Reel and Slide (Jan-Sep 1919)

REEL and SLIDE 19 Slides I Questions on Lantern Slide Sub n jects will be answered by mail if || stamped envelope is enclosed in m addressing this department. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii SLIDES OF THE TIMES The lecturers are getting busy for winter work and the slide houses, especially those with educational libraries, are swamped with requests for sets suitable for autumn evening talks. And there is plenty to talk about and picture this year if ever! The return to peace conditions brings with it an opportunity to study about the war, its causes and results and there is no better method than by means of the lantern slide lecture. The slides of the times are sets dealing with world affairs, war scenes, incidents and personalities. We find Professor F. E. Calland, of Beloit College delivering a timely lecture on Rome, taking advantage of the present interest in the Eternal City and modern Italy. This lecture is interesting and ever popular though perhaps more so now than in the past. The high lights in the origin, the decline, and the fall of the mistress of the world are contained in this lecture. Many of the illustrations used by Professor Calland are beautifully done in colors. Some of them were by noted French masters. Reubens and Turner were two of the artists whose works are shown most frequently. Pictures which link the historic traditions of Aeneas and Romulus and Remus regarding the founding of the city are first flashed on the screen. Aeneas, the Trojan, driven from his home, Ilium, by the Greeks, was commanded by the gods to found a new Troy in Italy, and it was his descendants, Romulus and Remus, nursed by the wolf, who performed this task. Illustrations of the great Punic wars, in which Rome and Carthage struggled for mastery of what was then the civilized world, are particularly striking. The heroic martyrdom of Regulus, who went back to certain death as a hostage because of his plighted word, the wonderful work of Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, and the capture of Syracuse with the murder of Archimedes, the great mathematician, at his work, are all portrayed in this part of the lecture. The lecture centers about Caesar. Professor Calland quotes authorities, one of whom he declares named Caesar the greatest character in history, with the exception of Christ. He says that the Roman also ranked with Alexander, Hannibal and Napoleon, and great leaders of the present war, as a general. Examples of the efficient armies trained by this soldier, pictures of some of his triumphs in celebration of victories, and his tragic assassination on the Ides of March, 44 B. C, are also shown. » «■ * Other interesting pictures connected with tales of the eternal city, were those of Cornelia, whose only jewels were her two sons, Cincinnatus, who left his plow and led the army to victory in fourteen days, the romance of Antony and Cleopatra, the Roman forum, from which Cicero and others thundered forth their speeches, and Nero, persecutor of Christians. * * * At Chicago University, Frank Louis Schoell, instructor in romance language and former lieutenant in the French army, gave an illustrated lecture on "Strasburg in 1919" at the Harper Assembly Room. The war was to have another inning at the latter, with Prof. William Edward telling of "The Dilemma of the German-Americans." at Mandel Hall. In the evening Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus lectured on the "Near East." Other interesting lecturers to be heard at the school are Antranig Arakel Bedikian, pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church of New York; G. Buchanan Gray of Oxford, England, and Frederic Mason Blanchard of the University of Chicago. * * * The average lantern slide lecture is becoming rather a cut and dried affair, largely because the average lecturer fails to understand changing public taste and the evolution of entertainment. For years there has been a sameness in illustrated lecture work, not alone in the subject selected, but in the talks that accompany them. Need this be so? Isn't it possible to introduce sensible novelty into the slides as well as the lectures in order to successfully compete with other forms of public entertainment easily available to the general public? We think so. In fact, there are a few lecturers who have been able to progress with the times and public demand sufficiently to retain popularity. A generation ago standards of entertainment were not high; that is, people enjoyed more simple and conservative forms of entertainment. An "il lustrated visit" to New York or London proved popular and capable of holding the interest of an average audience for an hour or more. Today, however, with a picture theater on nearly every corner, with periodicals full of exciting fiction, with automobiles for almost everybody, with greater capacity for amusement than formerly, only entertainment in tune with modern conditions can succeed. There is still a demand for screen lectures; there are just as many stereopticons at work, but the audiences are not so large or so patient. Yet it is possible to make an illustrated lecture so interesting and timely that it may successfully compete with the movies. The secret lies in careful selection of subject matter, keeping it in tune with the times, selected with regard to the habits and thoughts of the individual audience. An examination of the programs of the illustrated lecture courses being held in Chicago schools each season demonstrates how variety and timeliness may be maintained. No lecture for delivery before a mixed audience should be without at least a trace of comedy. It is essential that pictures at least must satisfy curiosity and the ideal condition results when the speaker can arouse curiosity by his words and satisfy it by means of his screen. What types of illuminants may be used with the stereopticon? G. H. Answer: Electricity is desirable for lantern slide projection, but not necessary, as very satisfactory results can be accomplished using acetylene or some other independent form of illuminant. There are two forms, either of which would be satisfactory where electricity is available, one being the old standard, reliable arc lamp, which has been in use for a great many years, and the other the newly developed gas-filled Mazda incandescent lamp. Ampere for ampere of current consumption, the gas-filled Mazda lamp is more efficient than the arc lamp. In most cases it can be attached to the ordinary incandescent socket without the necessity of special wiring (usually required in the use of an arc lamp) and as a rule it is entirely automatic, requiring no attention whatever. For