The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-06-03
MAKING MOVING PICTURES.
The Process of Photograghing a Street
Crowd in Motion.

| A few years ago an unpretentious-look
ing vehicle was standing near the curve
on Pennsylvania avenue near the Seventh
street transfer station, says the Washing
ton Star. In the wagon was large pine
| box, and upon this smaller box Of
| cherry. This smaller box proved, upon
| inquiry, to be camera for making the
ascope, cinemetograph, vitascope and all
the various members of the constantly
growing family of scopes" and graphs
devices for exhibiting series of rapidly
shifting Photographic transparencies,
arranged successfully, so that one blends
into the other uninterruptedly, giving
the impression of objects in motion. A
photograph of the moving crowds at the
transfer was being made by Mr.. G. Fran
els jenkins, who told reporter about
the methods and mechanism employed in
the process.
In company with Mr.. Jenkins, who
carried the box in his hand, the reporter
visited the laboratory, which was dark
room, where the strip containing the pic
lures was removed from the box. And
dark the room is, too, after being out i'll
the bright sunlight, the only light visible
being red globe swinging from the
ceiling
Upon entering the room tick, tick,
tick, not unlike the sound of clock, is
noticed, and as soon as the eyes become
accustomed to the semi-darkness of the
subdued illumination, it is found to pro-
coed from the far side of the room, where
little machine is busy stamping out
the tiny square holes along the edge of
the tape, or finn as it is called. These
little holes are punched along the edges Of
the film to insure perfect register, as was
explained.
The punching must be done with ex-
IRENE accuracy, but so skilfully is the
mechaism designed and SO delicately
made that it can be trusted to care for it
self, running all night, when occasion
requires, without attention, punching
loid, which for all the world resemble in
miniature the piles of sawdust in the
mills. The pictures of 3-4x78 inches,
and are laid on, in the camera, at the
rate Of 1000 a minute and up.
After the photographs are made the film
is developed and dried, and automatically
fed, in contact with like strip of sensi-
tive film, beneath powerful incandes'
| cent lamp and ''positives" printed there
from, very much as a cylinder press
| prints the long strips of newspaper.
| This exposed film is taken into another
dark room, where it is spirally laid on tc
| a large cylinder rotated by an electric
motor. This cylinder is supported in
half-moon shaped bearings at the end of g
large trough resembling the great wooden
sugar troughs in which our grandfather
used to catch the sap of the NAPLES.
The developer" dark colored fluid
is poured on from pitcher, the film
continuing to rotate therein until fully
developed. The end of the film first laid
on is then fastened to another cylinder
which quickly rolls it off the first and
passes it through another bath until it is
fixed, whatveter that may mean. Then
the film is given a thorough washing un-
der long tube pieced with dozen of little
holes from which the water is projected
in tiny streams against the passing film.
The washing is continued for half an
hour, when the film is reeled off on to a
drying rack and hung up, where, under
the forceful action of electric fans, it is
BILE band, SO feet long, containing 800 pic
lures, but which is rolled up until it is
scarcely larger than double spool of cot
ton.
Aside from the extreme simplicity of
the apparatus, it's automatic character is
most fascinating feature. The chemist
in charge stated that he would rather de-
velop 100 feet of this film than two dry
| mis-