The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-10
WHAT 4 FOREIGN
 CRITIC SAYS OF US Ferrero Appalled, By What He Calls "Barbaric Hugeness" MOVING PICTURE INDUSTRY Estimated That si2,ooo Is Invested in the Business-Former Section
 Hand to Become President of
 the New York Central
MOVING PICTURE INDUSTRY
By sEWELL HAeGARp.

New York. January 9.-1t Is always in- teresdng and sometimes profitable to know what foreigners think of us; and ii may be said to the credit, or to the dis credit of Americsns, whichever way one is pleased to view it, that we are not easily stung by criticism. We are nearly always sensible enough to see that there Is a foundation for most of the criticism di- rected at us, although at times the critic, losing sight of the youth of the nation and other conditions, use stronger Ian guage than necessary in giving expression to his impressions Unlike the English, Americans as a class, are not quick to resent criticism. l do not mean by this 10 say that the Englishman resents crit ieism openly, for the Englishman is too polite to do this he gets his revenge by inwardly pitying the critic for what he the Englishman, considers the critic s woeful ignorance.
 At the present moment we have among us a most distinguished critic in the per son of Guglielmo Ferrero. the eminent historian, who is appalled, by "barbaric hugeness' and our irreverence. Says Ferrero in the New York World:
 "The American spirit aspires to. ad- mires, is exalted in everything that trans cends the natural and customary propor- tions of things, even at the cost of their beauty. In this country everything must be big
 "In New York this tendency of Ameri- can civilization is most apparent; but it is found everywhere A religious sect born yesterday. like Christian Science. has already built in Boston a temple which is little smaller than St. Peters, the great temple in which the Catholic church condensed the efforts of 16 centu- ries At Cambridge I saw a refeetory for students, placed in a hall of Gothic arch itecture, which in Europe would serve to make a cathedral. The Harvard Medical school in Boston has the mien of the Cha tean of Versailles The readingroom of the Public library in Washington could stand alongside the greatest churches in Europe for vastness, for sumptuousness and for the immensity of it's dome. The Hotel Astor, where l am writing, seems royal palace in its magnifcence and it's luxury; a palace marvelously served by SllHul HIGH anu lldGulllcS hiAlCn lOi6SGs every want!
 "On every hand is seen the tempera- ment of people that is eager to do great things; to enlarge and to raise higher edi fees, without fear; to pile floor upon floor without misgiyings for the solidity of the foundations; to adapt to modern life all the constructions that thhe an- cient world and the Middle Ages threw up toward heaven-the dome, the cam panile, the tower"
 Ferrero confesses that T have without difficulty found pleasure in the colossal, but what he calls "theh architectural blasphemy'' of this country displeases him. By these words he means that the easy way in which we have appropriated for profane buildings the most solemn but what he calls the architectural of Europe. He goes on:
 For example, l do not like to see such profusion of domes. which, whether large or small. remind me of that of St. Peters or that of the Pantheon. I do not like to see banks, shops, business build ings wearing the august crown which Agrippa and Michelangelo placed upon two of the most solemn edifices of Flu rope.
 T do not like to see vaudeville theatres built in the form of those mosques in which the silent, intense piety of the Mussulman has been concentrated for so many centuries.
 ''I do not like to see the solemn vaulted roofs of Gothic cathedrals, under which our fathers have prayed with so much fervor, employed as coverings for dining rooms.
 q remember an odd incident. At Cam bridge one day l was looking over Mem orial hall at Harvard university in which is the students dining room. had almost forgotten the modern profane use to which a part of the edifice is put and l was thoroughly enjoying the sight of this American imitation of style I love so we'll when, all at once, from between two pinnacles there issued an impertinent jet of white smoke. That is from the stu dents kitchen, calmly remarked the American gentleman who was accompa- nying me. But the charm was broken. I thought that from Gothic edifices ar dent sights of piety and fervent prayers ascend ever to the skies of Europe-not the smoke of steam kitchens.
 The reason for all this, Ferrero finds, is ''the temperament of a people eager to do great things" While he Is careful thus to cocainize before thrusting, there is one paragraph in his paper, which reveals his real opinion, and which may be in tended as prophetic. It Is this
 Sailing along the Grand canal of Ven ice 1t Is easy to observe that the palaces built in the 14th and 18th centuries, when Venice was at the height of its vigor, are exceedingly beautiful, but small. But as we go on to the 17th and 18th centuries. the age of Venice's decadence. the size of the palaces becomes greater, the style more ostentatious and the ra0ant and delicate beauty of the ancient palaces is obscured and grows heavy"
 An investigation of the moving picture business, which has been much in the public eye recently on account of Mayor McClellan's crusade against them, brings to light some startling figures. Cheap and humble, as many of these shows may be, they represent a growth hardly paralelled in the history of amusements in this country It is estimated that $12,000,0 600 is invested in the business in this city alone There are about 800 shows housed in stores and 20 regular theatres are de- voted to the business of moving pictures. Each show represents an average invest ment of $40O0. The cheapest of them cost $500 and the most expensive s25,000. When the last count was made there were 10000 shows outside of New York and 1t is safe to estimate these at $4000 each.
 The films made in America every year for the picture shows are worth at least $102.0 The manufacture of the films Is practically controlled by nine concerns and there are at least F films put on the