The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-08
From the New York Sun.

"HOMAS "A. EDlSON sat Ddck III Ills
chair and chuckled yesterday after
i noon as there passed upon screen
IN the theatre of his laboratory at West
Orange. N. j., a procession of human be-
ings and animals that sang and talked
and shouted and played upon musical IN
struments and barl<ed and made various
other noises that moving pictures never
before have furnished. 1t was a moment
of triumph. the result of four years of un-
remitting effort to give to the world what
probably was the only development pos
sible in the movies to reproduce SOUND
spontaneously with action.
THAT'S a little raw yet laughed the
wizard, "but you just give us a. chance
and we'll show you. We're green at work
ing these things yet.
There may have been something raw
to the trained eyes of Thomas "A. Eoi-
son, but to other spectators 1t seemed that
success had been achieved.
When the time for the show to start
came there was a short delay. The "old
man," as everybody in the pig Factory
calls Mr.. Edison, couldn't be found. f1n-
auy he was found and his right hand man
and chief engineer, M. r. Hutchison, gave
the word to start.
For the first few seconds 1t looked just
like regular movies A large man IN
evening dress strode down hight OF
stairs and to the front of lavlshly iur-
nished setting. When he reached the
front of the stage things began to hap
pen.
First the big man thrust out one arm In
customary attitude and then-and even
the spectators who had known what was
to come were surprised-he began TO taih'
"I,adies and gentlemen" he began, ana
there followed an introduction to the hrst
exhibition of talking moving pictures, real
talking movies" that has ever peen seen.
The speech was delivered in care1uiiy
mod dulated tones, with articulation OF the
clearest. each action coinciding exactly
with each expression. 1t wastso lifelike
and natural that gasps of surprise and
wonderment could be heard from difter-
ent parts of the darkened room.
In the course of his talk the speaking
picture took up plate and dasneo IL 10
the floor. 1t flew into pieces with crash
and each fragment made its lndiViouai
noise in bouncing up and back. After that
the picture blew a horn and whistle and
then a man came on'a and played the piano.
A girl appeared and played Way Down
Upon the Sewanee River on the violin,
and another girl sang some OF the old
songs. while the pianist and the violinist
accompanied her.
They went away-you could hear their
footsteps as they walked up the stars
and another man appeared with two collie
dogs, whose loud barks were as natural
as life. 1t was hard to realize that those
were not living beings in flesh and blood
until the lights came on and broke the il
lusion.
That was one complete reel, and 1t had
TAX en- Just six minutes to show, two min
utes longer than the ordinary phonograph
disk revolves
-Four additional sketches were exhib-
tied and in each the illusion was main
tanned. Two of these Mr.. Edison hadn't
see n himself before. and he laughed heart
ilv as an Irish politician in one of them
delivered an impassioned political GRAFTON
which his daughter, standing behind, read
t. him out of a newspaper The most
startling manifestation of the synchrony
of sound and action came when brick
was sent crashing through a window
aeove the speakers head. You could
plainly hear the tinNle of each piece of
broken glass as it fell.
Men have been working upon the propo-
si,ion of moving pictures that would talk
for a long, long time. Mr.. Edison has
been at it for four years. He has literally
slept on the job,' as his empnsoes de-
scribe his absorption in his work, and
when he sleeps on the job he has the
reputation of making things go.
| The moving stalking idea is based upon
two comparatively old propositions. The
! talking machine is old and the motion
pio ,ure machine is old. But they have
never been harnessed up together before
successfully. Other inventors have had
actors talk into records and then go and
| act the piece separately, but the illusion
wasn't there, except in spots.
Mr.. Edisons way is to have the talk
Ing and moving picture machines getting