El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-10


kin. It has all come about so quickly
all within the space of Is years-that
it is difficult to realize fully what the
moving picture show means to man
kind. II is already the most universal
form Of amusement ever known and IL
instrument Of education the race has
ever possessed. IT has been abused, 1t
requires to be regulated, and it is not
altogether free from evil, but neverthe-
the whole world 1t respects no bar
rier of race Or tongue knows no pride
of class nor prejudice of creed, appeals
alike to the scholarly savant and the
ur tutored savage and delights all ages
from toddltng tots to dOddering dotard.
Is Democratic Amusement.
1t is the most democratic amusement
the world has ever known since its
cheapness has brought 1t within the
range or the slen derest purse, and
since its mechanical perfection has sent
lt into all the byWays and the hedges.
For i've or ten cents the millionaire
ana the street gamtn see the same NOV
ing picture show; and the people of the
rural hamlet in their turn see exactly
the same pictures that delighted the
people Of the metropolis.
The motion picture is to be the his
tcrian of this and the future ages. Al
ready the name Of William Mckinley
belongs to the past. But there is a
moving picture showing him as he was
making his last speech at Buffalo, only
q few moments before he was shot That
lllm IS a priceless possession Of a his
IOrlcaI collection for 1t VIII preserve
for all future ages the living Mckinley,
something that not all the writer's that
ever wrote could do
Preserves Great Events.
The coronation Of king George v,
VIII require no written history. The
English people Of a century hence viii
De able to see that great spectacle and
to describe IL to themselves. Suppose
now that we could see a moving picture
Of Lincoln delivering the famous Get
tysburg speech; or OF Washington tax
Ing the oath as the first president Of
the United States; or Of the Boston Tea
party What would it mean for the
Cur descendants viii have.
Much is to be said OF the moving PIC
ture Of the present and the past without
Clpplng into the future. In its practice
bic form the moving picture is not
quite Is years old. As is frequently the
case with respect to great mechanical
Inventions, the moving picture as Ia is
known now is the product Of many
minds It is being improved from day
10 Day and even In a mechanical sense
Il IS yet in its infancy. But without
oetract1ng from the merit Of the hun
dreds OF inventors who have done their
part TO make ir successful, the moving
picture may be credited TO the genius
Of three men; Edward Muybridge, J.
Marcy and Thomas A. Edison.
Muybrtdge was an Englishman living
IN the United States. and it was he who
devised the plan Of taking a series Of
instantaneous photographs and Of show
Ing them in rapid succession so as 70
simulate motion Marcy was a French
man, and It was he who first used a
continuous film and took the series Of
photographs from one camera. Edison
IS, IL Is hardly necessary to say, an
American, and IT was he who made the
film practical by perforating the ribbon
and gearing IL 10 a pin sprocket wheel
SO tnat each successive picture would
register exactly over its predecessor.
Really Starts I'm America.
These are the three great discOverers
that have made the modern moving pic
ture possible. Although Muybridge was
English born. he did his work in Cali
fOrnia under the financial patronage
Of Leland Stanford; although Marcy
was F'renChman and worked IN
france his experiments were made
possible because Of a subsidy obtained
for him from the Smithsonian institu-
ton; and as Edison is American born,
therefore the United States may justly
claim credit for this great mechanical
invention.
The limitations Of space prevent any
aCequate appreciate of the work Of
Lumlere who invented the cinemeto-
graph or Herman CASTER, who invented
the blOgraph and the mutOscOpe. or OF
scores or others. The whole course Of
the experiments from 1872 until 1885
vas concerned more with taking the
photographs than with exhibiting them.
Edison's plan FOR exhibition was the
klnetescope, a peep-shoW contrivance
now relocated to the penny arcades 1t
was Lum1ere, a Frenchman. who I'm 1885
invented the cinemetograph and sue
cessfuly projected the pictures on a
screen by means Of the familiar princi-
pie of the magic lantern. The next year
Edison followed with the vitascOpe.
Then there was a verita Bile avalanche
Of inventions. so that by 1898 there were
no less than 100 different moving pic
ture machines with 100 different
names ranging from the familiar bio
graph and cinemetOgraph TO the for
gotten klondikOscope and the parlOr-
graph.
Following this came a plague of law
suits and this is not vet cleared away.
Probably there is not one single claim
OF priority OF invention that is generally
admitted, unless IL be that of Iuy-
bridge. Even Edison's claim TO the
device Of punching holes in the film TO
secure perfect register is disputed
although Mr. Edison gets a half cent a
foot royalty on all films made by a
great Photographic supply house, one