. A case in the police court came up later on the same facts, and upon a fine of $25 being assessed, practically by agreement, the case was appealed to the circuit court, where it will be tried out on its merits. In the meantime, J*rankfort picture shows will operate on Sunday. The councilman who started the agitation, has Introduced an ordinance providing for an annual "license fee of $350. and for a censorship board of three women, at salaries of $400 each, to pass upon the jiropriety of all films and songs. This -ordinance lias not yet been adopted, however, and soems likely not to be. Hambaugh & Hambaugh, of Westport, Ky., have ■organized the Westport Amusement Company, and nre operating a highly successful picture show in that town, taking the Universal service. The location of the town on the river gives an opportunity to draw audiences from the Indiana sliore, and as the Hambaugh show is the only one in that section, it has a wide territory upon which to draw V'ov its patrons. Two complete outfits, recently sold by the Owl Film Feature Company, of Ijouisville. were to Ulmer Mitchell, of English, Ind.. and R. E. Stone, of French Branch, W. Va.. both of whom have cipened houses In their respective towns. Thomas Barnett, Jr., an esteemed member of the staff of the Switow Amusement Company, under whose management the New Grand, of New Albany, was recently started on a successful career, and who has since visited over forty operating houses in Kentucky in search of new openings for the •company, will shortly take charge of the Opera House at Madison, Ind.. which is one of the largest properties controlled by the company. Besides a full film program, the house will present vaudeville fo its patrons, giving way occaslonall.v to traveling companies. This will give Mr. Barnett unusual opIiortunities for the display of his managerial ability, and he may be counted upon to make the most of them for the company. H. U. Bradbury, well known in Louisville, who recently opened negotiations with a view to purchasing an interest in the Columbia Theater, has purchased a share in a house at Dayton, 0., and is assisting actively in its management. Picture show patrons in HopklnsvlUe, Ky., were recently much pleased with pictures of people and events around that city, including a good-roads meeting, .several of the schools, crowds leaving the churches, and the departing audience at the Rex picture show, the management of which has had the pictures taken. A party of motion picture photographers recently invaded the quiet precincts of HodgenvlUe, Ky., the town in which Lincoln was born, and took views of the town, the Lincoln statue and the Lincoln memorial building on the farm where the emancipator first saw the light. It is not known for whom the operators were acting in taking the pictures. Among the liabilities of Charles Edward Dallam, n prominent business and society man of Henderson, Ky., who recently filed a voluntary petition in I)ankruptcy, was a note of $15,000 to the American National Bank of Louisville, which was secured by a first mortgage on the Columbia Theater, of Alliance, O., and the personal indorsement of R. H. Soaper, of Henderson, The value of the theater property is understood to be ample to cover the amount of the loan. With a big vaudeville and motion picture program, the People's Theater, of Owensboro, Ky., recently opened, under the management of H. E. Mattingly. The moving picture program will be changed daily, and the vaudeville bill twice a week. A four-piece orchestra will furnish music. E. E. Haggard, of Morehead, Ky., is in Washington taking steps to secure a patent on a device which he believes will revolutionize the manufacture of moving picture projecting machines. A factory Is now operating at Morehead. Manager Desberger. of the Star Theater, Paducah, Ky., has put on three vaudeville acts at his house, in addition to his regular moving picture program. Motion picture exhibitors in Maysville, Ky., are among the most lil)eral advertisers of any in this part of the country, devoting more newspaper space to telling the public of coming picture attractions than does the average city theater, to advertisements. The Gem Beautiful, with Selig and Kalem pictures, and a good orchestra to draw business; the Washington, with Eclair and Vitagraph features, and the Pastime, with a 3-part Bison, "The She-Wolf," used two columns in a recent Issue of one of the Maysville papers in telling about