The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-05-12

Vii al in a New York theatre and
snioy a play or an opera at London
PSr4s or Vienna, says the New YORK
Herald. Edison has predicted stranger
th,nEp. and they have come to pass,
-T-nm certainly not going to give np TN
Ynr upeeessful,'' he says of this, "and
every experiment make brings me ap-
DreeIsfly nearer the mark. 50 We
nav lools forward with some confidence
II he realization OF this wonderful
scientific dream.
Let US project ourselves for a rev
minutes into the future and see "hA'
according to AIR. Edison, We Will some
TbSrc s a play, we VIII say, rlnninE
An london, that New YORK tnA ll'.f...,
thinks would be Splenold A1tLaS',O"
her. The players have . Ions i,s :, e" ,s,,bIic
Snent there. The metropolitan puoI'S
S,,nSt 70 - the play while II IL new anu
crsatnr a sensation. so the New 10TH S
mSnNGer reprOduces Il by the HleAhns "a
Edison's mechanical devices. -. l.,
ND Etnre of q New York tneAtIe ~
o,,tirelS, cleared. even the scenery peIrS
SSgcovcd A huge white sheet
Stnstehed from the dies TO the staSe. II
CoverS the staEe completely, ike an M
I1,Snoe white curtain. The regular uEVP
curtain rolls down over IL
ThS PhOnoETAPhH.
Bahlnd the white curtain are placed
n number OF monographs, with in'
rnense vibrating horns, capable OF null
4IpIyinE sound one hundred times. one
Of these monographs is for each actor.
II there be ten players in the cast. then
tan pbonocrnphs are arranged behind
the curtain. Each Is loaded with the
dialogue OF that particular player.
In me gallery, out Of sight OF the au-
dience, Is a huge hneIoscope, cohIhln .,
Ing hundreds OF yards OF MN, upon
which is the whole play. actors ms ms,
tunes, scenery and everything LUG
theatre is then darkened
Suddenly there is a flash OF electric
N,Pht and the curtain goes up ON the
drst act There 1t is, perfect as ne.
You don't realize that you are lookinS
A. n white curtain. You see what looks
IiI.e a reAl stage. II is the picture OF
Etaee OF a London theatre. There are
the scenery, the houses. trees and path
ways The chairs look so rea! that
YOU would almost dare SIT down upon
them. and even natural eolors are pro-
dueed. -,,,.- -,
from the wings walks out an actress,
NOT BY the jerky fits and starts OF the
finetoscope, but with a slow, easy, me-
me stride She walks over to table
and hicks M a bunch OF iiOWerS-iiow-
ers full OF life and color. She turns to-
IyRris the audience and speaks. Her
voice Is clear as n bell. You hear every
word as distinctly rs II YOU were Asten-
ing to a living woman.
The hero then comes on me staEe.
You can hear his footsteps Us he walks
along He Greets his sweetheart, The
moment his lips begin to move you hear
his voice.
The monographs and microscopes
are timed to the fraction Of second.
The characters or the stage are NE
Hize and their voices are natural. You
are looking at the pictures OF the real
players; you recognize them a. once.
You are listening to their own voices, US
natural as II 1t were themselves, IN
stead Of their pictures, actually eeioFe
you a..
first act, when climax is reached ana
the curtain goes down in the regular
way. The theatre is instantly hluni-
mated again and the next act proceeds.
working the KInstoSsOPs.
But up in the gallery the two kinet-
oscope operators are working with
great rap!dIty. keeping track OF the
aln that Is running through the appa-
ratuS at lightning speed. on this Alm
VIII be $4,000 separate and distinct
photographs, each one Of which will In
turn be thrown upon the white sheet
- .T0SR1N n gsRAnA--nn
fast that they appear TO the eye ~ one
moving. realistic scene withou: break
or blemiSh.
Tue monographs are operated by
electricity. being connected on the same
circuit that works the kaleidoscope.
thus making the timing Of the player
motions and his voice correspond peg
feetly.
When Bellamy wrote Looking Back
ward some years ago. he probably new
er dreamed that his idea Of producing
leading theatrical performances In the
homes Of the wealthy would ever be re-
allied.
Yet with this apparatus on smaller
and less elaborate scale, any citizen OF
New York may sit in his TariOr and
enjoy the whole performance OF ANY
play or opera his fancy may select. He
can hear the wRrbllnEs OF &elba and
Calve and Patti and the De Reszkes, or
II he wants a night Of Faust, or Car
men" he will simply have the Faust"
or Carmen" box brought out, In a
few minutes the white curtain and the
outer drop curtain can BE- rugged up. and
by merely pressing button he can
have the singers before him and enjoy
the opera.
A play running IN Paris London or
any part Of the world may be repro
duced At will. and the talent and grace
of the great actor and actresses Of to-
day may be seen over again. years after
they have passed away.
The only memory left OF Edwin
Booth. Edmund Kean, Edwin Forrest
and ali the great players who are dead.
S. that which tradition carries. The
grandeur Of theiT voices Is stiIl. the
splendor OF their acting and the grace
OF their gestures are gone forever.
With the microscope ph0nOrraph
combination, however. we win be able
TO preserve more than memory OF the
players tina; are pleasing us to-day.
Now Mr.. Edison says that not ouly is
tho, plan feasible. but that Il was his
original idea long before the kneio-
scope had been invented. and that the
kaleidoscope was only one step In carry.
ing out the great scheme. Since then
he has had a number OF experts con-
etantly experimenting in relation to
this plan. and only within the last week
or two somc experiments had been
made which were more encouraging
and hopeful than any that had gone be-
fore them.
There were two things" he added.
a'that had 10 be overcome. and these
were the metallic character OF the tone
o. the Photographs, and the change %
gta ftrnbra IN that NJ tho human y,tNa
80 that all the beautiful mOiulatiDns OF
the singers and actors could be exactly
reproduced. and the second WAS the
AUGMENTATION Of the nhnnnrrnpha