The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-01-30
THE I. CINEMATOGRA.PHE.
A Wonde rful Invention in the Line
of Photography.
1t Reproduces Moving Objects and the
Play Of the Human Features
with Star Ting Faithfulness
to Life.

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had hitherto kept AWAY from variety
theaters crossed the doors of those
places of amusement to behold the new
est scientific achievement. Straight
| way countless new machines were put
out, and the curiosity to witness the
vitascope and cinematographe pictures
grew apace. There are two dozen Of
these mechanical reproductive inven-
tons now, and the returns are not all in
by good deal. Among the best known
are the cinematographe,t the vitascope,
the phantoscope, the kineoptikon, the
animatographe and the kaleidoscope.
The secret of all these contrivances is
| photography. It is not unnatural,
| therefore, that the men who have sue
ceeded best should be photographers.
| The Lumieres, who gave the cinemato-
graphic to the world, hit upon their dis
| covery two years ago, and since then
they have been reaping a golden harvest.
There is no need to thrash over the old
straw about priority of invention, and
it matters little whether Lumiere or
Edison was first in the field. The last
twelvemonth Lumiere & Sons have ac-
quired aworld-wide reputation through
the cinematographe. The cinemato-
graphe has recently, by special invita-
ton, been privately exhibited before
Emperor Francis Joseph and the i'm
perial court in Vienna, at the Elysee in
Paris, before President Faure, his
family and official household, and also
before the various courts of Europe.
About IL years ago the heads of this
firm were almost unknown, even in
their own city of Lyons, France. But
from a small business they have, by
their inventive skill and progressive
methods, advanced until they now
stand among the leading houses in the
world. In their works they made the
highest class of supplies and scientific
appliances used in photography. The
financial success resulting from their
skill and enterprise is, perhaps, best
shown by saying that they now enl-
ploy hundreds of hands, and that their
stock commands 500 per cent. premium
representing nearly $4,o0o,0o0.
The. foundation of the Lumieres' for
tune and the explanation of the superb
GRITTY of the cinematographe rest in the
| accidental discovery of a composition
that produced peculiarly sensitive
plates. This composition has been
kept a secret, but it proved so much
better than all others that they gave up
photography and devoted their entire
attention to the manufacture of sensi-
tive plates. Subsequently experiments
led to the invention Of a toy cinemato-
graphe, which they perfected about
two years ago. Then they realized the
possibilities of the machine and gave
the first public exhibition in Lyons,
France, December 26, 1895.
The cinematographe consists of a
small box about eight by ten by four
inches, and the entire mechanism is a
series of reels upon which the long
band of sensitive film is wound rapidly
behind a set of five magnifying lenses.
On these bands are a series of photo
graphs, each one scarcely larger than a
postage stamp, which are reflected on a
white screen by means of a powerful
electric light, in such rapid succession
as to reproduce all the infinite and
varied movements of nature.
The bands of sensitive film are about
IS yards long and contain from 1900 to
1900 pictures. They are made of cellu-
| loid and gelatine, which are covered
! with the preparation before mentioned,
! and SO delicate is the material that it
rolls up into box about three inches in
diameter. Yet it is so tough that it can
| be handled with perfect freedom, be-
ing, to quote the language of the OPP
orator, ''strong as a watch spring."
The tiny pictures, when magnifed
through the various lenses, cover a
space on the stage IA by 18 feet.
The powerful light which throws the
picture on the screen is obtained by the
ordinary carbons used in the arc lamps,
being arranged in a different manner.
| Instead of the two carbons being placed
the one perpendicular to the other,
they are placed obliquely, the positive
carbon being slightly behind the mega
tive and being followed out in such
manner as to form a natural reflector.
| BY this means an unusually intense
concentrated ray of light is obtained,
which is an important factor in the dis
tinctness of the pictures. The OCCASION
al Pickering is caused by unsteadiness
of the current, and not by any defect in
the cinematographe.
The camera by means of which the
pictures are taken is just the same size
as the box by which they are reflected,
and the pictures are taken in the same
manner. The sensitive film is placed
inside Of perfectly light-proof box and
unwound before the camera by means
of hand reels, the same as when show
ing the pictures. The length of time
taken to secure one picture is about a
minute and half, so that the exposures
are made at the rate of about 20 per
second. In the case of very rapid mo-
ton it is necessary to turn the crank
quicker, and in slow motions slower, so
that this time varies. This explains
why some pictures last longer than
others. Only one person is employed
| by the Lu1nieres to take these photo
graphs. This is Alexander Promio, who
has the reputation Of being the greatest
scientific photographer in all Europe.
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