Reel and Slide (Mar-Dec 1918)

12 REEL and SLIDE Private Lantern Slide "Records" of Perishable Objects By Jonas Howard PERHAPS there is no more satisfactory use for stereopticon slides than that found in the study of floriculture and horticulture. While the larger slide companies have collected large numbers of excellent sets on these subjects, there is another aspect to the matter which merits the attention of the nature lover. Though they are not always regarded in this light, lantern slides offer the best means the horticulturist has in preserving unusual specimens and while the wider use of the stereopticon in educational work has another aim in view, the slide is the medium by which perishable achievements may be perpetuated for the individual uses and pleasures of the maker. Good slides should be made available to , the widest possible number of audiences. There can be no doubt of that. At the same time, they have another value — that of the lifelike record of objects which themselves wither or decay and which may be made permanent only by means of the picture. Thus, unusual specimens of roses, orchids or tulips which live for only a short time should be carefully photographed when in their prime and hand-colored slides made for purposes of record, long after the object itself has become dust. There are several private collections on floriculture and horticulture in the United States, since these branches of study oflFer the best opportunities for stereopticon representation. The wide variety of skillful coloring possible insures the owner a perfect likeness of the flower or tree as it looked in life and may be filed away for future examination and comparison. A Record from Year to Year These slides excel the plain or colored photograph in that the illumination from a modern stereopticon brings out the full beauty of the object and in the fact that groups of people may view the same picture at the same time and under the identical conditions. A record from year to year of a group of choice roses, cultivated by a lover of flowers, is best maintained on carefully numbered and dated lantern slides, which, when complete, offer an excellent opportunity for a study of theprogress made in actual results attained. The ability of the stereopticon to allow visual comparison over a period of years is also appreciated by floriculturists. In slides of this kind, the coloring is a matter of vital importance. Where the value or truthfulness of the representation must depend upon the deftness and skill of the colorist, only one of proven ability should be charged with the work. If possible, the colorist should be permitted to work with the actual specimen on hand or the tints and color qualities will be useless since they will be misleading. Many dog fanciers have made good use of the recording value of the slide ; raisers of blue ribbon cattle have perpetuated their greatest animals on the expertly-colored slide. Many of these sets have never had general distribution and are private property, being safeguarded from possible mutilation or duplication by unscrupulous people who might wish to capitalize the subjects to the disadvantage of the owner. The cost of skilled workmanship when compared to the great value of such a collection makes this perhaps the least expensive form of preservation. Kept in a safe place, the slide will outlast photographs, and negative, properly developed and fixed, will remain good indefinitely. The chief value of the lantern slide lies in its ability to reproduce, before a great number of people, information of general interest. It has long been regarded as an inexpensive and effective means of dissemination because of its reproductive quality and its superiority over the ordinary photograph in that its image may be viewed by any number of people at one and the same time. Slide Makers Now Keep Posted The fact that it is a preservative has been overlooked to a great extent. The oldest slide houses, with thousands of negatives on their shelves, declare that they are constantly digging into their files for subjects the original objects of which have long since tumbled down, decayed or disappeared. The ability of a slide house to supply the greatest number of subjects' determines its success. There has been much enterprise of late in this direction. Slide makers keep posted on the latest achievements of science, industry and the arts and hasten to record the fruits on the glass plate. From a large slide library one could almost illustrate a history of the world. That is because the slide has become our chief pictorial preservative. Great paintings take years to make and at best one can buy only photographic reproductions of it. Once on the slide it is brilliantly placed before thousands of people in many parts of the world at the same hour. Ten, twenty, fifty years hence an object may be brought back to "life" by referring to a simple card index. For the student of the future our vast supply of slides, on every conceivable subject, will offer a rich field of exploration. That is why the lantern slide industry is growing more important yearly, despite the growth in popularity of the moving picture. The vast improvement of the electric stereopticon has much to do -with the constantly increasing popularity of the lantern slide. The life of a moving picture film is limited. Unless it has unusual care and special means are taken to preserve it, disintegration sets in and to run in through a printing machine might mean its complete ruin. Although duplicate negatives may be made at regular intervals, and thus the life of the subject extended indefinitely, it is rather a costly process. The glass slide is good for a great number of years — good indefinitely— if proper care is given the emulsion. And the cost of duplication at stated intervals is not prohibitive even when great numbers are involved. The full use of the stereopticon is not attained by its utilization for exhibition purposes. Recognition should be given it as a unique and satisfactory preservative. More and more people in many lines of endeavor are realizing this and the great increase in private collections is the best indication of the fact. "Do Your Own Thinking," Title of Plea Made by Motion Picture Leaders UNDER the above caption, Elizabeth Sears, who, together with D. W. Griffith, Myra Kingman Miller, S. L. Rothapfel, manager of the famous Rialto and Rivoli theaters in New York; Margaret I. MacDonal of the "Moving Picture World," E. D. Foster of the Community Motion Picture Bureau and others, contributes an article on the subject of motion pictures to the current issue of the General Federation Magazine, the organ of the Federation of Women's Clubs. The group of articles is a remarkably interesting one. The article by Miss Sears contains matter which every mother ought to ponder. "When we learn to work with motion pictures and not against them we will have discovered the real secret of reformation," says Miss Sears. "There is practically no other form of recreation for the entire family in many of the smaller towns than the motion picture. It has almost routed the three greatest evils of the small town, the saloon, the poolroom where boys may linger in the back rooms to play cards, and the village livery stable, which is often the center of the most vicious influence to the younger boys of the community. . . . No motion picture, however bad, could begin to be as deteriorating in its influence as such places, known in every town." Films Aid at Fire Prevention Day A celebration of National Fire and Accident Prevention Day similar to the one that was held on October 9, 1916, at Rochester, N. Y., is planned by the Fire Prevention Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of that city. City officials, labor organizations, churches, the Boy Scouts, the street railway company and the public and parochial school cooperated in the 1916 celebration. The exercises included speaking, music and motion pictures. The pictures proved to be of great interest. They were not technical films, but mixed love, adventure, safety first and fire prevention in satisfactory proportion. Church Projects "Tale of Two Cities" Two interesting screenings were shown in moving pictures at the First Methodist Church, Schenectady, N. Y., on October 28. A dramatization of Charles Dickens' famous story, "A Tale of Two Cities," portrayed the stirring days of the French Revolution. As the events of that time are being repeated to a considerable extent to-day in Russia, the story had in addition to the attraction Dickens' characters always possess, a new appeal to a modern audience. In conjunction with it was shown the feature of large educational value, "Cuba, the Isle of Sugar." "The Red Triangle" is the title selected by the Y. M. C. A. for the big war movie it is having made to be used to stimulate the wark work campaign. The picture, which it is intended shall be used in every moving picture house in the country, is ready. The directors announce that nearly 2,000,000 persons — most of them Uncel Sam's men in uniform — will be in the film.