these things. The contract has been let in Carlisle, Ky.. for the construction of a new brick building, which will be occupied by the Lyric Theater and a number of business concerns. The contract price of the building is $11,786.96. The Crescent Amusement Company, of Nashville, Tenn., which h'as a string of photoplay houses, recently took over the Lillian Tlieater, in Clarksville, Tenn., on a ten-year lease. Joe Goldberg recently opened the house. The new Park Theater, at 4180 Hamilton avenue, Cincinnati, O., was opened recently by John J. Vogelpole, who is president of the company which built the house. Over 100 members of the Master Plumbers' Association, of which Mr. Vogelpole is a member, attended the opening performance. After the show the guests enjoyed a spread tendered by the plumber-exhibitor. The Germania Theater Company has been organized in Dayton, O., by C. H. Briedenbach. Alexander Skilken, S. G'. Kusworm, C. W. Dale and M. L. Ferneding. with a capital stock of $12,000. The company will establish a motion picture house. Carpenter & Johnson, Louisville motion picture photographers, probably have the honor of being first in the field In a very interesting branch of the art. They recently completed a reel for a Louisville surgeon, showing all of the details of an operation for appendicitis, which will be used to illustrate lectures in a medical college, of which there are several in Louisville. The firm will make reels of other surgical sul)Jects from time to time, and it Is expected by the use of these reels, combined with the usual clinics and text books, to give the students a much more accurate and practical knowledge of their work than has ever been possible before. G. D. CRAIN, JR. M^ IN THE MIDDLE WEST. "R. E. A. PETERSON, school medical chief, and ■ Dr. S. H. Monson, school eye expert at Cleveland, Ohio, are said to have begun an investigation to determine the effect of moving pictures on the eye. President Ashmun, of the school board, is quoted as saying "that the prolonged use of the eye in gazing at moving pictures is bound to impair the vision." "There Is no question that moving pictures harm the eyes," said Dr. Peterson. "The continued adjusting of the eye for motion pictures subjects It to strain." Dr. Clark Sloan, an optometrist of Cleveland, says that moving pictures will not harm a perfect eye, but adds, "Nine out of every ten have imperfect eyes and motion pictures harm Imperfect eyes." The World Special Films Company, of New York, has been granted a charter to do business in the state of Missouri, with offices at St. Louis. $10,000 of the $50,000 capital may be used In the state. The Gwinn Club, of Gwinn, Mich., has decided to install a moving picture machine In its clubhouse. F. P. Darcy, owner of a moving picture theater, who attempted to force the Sunday opening of theaters, in Kalamazoo, Mich., was recently a witness before the grand jury. Miller and Powell, of Romeo, are said to be contemplating a moving picture show in Cairo, Mich. Owners of photoplay houses in Pique, Ohio, have I)egun a movement to give shows on Sunday afterlioons and evenings. Dr. Levi Bird, a minister of Norway, Midi., and Joseph Bergeron, owner of the Palace Theater, a moving picture house, have been engaged in a battle over the question of Sunday opening. Bergeron opens his house every Sunday and papers are served on him every Monday. Twenty-one cases against him were thrown out. Two cases were tried by juries. In one case, no cause for action was found: in tlie other be was fined 8 cents. The editor of the Omaha, Neb., World-Herald takes issue with Dr. W. J. H. Boetcker, who In a recent address In Omaha, decried the tendency of the laboring class to flock to moving picture theaters. After outlining the advantages of moving pictures, the editor declares that "until a substitute is founds praitii'iil substitute — they will continue to draw and entertain thousands and thou.sands. whose lives after all have entirely too little amusement." E. M. Gilpin, licensed inspector at St. Joseph, Mo., proposed to change tlie tax on moving picture theaters, showing that the tee rate according to the capacity as follows: Seating Sr.O or less, $25; 250 to 40(1, $35; 400 to SOO, $5(>: SOO to 1200, $f>5: on more than 1200, $75. He believes that this will be a fair license for the smaller theaters located in the suburbs, which seldom ever have a seating capacity of more than 2.".