certain purposes the arc lamp is more satisfactory than the' incandescent lamp, but in the majority of instances the latter is to be preferred. The cost of operation is approximately the same, on the basis of a rated life of 100 hours for the incandescent lamp, the current consumption being lower in the incandescent lamp and the cost of the bulb being slightly higher than the cost of carbons required to operate an equivalent length of time with the arc lamp. * * * What is the most convenient way for a small user to get illuminating gas? A. B. O. Answer: If you have an automobile supply station or garage convenient you can usually make arrangements to borrow a presto-lite tank, and return it after you are through using it, paying only for the gas consumed. Sometimes it is im possible to make such arrangements, in which case you can buy a presto-lite tank, which you can exchange for a full one after it has been emptied, paying the difference in price, or you can purchase a generator and make your own gas, just as you desire. There are several different types of acetylene burners on the market, that which gives the most illumination being generally conceded to be the four-jet acetylene burner backed by a silvered reflector. How much do stereopticons cost f B. M. J. Answer: The cost of a stereopticon, for either electricity or acetylene, ranges from $30 up for a good reliable machine. The best machines for lantern slide projection are the dissolving instruments, which cost in the neighborhood of $100, depending upon the equipment. It is possible to purchase stereopticons all the way between these two prices. A good first-class single machine can be obtained at a price in the neighborhood of $40. * * * A steadily increasing number of public libraries are acquiring slides on various subjects for distribution among churches, clubs and schools in their vicinities and in many cases, notably in Boston, this plan seems to have much to recommend it. It seems particularly the public library's function to supply well chosen educational subjects. In many cases these institutions are able to supply good original material from their prints and books on hand to cover a wide range of demand along literary, scientific and artistic lines. This material, placed in the hands of a competent slide maker, often makes possible the availability of subject matter not within convenient reach of the average slide house itself. * * * In the realm of astronomy, an interesting experiment is being conducted in a series of five lectures before girls' classes by Doctor A. M. Harding, professor of mathematics and astronomy at the University of Arkansas. A few of the questions to be answered in these lectures are: Are Mars and the other planets inhabited? What keeps the sun hot, and where is it at midnight? ,/hy are some stars red and others blue? The lectures are illustrated by several hundred lantern slides showing telescopic photographs of the sun, moon, the stars, the comets and meteors, and other heavenly bodies. Mercury, Venus, Mars and the other planets, the myths concerning the sun, the moon, and the rest of the celestial bodies were the subject of the first lecture. The question of Mars' being inhabited, and the possibility of communication with her will be features of the program. There is little doubt that the supply of new and timely slide subjects will be ample this winter. Slide houses are busy gathering war material from many sources, including the bureaus at Washington. Also, the Government is having many thousands of slides from official photographs, showing various phases of war and war work and especially the role played by this country in the winning of it. J. S. B. I ?— ASK US—? | ^illllllllllillllllllllllilllllllUIIIIIIIIillllllllllli Can a Standard projector be adapted to use the filament lamp? J. B. Answer: Yes. Such an adapter is made and sold by the Motion Picture Projector Company, 35 South Dearborn St., Chicago 111. * * * Where can I rent the Universal Screen Magazine? Robert Harmon, Detroit. Answer: There is a Universal film exchange in your city. Apply there. * * ' * We are located in the country and have no electric current available. We do not see how we can get adequate projection without ample current. •What can be done? Rural School 40. Answer. There are practical portable units advertised in Reel and Slide. Communicate with the advertisers. * * # Can you tell me where to find a reliable set of historical slides for school use? I am told there are many in existence bearing on the history of the state, but have failed to locate any available ones. Teacher, McKeesport. Answer: The will of William C. Stevenson, Jr., who died recently in Philadelphia, bequeathed to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania a large collection of historical negatives and slides. Whether they are to be loaned for use or not, a letter to the society would doubtless bring a helpful reply. * * * What are the special requirements of the postoffice department in shipping motion picture film by mail? Answer: Postmasters are directed to exercise special care in accepting motion-picture films for shipment in the mails, to see that the containers are in good condition, and have attached thereto the _ required "Caution" label. Containers for motion-picture films must comply with the following requirements: "Moving-picture films must be packed in tightlyclosed metal cases inclosed in a strong, spark-proof wooden box, or in spark-proof cases made of sheetiron not less than 0.02-inch thick (No. 25 U. S. standard gauge) and lined throughout with fiber board at least % inch thick, or some other equivalent insulating material. The covers of these cases must fit tightly and must lap over the body at_ least 5/i inch on the sides, forming a tight joint." All packages containing motion-picture films must have attached thereto bv the shipper a diamond-shaped yellow label, each side 4 inches long, with the wording printed in black letters inside of a black line border measuring zy2 inches on each side, reading as follows: "Notice to Postal Employees. Caution — Keep fire and lights away. Sweep up and remove carefullv contents of broken packages. This is to certify that the above articles are properly described bv name and are packed and marked and are in proper condition for transportation, according to the regulations prescribed bv the Post Office Denartment." The notice must be signed by the shipper. All such packages must be placed in cars and offices in positions that wi" permit of their re^dy removal in case of fire. They must not be loaded in cars nor stored in stations or offices in contact with steam pipes or other sources of heat.