The phonoscope (Nov 1896-Dec 1899)

The Phonoscope (Copyrighted, 1896) A Monthly Journal Devoted to Scientific and Amusement Inventions Appertaining to Sound and Sight Vol. I IRo^al parabe Ibere The Greatest Feat Yet Undertaken for the Living Photographs. Other English Events to Be Brought to America Ten days after the Queen's jubilee in London the people of the Eastern cities of the United States will be shown a living, moving, life-size picture of the principal scenes in that colossal pageant. Twelve days thereafter the people of the middle West will be treated to the same spectacle, and within fifteen days from the closing of the greatest demonstration in the Victorian era of the Pacific coast, 6,000 miles away from the Strand, will witness as perfectly as did the crowds on that thoroughfare the great event, and will need but the shouting, the music, the cheers and the great hum that comes from mighty crowds to believe themselves spectators of the actuality. That wonderful American invention, the biograph, has made this feat possible, and to such perfection has the taking and reproduction of motion been reduced that the time taken in transportation is the only bar in the way of what would practically be immediate presentation of any animate scene. One day after the last picture is taken of the jubilee the films will be ready for transportation. It will take full seven days from London to New York, including the time for unpacking and developing the negatives. In two days more they will be distributed through the points nearest NewjYork, and then on through the West as fast as steam can carry, them. This will be the most ambitious project yet undertaken by the biograph. That it will be a success there appears not the shadow of a doubt. Besides the Queen's Jubilee they intend to reproduce Derby day, a royal dinner party and several other subjects, the nature of which will not, for obvious reasons, be disclosed until after the pictures are secured. It is no exaggeration to say that nothing in the way of a spectacle has ever captured the British heart so completely as this ingenious idea of a New York inventor. The living scenes were placed before the English public two months ago in the Palace Theatre, and such was the astonishment and admiration that it was impossible to get standing room after the story became noised about. Only twice in the history of the theatre has the manager been called before the curtain. Manager Martin came forward in response to a vociferous encore after the Empire State Express had dashed down to the footlights with such realistic force that the people in the front rows shrank back and held their breath. The London newspapers came out in unanimous praise, The Daily Mail said : "The biograph at the Palace is the most magnificent development of the living photographs we have yet seen." The Court Circular, always conservative, was warm in its praise. "The two views of Niagara," the critic wrote, "and the Empire State Express, coming toward the audience at the rate of sixty miles an hour, are marvels of realism and a wonder of the age." Even the Morning Leader, usually chary of praising things American, said: "It presents living photographs with a vividness, a realism and an art such as have never before been witnessed in England. ' ' Reynolds's Newspaper gave a distinct idea NEW YORK, MAY, J 897 of the chief merit of the invention when it said : "The pictures rest as steadily on the screen as if they were stationary." So rapidly did the popularity of the biograph grow that the managers soon had applications from all over the kingdom, and booked appearances in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester and other principal cities. One of the latest pictures shown in this city is one of the latest inventions — the horseless carriage, moving with such realistic naturalness that it is hard to look upon it as shadow and not substance. Of course the Empire State Express, now run to the accompainment of steam whistle and bell, holds its own as the first biograph favorite. ' 'Shooting the Chutes at Coney Island" is so real that one is rather surprised when the orchestra is not drenched in the flying spray. The St. Paul outward bound is one of the best of the new pictures, and a most natural effect is produced by the sounding of the deep throated steam whistle. 