The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-13


Top right out of the center of the picture.
mat set has been popular with the audi
ehceS because of its realistic character
out the peop,e who wonder an its natural
ness would not be SO surprised if they
knew the circumstances under which it
was obtained
There are other experiences which fan
10 the lot OF the camera man in this par
tcuiar line of work which are not partic-
uiarly risky, but are rather nerve-trying
For instance, We We're sent some months
ago to make a reproduction of the pano-
rama from the Mt. Tom inclined railway.
We wanted TO get the whole view on 10
our films, which meant that we must make
the trip in little more than minute.
That was practically the same a s dropping
through space. but we got abroad q car al
the top, yelled to the man in charge to let
80 and set the machine in motion. The
rest of the time we hung on for dear life.
We came out of it without a smashup,
but ours VIII stand as the record trip on
the Mt. Tom Railroad, and l don't think
that any Of US would care to undertake it
again.
Playing Tag With an Explosion.
"a year ago we wanted to get a scene
showing big explosion. So the camera
was shipped up to Syracuse, where an I'M
usually large blast was to be made In
order 10 set a record worth anything il
was necessary to get near to the explosion.
The men in charge of the work assured
us that they couldn't guarantee what d.
rection the rocks might take, and made
it clear by their inquiries about our lie
insurance that they didn't envy US our
undertaking.
1T was 100 late 10 back out then. even
II we had wanted to- so I told the boss of
the blasting enterprise to give me a sig
nal when he touched off the fuse. AS sOoR
as the SIGNAL Cana 7 started mn the ma
chine and then turned and ran. The eXplO-
sion came in about Two seconds. l fell on
my stomach, and l could hear the rocks
rafting about me, but none Of them hap
pened 10 land on the spot where 1 lay.
That was a case where it was simply nee
essary to take chances.
PhOtOgraphing From the Cow
catcher.
I'm obtaining landscape or panoramic
views inseuded to represent what a pas
seuger sees from train, the usual meth
Cd is to mount the camera on a car in
front of the engine or on the pilot of
the engine itself To travel sixty miles
on hour lashed to the pilot of an engine
sharing your narrow rest with the cam
era and being compelled to keep that
camera in operation, is an experience of
which one installment will satisfy the or
binary man. But risks must be run where
it is a question of satisfying the public's
appetite for entertainment"
when this moving picture business
first came into existence" said another
operator, "a favorite subject was the
view of an express train going sixty miles
an hour The effectiveness of the view
was heightened, of course. by showing
the train as nearly head on as possible.
We tried to find how close to the track
we could set our machine-and incident
ally ourselves-Without being overcome by
the suction of the train. We found that
there was no agreement among railroad
men themselves on this point, but we fin
ally figured it out that we could take up
our stand five feet from the track if We
had an anchorage.
so we made ready to take a through
express on one of the big roads and set
up our camera, securely fastened, five
feet from the track. There was a sig
nal pole beside the machine, which we
intended to use for our own anchorage.
"The man with me had had some rail-
road experience, and l had relied largely
on his opinion in arranging the business.
Well sir, when the express reached the
curve and came toward US, 1t looked eX-
actly as though she was going to run
over us. The ex-railroad man stood It
for about two seconds; then he dropped
his ropes and bolted for the fence. l was
tempted to follow, but l set my teeth,
turned on the connection and started the
reel. Then I grabbed the post and hung
on to ii for all was worth. The train
was only a fraction of a second in pass
ing me- but it seemed like an hour. The
suction of the train at that distance was
terrific but the mental strain was worse.
l actually thought that my arms had been
pulled out of their sockets, and felt them
carefully over before l was convinced that
they were all right and sound. They
weren't even lame the next day, but l
bax oar tn gel q a
train since that time"
Reproducing an Execution.
The men who were sent to Cuba to pho
tograph the Spansh-American war in ac-
ton had some blood-sHrring experiences
in the pursuit of their duties. Arthur
Marvin who had charge of the photo
graphic apparatus of the largest Ameri-
can biograph company, relates some Of
these.
cone of our unusual experiences" said
Mr.. Marvin came before the actual be-
ginning of the war, during those weeks
of tedious waiting in Tampa. We heard
that there was to be an execution by
hanging in Jacksonville, and in the inter-
ests of science end the camera we decid-
ed to obtain views of 1t If we could. We
got permission to set up our machine in
the Jail yard, and succeeded in photo
graphing the proceeding from the time the
death march appeared outside the jail
door until the drop was sprung That
is perhaps one Of the most unusual sub
jects ever reproduced in detail by means
Of photographs.
Some of our attempts 10 make camera
records OF the events of the war were not
so successful as this. one of them was
frustrated in a somewhat ridiculous way
by circumstances temporarily beyond our
control.
owe had followed Simpsons feet east
ward from Key West to Porto Rico. II
was at the time of the bombardment of
San Juan. AS that bombardment was our
first opportunity 10 do any work. we were
anxious, naturally, TO get some good
views. When the firing began we steamed
10 toward the battleships and got where
we could take In the whole range of oper-
atlous pretty weT. We kept urging the
captain of the yacht to get in nearer the
shore, and he gradually dd 80.
= stampeded Crew.