Moving Picture World (Jul-Sep 1915)

July 10, 1915 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 227 Great Selig Enterprise. Enduring Monument Erected by Famous Motion Picture Producer in Los Angeles Known as the Selig Zoo— A Remarkable Collection of Wild Animals Splendidly Housed, to be Formally Opened and Dedicated to the Public on July 19. By George Blaisdell. ILLIAM N. SELIG will go down in motion picture history as the pioneer manufacturer of the Pacific Coast. That fact will have inte^st for those everywhere who are concerned in matters kinematographic. Among the descendants of the present residents of Los Angeles, however, it is possible and probable that Mr. Selig's work in the realm of natural history will be regarded as his more enduring monument. In the creation of the great Selig Zoo out on the Mission Road, opposite picturesque Eastlake Park, the Chicago film manufacturer has done something more than gratify a hobby: he has done something more than bring together the largest collection of wild animals in the world ; he has done something more than to plan for contributing to the entertainment and instruction of the present generation. He has builded for the future. Mr. Selig does not say so_; but his chiefs believe it, and point to the fact that his structures are of solid concrete, that the ornate entrance, on which alone $60,000 was spent, should withstand the wear and tear of the elements for a thousand years. No brief story can do adequate justice to the collection of seven hundred animals and birds which Colonel Selig — the Governor, his employees call him — has brought from the four corners of the earth. While it may be true that the motion picture trade is interested in the Selig Zoo only in so far as that big establishment may be related to the production of pictures, it is also true that it is interested in the doings of one of its best known men when those doings have a public side — and the Selig Zoo has a public side ; it is providing facilities for first-hand study of natural history, one of the most interesting factors in the curriculum, and it is also aiding in the preservation from extinction of many of the rarer beasts and fowl. The thirty-two-acre park comprising the Selig Zoo has been under its present management for three William N The Pioneer Motion Pict Pacific years. Picturegoers of a few years ago will recall "Captain Kate" and "Lost in the Jungle," those thrilling pictures in which Kathlyn Williams and Thomas Santschi were featured and which served to introduce a new brand of courage to followers of the screen. These subjects were made in Florida, at Jacksonville, and the animals used in them were the property of "Big Otto," a showman. The success of the pictures was so marked that Mr. Selig bought the beasts and had them forwarded to Los Angeles, where they served as the nucleus of the present extensive collection. The initial investment was a quarter of a million dollars. An equal amount has been expended since. Mr. Selig has been in Los Angeles for many weeks giving his personal attention to the completion of arrangements for the official opening of the park, which will be celebrated on the arrival of the Selig Special from Chicago by way of San Francisco and following the exhibitors' convention in the latter city. All the time the film side has never for a moment been obscured. Every morning has found him in the projection room of the Edendale studio going over the work of his nine directors. In the afternoons he has been at the Zoo, his time divided between Thomas A. Persons, general manager of coast studios, and John G. Robinson, superintendent of the Zoo. The entrance to the Zoo, opposite Eastlake Park, is a thing of beauty. The design was executed by Romanelli, an Italian sculptor ; the figures of the animals on the pedestal between the gates were modeled from beasts within the grounds. Work on the buildings was begun a year ago. An immense amount of preliminary labor was necessary ; the soil was swampy, and much drainage was required to prepare the foundations for structures of concrete and steel. Matching the entrance in striking and imposing appearance is the home of the lions and tigers. It is mission style, the great patio in well kept lawn. The home of the elephants, some distance away, is in the same style of architecture. So, too, is the large amusement pavilion. There are many buildings on the grounds, among them the costume rooms, special storage structures, monkey pavilion, animal cages, bear houses, and the many buildings devoted to the sheltering of birds large and small. . Selig. ure Manufacturer of the Coast.