The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-07-25
EDIsoN's NEXT WONDER.
VIII Sit in New York Theatre and
Enjoy a London Play S

VIII SIT in q New York Theatre and
enjoy a London Play.
| lNew York Herald)
Edison, the wizard, has said It. and
! 1T will be. The day'is coming soon when
we VIII sit in a New York theatre and
ENJOY q play or an opera in London
Parls or Vienna. Edison has predicted
stranger things, and they have come
y pass. Il am certainly not going TO
give up until am successful" he says
Oh th1s, and every experiment / make
brings me appreciably nearer the
mark" So we may look forward with
some confidence to the realization Of this
Wonderful scientific dream.
Such development Of the combined
powers Of the kaleidoscope and phono-
graph is indeed far from Improbable
| Both these mcchanisms have produced
marvels familiar to us all 1t requires
little ina ginDtion to foresee combina-
! tlon or the kaleidoscope on q tremendous
| scale. with a multiplicity Of greatly I'm
proved monographs capable OF trans
ferring an entire play to a big screen
OF q city theatre
Let us project ourselves for a few
minutes into the future and see what.
according to Mr.. Edison, we will some
| day enjoy.
There is play, we Will say running
| in London. that 4 New York manager
|
here. The players have long engage
ment there. The metropolitan public
| want to see the play while it is new
ana creating sensation, SO the New
! York manager reproduces it by means
OF Edisons mechanical devices.
| The stage OF n New York theatre is
! entirely cleared, even the scenery being
removed. A huge white sheet is stretch
ed from the lies to the stage. 1t covers
the stage completely, like an immense
white curtain. The regular drop cur
| tain rolls down over It, !
| Behlnd the white curtain are placed
q number OF monographs, with i'm
mense vibrating horns. capable Of null
tiplying sound 100 times. One OF these
monographs is for each actor II there
| be ten players in the cast, then ten pho
nograp!is are arranged behind the cur
| tain. Each is loaded with the dialogue
Of that particular player.
III the gallery, out of sight to the aud
icnce, is a hugh kaleidoscope, containing
hundreds Of yards Of film. upon which
Is the whole play, actors, costumes,
scenery'and everything. The theatre is
! then darkened
Suddenly there is flash Of electric
light and the curtain goes up on the first
act. There 1t is, as perfect as life. You
don't realize that you are looking at n
white curtain. You see what looks like
| real stage. IT is the picture OF a
stage of q London theatre. There are
the scenery, the houses trees and path
ways. The chairs look so real that you
would dare sit in them, and even natur-
raj colors arc reproduced.
The orchestra Is playing softly and
from the wings walks out an actress.
not by the Jerky fits and starts of the
kaleidoscope, but with slow, easy like
stride She walks over to a table and
picks UP bunch Of fowers--flowers fun
Of life and color. She turn towards the
! audience and speaks. Her voice is
clear as 4 bell. You hear every word
as distinctly as If you were listening to
| living woman.
| The hero then comes on the stage
You can hear his footsteps as he walks
along. He greets his sweetheart. The
| moment his lips begin to move you hear
| his voice.
'I'he phonogra phs and microscopes are
| timed to the fraction OF 4 second The
characters on the stage arc life-size and
their voices arc natural. You are looking
| at the pictures OF the real piaye:s; You
! recognize them at once, and you are lis
tening to their own voices, as natural as
If 1t were themselves, instead Of their
pictures. actually before you.
The play runs on to the end OF the first
| act, when climax is reached and the
| >H1 thiiA tuHE uo"ll III inc regular
! way. The theater Is instantly iliu,ni-
mated again ana the next act proceeds
| But UP in the gallery the two kineto-
| scope opera tors are working with great
! rapidly, keeping track OF the film tina,
| Is running through the apparatus at
| lightning speed. On this film VIII he over
| $4,000 separate and distinct photo
graphs. each one Of which VIII in turn
| be thrown upon the white sheet at the
! rate or forty-eight 4. secon(i--so fast
| that :hcy appear 10 the eye rs one NOV
ing. realistic scene. without break or
| Dlcmish.
| The monographs are operated by cleo
tricity being connected on the same cir
! cult that works the kaleidoscope, thus
| making the timing OF a players mo-
| tons and his voice correspond perfectly
When isellamy wrote "Looking Back
ward some years ago he probably little
! drcamod that his idea or reproducing
| leading theatrical pcrfo manccs in the
| homes OF the wealthy would ever be
! realized.
Yet with this apparatus, on rmallcr
| and less elaborate scale, any citizen or
New York may sit in his parlor ana en-
JOY the whole performance or any play
| o. opera his fancy may select. He can
| hear the WarblinS OF Media and Caiye
and Patti, and the DC EcsHkes. or If lie
wants a nigh. or Faust" Lucia" or
/ Carmen" he will simply have the
| Faust" Lucia" or Carmen" box
| brought out. in few minutes the
| white curtain and the outer drop cur
tain can be rugged up and. By merely
pressing Il button. he can have the sing-
| crs before him and enjoy he opera.
a play running in London, Paris or
any par; Of the world may be reproduced
| n Will mud thf- tuInflt and hn