The Moving picture world (March 1922)

March 4, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 91 dent, but that he, due to overwork and consequent ill health, withdraws and proba- bly could not be induced to again take the office. One of the first results of the article in question has been an announcement to me that Charles Shay has fully recovered his health, and that he not only is willing to again assume the office he voluntarially laid down, but that he proposed to make a fight for it. In other words he has thrown his head covering into exactly the geographical center of the ring and hopes to again be elected international president at the May election. In the words of the immortal Teddy, BULLY! Shay was the man who took the helm when the I. A. was mighty small potatoes and durned few in the hill. By sheer ability, good sense, and by work so hard that he broke down under it, he built the organization up to the point where it constituted a powerful factor for the betterment of both stage employe and pro- jectionist. In the February 4 article I said, "Shay was THE man." I now say Shay IS the man, and I have not the slightest hesitancy in earnestly advising every projectionist local to work for his re-election to the office of international president. The effort to elect a projectionist presi- dent would be laudable, but in my opinion it could not possibly succeed. Charles Shay has always been fair to the projectionist and I would rather see a stage employe of such known ability and fairness as Charles Shay succeed to the office, than to sse a projec- tionist of unknown ability elected. I am "FOR" the election of Charles Shay as international president of the I. A., and am in favor of working tooth and toenail for the election of a fair representative of pro- jectionists in other offices. Incidentally do NOT forget that Shay appointed a projectionist (Dolliver) as assis- tant president, which office is next in im- portance to that of president. MACHINES THEATRE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES WRITE FOR CATALOG ERKER BROS. OPTICAL CO. ST. LOUIS, MO. His Projection Room Earl Boyer, projectionist. Liberty Theatre, Heavener, Oklahoma, says: It is quite some time since I last wrote our department, which same department has been a great help to me in many ways. I have two Power's 6-B projectors, motor driven of course, and a 50-50 transverter. Distance of projection is 86 feet. Use a six inch lens, which gives a clear, flickerless picture. Must tell you about our new steel projec- tion room. It is of 20 gauge Atlas galvanized steel, eight by twelve feet. There is a ten inch vent at the top, extending to the roof. There are two three by fifteen inch vents at the bottom, with a fire shutter for both. The two observation ports are four by twelve Inches, and the lens ports three inches square. All ports have flre shutters, and all BARGAINS—Rebuilt Machines POWERS—SIMPLEX-MOTIOGRAPH Complete Theatre Eqnipnents and Supplies Write for Catnloi MONARCH THEATRE 8UPPLV CO. 228 Union A«. MemMili. fmn. shutters are controlled by a master cord in which is a fuse link located near the maga- zine of each projector. In case of flre the fuse link will melt, dropping all shutters. The fuse link is a piece of ordinary film. No film other than this and the film on rewinder, or being threaded into the projector, is exposed at any time. Smoking in the projection room is prohibited. There is a bucket of water and one of sand to be used in case of fire. Would like your advice as to any changes which shc'jld be made. All well and good. Brother Boyer, but many ask my advice and then get very much peeved when I give it, because it is not the 100 per cent, approval they expected. Well, anyhow I'll do with you the same as I do with every one else, and would do with my own son. If my comments are not quite what you expected, examine into what I saj' and decide for yourself, whether or not I am right. In the first place, the Power's 6-B projectors and the transverter are good, always provided you are giving them the intelligent, careful care they should have, and must have if they are to deliver efficient results. For instance: how much tension have you at the gate ? How much at the take-up? Are the intermittent sprocket teeth undercut when examined with a mag- nifying glass? Is your lamp well lubricated with graphite? Are your fire trap rollers working good and are they clean? Are all the sprocket idler rollers working well? Are there flat spots on any of them? Is each end of each of them exactly the same distance from the sprocket? Is each of them the correct distance from the sprocket, and has each the correct tension? Etc., et cetera, and so forth. Mind you I am NOT saying, or even in- sinuating that all or any of these things are not just as they should be, but—are they? As to the room, well for one thing its in- terior should be painted some dark color. Non- gloss black is best, but dark bronze green will do very well, or even a very dark grey. If you object to this, then at least paint the front wall, and paint around the observation ports BLACK—a non-gloss black, mind you. And now as to that ten inch vent flue. Ven- tilation for the projectionist is important, but the safety of the audience is even more so. The ten inch flue may give you enough ven- tilation—yes, BUT do you for one moment believe such a flue would carry away the smoke and fumes of burning film fast enough to pre- vent any reaching the auditorium? And mind you if ANY smoke reaches the auditorium you might almost as well set the whole place on fire. Some ingrowing, cheer- ful IDIOT sees it, instantly yells FIRE at the top of his voice and starts for the door at a gallop. Result: everyone piles up in a heap, and when the excitement dies down they carry out the DEAD. It is NOT the fire that kills. In a modern theatre, equipped with a modern projection room, there is absolutely no danger to the audience from any possible film fire—not even though a dozen reels of film burned. It is the sight of smoke and the resultant PANIC that does the trick. MORAL: Have a vent pipe large enough to carry away all smoke as fast as it is gen- erated. A ten inch pipe WON'T do that, unless aided by a powerful fan, and a fan cannot be depended upon, because probably one of the first things a fire would do would be to burn its insulation and put it out of commission. AND RIGHT THERE IS SOME WORK FOR THE AUTHORITIES, who waste a lot of energy over non essentials and pay no attention to some very vital maters. The vent fan vital parts should be protected from fire— at least so it will run for a few moments be- fore the heat puts it out of commission. And it can be done, too, though it might require a fan run by gearing and a shaft. You say you have a six inch lens, and that it gives you a clear, flickerless picture. What do you mean by a "six inch lens"? A six inch E.F. lens, don't you? For your information, the projection lens has but very little to do with flicker. Its only effect is that a wide diameter lens will compel the use of a wide master blade, which increases flicker tendency. Your observation ports 4x12 inches! Were I projecting in that room those ports would be made a decent size or real soon I would NOT be there, qualified by the notation that if the four inches be up and down and the twelve sidewise, and the height happens to suit your own height, it would not be so bad, though even so it is a senseless thing to do. Those ports should be twelve inches SQUARE. Cover them with glass, set at an angle to kill reflection, if you wish, but TWELVE INCHES SQUARE. That should be the absolute minimum. In case of fire a shutter will cover a 12-inch-square opening practically as quickly as it will a 4x12 port. The master cord plan sounds good, though there should be a film link above the rewind table. The lens ports are good, and the room itself aside from the things I have named, is good. There, think it over for yourself, and see if I am not right in my criticisms. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK? THE HALLBERG FEATHERWEIGHT is the smallest projector in the world that gives professional results. Its projection is rock-steady. And its IQO-Watt Lamp produces a 600- Watt effect on the screen. Send for descriptive bulletin F-W and prices. UNITED THEATRE EQUIPMENT CORPORATION H. T. EDWARDS President 25 WEST 45th STREET, NEW YORK Branch Stores in All Principal Cities J. H. HALLBERG Vice-President EVERYTHING FOR THE MOTION PICTURE THEATRE EXCEPT THE FILM