Evening journal., 1894-03-10
Mr.. EDISON'S LATEST
1t Is Called the kaleidoscope and
Shows Moving Pictures.
IT IsA WONDERFUL SLOT MACHINE

Combined with the Phonogaph, Not Only
the Voice but the Form. Features and
Movements of Great Men May BE shown
10 Posteriiy by This Machine.
New YORK. March lO.-Thomas A. Edi
son, the inventor. has consented to tell eX
actly what he has accomplished in repro
1ucing the motions of an object by photog
raphy. This is the first direct announce
ment that the new kinetograph as the pho
tographic apparatus is called, has proved
successful
Everybody has seen the nickel-in-the
slot machines which contain Photographs
and play any kind Of tune previously sung
into them. Mr.. Edison has now ready foI
the market a similar machine containing
his moving pictures. which is set a-going
when nickle is put into the slot. This
machine he calls knetoscope. The kline
toyraph is the machine which takes the
photographs and the kinetoscope the ma
chine which displays them TO the eye.
The Kaleidoscope.
In the top of the kinetoscope, which is a
polished oal. box just like the phonograph
machines, is peephole about two inches
| long and half IN inch broad covered with
| glass. The interior of the box is lighted
by electricity and shows picture about
| two inches broad and an inch high.
The kinetoscope in Mr.. Edison's work.
shop, which was exhibited 10 a reporter
contains picture of barber shop. There
is the barber about an inch in height
standing at his chair and three victims
waiting to be shaved But waiting is not
the correct word TO use of this picture.
One Of the lilliputian actors rises and
walks across the picture to the chair, sits
down and is tilted back. The apron and
towels are adjusted in trice with no gen
tleness Dit is "a o cent shop, and the hand
/ of the barber moves professionally over
the patrons face and under his chin before
the proper razor is chosen.
The razor is slapped vigorously over the
strap few times and then begins cent
shave that resembles the swing of a scyth,
in The hands of a farmer.
Mr.. Edison regards the nickel-in- -the-sloi
machine as a mere toy. This is not wha
he is after, although IL is entertaining. lie
said:
"Some time ago it occurred to me that i
might be possible to oinvent something tina
would do for the eye what the phonograpl
does for the ear-an instrument in fac
that would faithfully record and repro
duce practically all motion. / was familia
with the zeotrope, an instrument on whic
certain pictures were painted and whic
seemed to give the figures a sort Of motion
and was also very much interested in TIA
experiments Of Muyhridge, who photo
graphed horses in motion by instantaneou
photography and reproduced the move
ments, but all these were very crude an
resulted in ierky motions.
"1'he eye is too quick for such photo
graphs I saw that to produce pure me
ton pictures must be taken with suilicien
rapidity to record movements of less tina
an inch in any part Of the body, longe
movement than that producing a jar, whic
destroyed the illusion.
Story of the Invention.
"Then began series of experiments
photographing moving objects, and we &c
! our apparatus 20 take 25 different phot'
| graphs in a second, but this was not sun
cient ] found that the human retina wa
capable of taking about 45 or 46 phot'
; graphs and communicating them to th
brain.
1T was difficult iob-a mighty difiicu
iob-to get machine chat would do tl
work, When we got the requisite numbl
}. Of pictures. we found they showed with
= slight tremor when we put them in "A kin
toscope That was because they had az
been focused exactly the same