The Red Cloud chief., 1911-05-04

chest. 1t a warm evening, and
" lie had removed his battered straw
- hat which he held in his hand The
size Of the hat was No. 8. The man was Thomas
A. Edison.
Before us spread that dream in frozen music.
the buildings fronting the esplanade. mall and
plaza of the exposition The twilight was done
and the moment had arrived for the night birth
of that dream into splondor, For the first time
in history architecture to be made alive at
night, more living than by day. Half million
incandescent bulbs hid along the transverse
lines of the buildings The current was turned
on and they simultaneously bloomcd. Ensued
spectacle for which Caesar would have bar
tered a provnce-a Joy that brought a gasp of
ecstacy from every one OF the millions who
saw It.
Edison barc.headcd, squinted his eyes. The
poetry missed him. The gallop OF scenic history
over the verge of n new era missed him. The
glory OF the spectacle itself missed him. Instead
he glanced shrewdy and carefully all around on
the enhancing wonder. then cautiously into his
battered straw hat and said;
Il could put every tilament into that hat"
Economics mechancs-these obscssed him.
That brain, which required a No. hat for cover
fng, could think only OF the compressed fact
that all the space occupied by the vibrating. en-
ergizng and glory-worlng source of that gigantic
spectacle could be replaced by about two pints
of water-or a quart OF human brain
Edison is a man. In his speech, OF which
he is careful Of his fllaments, he pulls the
core from field of ideas and thrusts 1t at you
as II It were poniard. You think about what he
says for week, month; and in years you don't
forget It.
All Of this is leading up TO a consideration Of
what the wizardsage said few weeks ago when
q select audience sat in his studio and watched
the first performance of the kinetograph, that
fabulous instrument which is destined to repro
duce plays operas. public spectacles with the
action the color and the voice intact.
The great old inventor was grati1pd once
again. Another thrill had come into his life. His
latest adventure into the unknown had pros
pered. and his friends and associates clustered
about him with congratulations, with questions,
with assurances.
For some time Edison silent. lie is CRATE
ful that he is deaf. Then he squinted from one
to the other, and said:
Before long you'll be working that in an aero
plane, for you'll be able to pack it into a soap.
bubble!"
soapbubble! Rather a fragile packingcase
Rather n small compass in which to place a
grand opera. curious comparison Did Edison
mean what he said? Did he know what he was
talking about?
have been thinking Of moving pictures in connec-
tion with soap-bubbles. And not always in the
way he meant bubbles in connection with the
kinetograph.
soapbubble is cheap. It is easy to make-if
you know how. It Is fragile. 1t is very alluring.
versally to children. Sages ponder over It. Poets
celebrate it. Artists reproduce It.
Conundrum-Why is a moving picture like a
soapbubble?
First you find them everywhere.
On the back streets of Reno saw the pictures
OF the bull fight at Guadalajara Mexico. The
Guadalajarans now look on the moving pictures
OF the prize fight at Reno.
At Punta Arenas. the southernmost port in tho
world saw Chileans applaud moving pictures
On the Bowery pictures Of the battleship
fleet entering the harbor OF Punta Arenas.
On an island 1000 miles out In the Pacific
Ocean the exiled lepers of Molokai gather daily
before the fckering wonders of a world which
before had been but vaguely in their dreams
The Sunday evening young peoples class of Eau
Claire. Wisconsin. looks in pity on the trans
planted and resurrected life of Mookai which
passes before their eyes-on the screen.
A group OF travellers in the luxurious saloon
OF an ocean liner study the lfeke pictures OF
the country for which they are bound The beg
ing backsheesh give up their pennies to the
living presentment Of their prey bounding to
them over the ocean wave
In Iceland excited Eskimos applaud the hero
ism of a cowboy who rescues a captured maiden
in Northern Russia, fearful peasants sorrow over
the pictured plight of French lover.
The Bengalee moves down Mowringhee Road
and gives up two pennies to the funeral OF
King Edward-to see 1t actually move The
an extra shirt. that he may view the reception oi
llatu Ernth