3BiO dfiobt on Canvas Corbett=Fitzsimmons Mill is Reproduced by the Verascope. The Venture is a Success The verascope dream is out. Three thousand persons saw the Corbett-Fitzsimmons' fight reproduced on canvas the opening night at the Academy of Music. Fifteen hundred of them were pugilistic sports. The sports eagerly followed every motion of the flickering figures. They swayed as the shadows on on the canvas swayed, and punched and countered each other merrily. To all intents and purposes, they were at Carson City, framed by the high Sierras and sitting in the splendid sunlight of a perfect day. The machine whirrs. The canvas is filled with little constellations of sparks. The men are in the ring. Both strain and tug at the gloves as they put them on. Then Fitzsimmons throws off his bathrobe. The spectators watching the canvas cheered vociferously at this, and the excitement grew. Corbett also throws his robe aside, the spectators lapse into silence, and the fight begins. The pictures tell the story of the great battle faithfully, and the spectators were entirely satisfied with the result. Both fighters were liberally applauded, and at the conclusion Fitzsimmons was the recipient of a great ovation. The chief interest centered in the question as to whether Fitzsimmons fouled Corbett in the last round while Corbett was down. The presentation on the screen was so vibrant and unsteady, however, that no accurate judgment of this nice point could be determined, particularly as Fitzsimmons' back was toward the camera when he struck the final blow. The general opinion was that no foul occurred. The spectators, after Corbett was pictured as down, cried out: "Where was the foul? Where was the foul ?" This was accompanied by shouts of "There was none." "There was no foul." The presentation, as a whole, was wonderfully vivid. The general public have very little or no comprehension of the stupendousness of the task No. 6 which Mr. Dan A. Stuart, the celebrated originator of the Fitzsimmons-Corbett contest, had undertaken in order to secure a correct reproduction for exhibition purposes through the medium of his far-famed verascope, and the universal world will be startled to know that up to the present writing Mr. Stuart has invested the enormous sum of $860000 in the verascope plant, with the prospect of a further expenditure of $200,000 in materials before all the machines, films, and advertising matter are completed to reproduce the pictures throughout the civilized world, and every penny of this amount, over one million dollars, will have been invested before there is any return. To many, the expenditure of such an amount will appear impossible , and yet, when the details are laid before the public , it will readily be realized how such an expenditure could be made. In the first place, the original apparatus, invented by Mr. Rector and owned by Dan Stuart, which was made specially to photograph the contest, the principals, seconds, referee, timers, all the officials and all connected with the affair, cost $46,000, exclusive of transportation, film for reproduction, salaries of assistants, railroad fares, etc. It requires 10,846 feet, or over two miles, of film for each and every machine to reproduce the contest at the various exhibitions given by the verascope. Eastman, the celebrated kodak man of Rochester, N. Y., has one single contract with Mr. Stuart for 600,000 feet of the film, for which Mr. Stuart pays in cash $140,000. As an illustration of the stupendousness of this one contract, it can be cited that Mr. Eastman was compelled to contract for the use of sixty acres of ground on which to dry the film while in course of preparation. Exclusive of the contract to Eastman and various other photographers for the manufacture of the films alone, Mr. Stuart employs two gangs, consisting of sixty-eight men each, all expert film makers, who work night and day in his vast warehouses in New York city. These men turn out 80,000 feet of film each shift, or 160,000 feet of film per each twenty-four hours. The value of this film is approximated at 23 cents a foot, and be it understood that the slightest defect of any nature in the 10,846 feet stretch required for each reel, for the development of each set of pictures, would necessitate the destruction of the entire stretch, and render it absolutely valueless for the verascope. In addition to the experts employed for the manufacture of the film, Mr. Stuart has two gangs, consisting of seventy-six men each, for the manufacture of the machinery and cabinets for the verascope. These men also work night and da}-, and are selected expert machinists and cabinet makers. The machinery used in Mr. Stuart's workshops in Twenty-third Street, New York city, for the development of the fims, mechanical parts, and woodwork of the verascope represents an expenditure of $230,000. Each verascope, that is, each machine, with film, attachments and machinery perfected for exhibition purposes, will cost, when completed, the sum of about $3,600, and when it is taken into consideration that these pictures will be produced in all sections of the world, and that Mr^ Stuart must have completed thousands of machines and millions of feet of film for the reproduction, it can readily be understood why such an enormous outlay of over $1,000,000 would be necessary.