<>, and because they charge a dime admission are forced to pay the same as larger downtown theaters. Detroit, Mich., residents neglected their churches on Sunday night for the motion picture shows, declared Rev. Thomas Sikes, of Grosse Point, in a recent address before the Detroit Pastors' union. Moving pictures will be included for the first time in years in' the programs at the five recreation centers in Milwaukee, Wis. The Fotoplay Amusement Company, of Indianapolis, Ind.. has filed notice of dissolution. The Fourteenth Street Social Center, of Milwaukee, Wis., has adopted the use of educational moving pictures. William Foley, of II.Tnc.ick, Mich., has purchased an interest in the Crown Theater at Calumet, Mich. Rev. D. M. Hazlett, pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, Mo., recently used moving pictures in his services. One of the films shown was a rare picture taken in Shaw's Gardens November 11, 1912, showing three thousand chrysanthemums. C. H. MacLaurin. of Gladstone. Mich., will conduct tlip Prime-ss Theiiter. at Manistique. Mich. The Garfield school of West Allis, Mich., is raising a fun to purchase a moving picture machine. The Evansville, Ind., liigh school is raising a fund to purchase a motion picture machine. Principal E. P. Wiles believes that the time now devoted to chapel i)eriod could be used profitably for the exhibition of pictures. Some of the faculty wish to purchase pictures for the wall, but Mr. Wiles believes that the projecting purchase would be the most profitable. Ellis Iloyt lias purchased a moving picture show at I'onca, Neb. Tlie Casino Film Company, of Detroit. Mich., has < lianged its name to the Casino Feature Film ComiJHtiy. The Garfield Moving Picture Company, of Cleveland. Ohio, has been incorporated with a capital stock of .$.j.OOO, to conduct picture shows. The incorporators are S. M. Davis, Edith A. Clouse. M. V. Emmerraan, F. E. Rodd and Peter L. Dauni. The Misses Mary and Ella Wlttwer, of Monticello, have purchased the Olympia Theater on University Avenue, in Madison, Wis., from Knut Johnson and Edward Sayre. Daniel Johnson is now associated with R. O. Brady's moving picture theater, in Lawson Street, in Portsmouth. Ohio. The first of the motion pictures to be used by the Conservation and Public Welfare Commission of Omaha, Neb., which was created by the last legislature of that state, have been shown. These cover the apple and beet sugar industries, better babies' contest, irrigation and the state fair. In addition, fifteen other subjects are being prepared for the camera. The exhibitors of Youngstown, Ohio, have notified the civic committee of the Chamber of Commerce that they exhibit only censored films and are doing nothing contrary to the law. Furthermore, tliey declare that they are particularly interested in the matter of patronage of children, as this is almost a negligible quantity. The G'oodale Air Park Company has filed suit against the W. B. Thomas Company at Columbus, Ohio, alleging that a balance of $1,301 is due on an open air moving picture theater at Goodale anti Front Streets, purchased by the Thomas Company. X. T. Ackerman, of Knob Knnster, has opent-d a picture show in the Opera House at Leeton, Mo. This is his third show. Adams & Snuggs are remodeling the building at 233 East Main Street, in Jackson, Mich., to l)e used as a picture show. The Missouri state officials who are in char-rn of tlie exhibit by that state at the Panama-Pacifir exposition have decided to join tlie ranks of tlie states who will do a good deal of their exploitation with moving pictures. A theater where the films w ill be projected will form a part of the state building. T. F. Chantler, an efficiency expert, recently predicted before the Adcraft Club, of Detroit. Mich., that the moving picture shows soon would be tlip source from which the people would receive their daily news. The Peerless Amusement Company, of Milwaukee, Wis., has filed a suit for an injunction against Frederick Geiger and his wife, Bertl'a, of tb.it citv. asking that they be restrained from blocking the exits of the moving picture thenter at Center and Ilolton street, owned by the Amusement Company. It is alleged that after the Peerless Company Iiiid purchased land from the Geigers ami erected U|)on it a ))hotoplay theater, the defeniinnts blocked the alley in both directions by erecting board fences. C. P. Fuller, of Dunkirk, Ind., will open a moving picture show in Alexandria, Ind. \;-IDWEST SPEiGIAL SERVICE. 1