The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-05-29
THE KINETOGRAPH
EdisOn's Latest Invention Where
by Motion
is RECORDED THE SAME AS SOUND
By a Photographic is Nothing More nor
Less than Photograph Camera Arranged
to Do New Work in New Way.


New YORK, May 2S.-Three or four years
ago, in magazine article, Edison, the
electric wizard, wrote that he would pro-
duce machine which should record and
reproduce motion as the photograph re-
corded and reproduced sound. A little
while ago there was great convention of
women's clubs of America Mrs Edison
Is interested in women's clubs and their
work, and she decided to entertain the
presidents of the various clubs at the con-
yention. Edison entered into the plan,
and when 147 club women visited his work
shop he showed them working model of
his new kinetograph, for that is the name
he has given to the most wonderful OF all
his wonderful inventions. Surprised and
pleased, the club women saw a small pine
box standing on the floor. There were
some wheels and belts near the box In
the top OF the box was a hole, perhaps an
inch In diameter. AS they looked throug n
this hole they saw picture of man. 1t
was most marvellous picture 1t bowed
and smiled and waved its hands and took
OH Its hat with the most perfect natural
ness and grace. Every motion was perfect
There was not a hitch or jerk. Recently
he went to Chicago. While there some
one interested in the Worlds fair
asked him if he was going to
get up some electrical novelty to place on
exhibition. 81 have machine projected
replied Edison, "but the details are not per-
tected yet. My intention is to have such a
happy combination of electricity and
photography that man can Sit in his own
parlor and see reproduced on screen the
forms OF players in an opera produced on a
distant stage, and as he sees their move
ments he will hear the sound of their voices
as they talk or sing or laugh. When the
machine is perfected, which it will be long
before it can be exhibited at the fair, each
little muscle of the singers face will be
seen by the world. His facial expression
with every change will be exactly repro
puced, and the stride and positions will be
natural and will vary as 90 those Of the
person himself"
When this interview was published here
couple of weeks ago, people laughed again
and said Edison had been having fun with
some Chicago reporter. Edison sat in
court all day Tuesday during the argument
OF his counsel for an Injunction to restrain
the United States Electric Light company
from making incandescent lamps. a re-
porter asked him about this phenomenal
machine, and was invited to go out to
his laboratory at Orange and see model
OF the machine. This morning the repor-
ter found Mr.. Edison at his laboratory and
showed him a copy of the Chicago interview
Edison read it and laughed. Yes, It's
| true, he said. ''You can sit in your par
lor and look at big screen and see Chaun-
| cey Depew come out just as if ne was intro
duclng Stanley at the Metropolitan opera
| house. He will walk up to the front of
! the stage, bow and smile and take a drink
OF water and start off with his Grafton
Every time your eyes see him open his
mouth your ears will hear what he says,
that is, if he says anything"
How do you expect to do all that, Mr..
Edison 2"
"lf it is desired to reproduce an opera or
play, will get company to give a dress
rehearsal for me. l place back CT the or
chestra on table compound machine
consisting of photograph and kineto-
graph with capacity of thirty minutes
continuous work. The orchestra plays
the curtain rises and the opera begins
| Both machines work simultaneously, on
recording the sound and the other taking
photographs recording motion at the
rate of forty six photographs per sec
ond. Afterward, the Photographic
| strip is developed and placed in
the machine a projecting lens is substi-
| tuted for Photographic lens and the re-
producing part of the photograph is ad-
iusted. Then, by means of calcium light.
curtain, reproducing to the audience the
original scene with all its sounds and all
the motions of the actors exactly as in the
original scene"
The photograph which Mr. Edison will use
in his compound motion and sound repro
Queer, will be an Improvement on the
Photographs now in common use. He said
to-day he had now in use about five hun
dred monographs Of which he has taken
n OhGlrUqtlnnG 10 Of oil
these observations he will embody in an
| improved photograph to be used with the
photograph.
| The kinetograph is nothing more nor less
| than photograph camera arranged in q
new way to donew work. In this small
box camera, Mr.. Edison places a roll of
gelatine film about three-Quarters of an
inch wide and of any length desired. The
interior Of the camera of course is arranged
on plan similar to that on which the or
| binary roll cameras are made. The gelatine
| strip is unrotled from one spindle and re-
rolled on another and in passing from the
| first spindle to the second, is carried before
the lens of the camera. The shutters of the
camera are arranged to be worked by the
shaft attached to the cyclinder of the
| photograph This shaft also works the
spindles which carry the rolls of film. The
mechanism of this camera is so arranged
that when shutters open the spindles stop
and the gelatine film is fixed before the
lens. In less than the forty sixth part of a
second the photograph is taken, the shut
tiers snap, the splndles turn and the gelatine
slip moves on for new photograph. The
arrangement is sc complete that forty six
perfect photographs are taken in one
second.
1.-THE trouble with all attempts heretofore
made to reproduce action and motion by
photograph" said Edison, twas the photo
graphs could not be taken in series with
sufficient rapidity to catch accurately the
motion it was desired to reproduce. My
idea was to take series of instantaneous
photographs of motions so rapidly that in
the reproduction the Photographic repre-
sentatives become resolved into a pure
motion instead OF a series of jerks. The
kinetograph takes series of forty six
photographs in one second and keeps it VI
as long as desired 1t starts, moves, stops
uncloses the shutter takes a photograph,
closes the shutter and starts on forty siX
times second. The result when repro
duced Is pure motion"
To illustrate what he said, Mr.. Edison
took one of the rolls of gelatine film which
had been through the kinetograph and
showed it the reporter. On it was photo
graphed one of the boys in his laboratory
The photographs were about half an inch
square and were taken in the film at inter
walls of about an inch. They represented
the boy in the act of taking off his hat and
bowling. Between the first view and The
last of the series the complete motion oil
removing the hat and making the bow was
clearly observable, but between any two
consecutive views there was no apparen,
change in the position of the boys arm OF
hand In the front view the boys banC
was at his side. Gradually it was raised to-
ward his head and his head inclined forward
Then the hat was removed and the bow
completed, after which the hat was re-
placed.