New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-04
MOVING PICTURES TALK
At EDISON LABORATORY
Wizard PerfeCtS His KinetO-
phone So That Sight and
Sound SynChrOnIze.
MAY BE STAGE REVOLUTION
Operas, Plays and Political
Speeches May Be Repro
duced with Scenic Details
Within a Short Time.

\ demonstration held yesterday after
noon In the laboratory of Thomas \.
Edison, at West Orange. showed that the
difficulties attending the sNnchI0H.Zing ~
| the moving picture machine and the pho
nograph had been overcome For more
than an hour newspaper men aud guests
OF the wizard OF light and sound sat ia
dsrkened nall and watched reels Of
moving pictures that talked sang and in
| other ways represented themselves To-
the audience exactly rs the camera and
the photograph reproducer saw and heard
them. Mr.. Edison was there. too. and
watched with the others. The trial was
the final result OF months OF experiment
ing and research. The verdict Of those
who saw them was that thf invention
would be the revolution OF the stage as II
is to-day.
The difficulty with talking" moving
pictures that have been shown heretofore
has been that there was no means 10y
which the voice and the action of the
players could be reproduced simultane-
ously. Mr. Edison realized this. he said.
and he saw that in order TO produce plct-
ures that talked he would have 10 take
the voice and the image at the same time
That required the development of re-
corder OF such delicacy that it would
catch the slightest sound at Il distance Of
forty feet. 1t was impossible 10 place il
nearer. he said because Their tine lens ~
the camera would have been out of focus.
After continued trials a machine was
finally produced on which the sound was
transmitted 20 soft wax records, then re-
L
that picture and voice were taken at the
same time makes them almost certain Of
simultaneous reproduction, but there Is
also a controlling device between the
moving picture machine and the camera
that makes IL impossible for one To run
faster than the other. The machine is
placed at the rear Of the hall. and the
phonograph behind the screen on which
the pictures are projected.
The new machine Is called the kneto-
phone. and the first picture that per
formed" yesterday was a special film, IN
which lecturer walked to the front OF q
stage and told briefly about the new in
ventlon. He next blew a tin horn. then
introduced a pianist. violinist and a singer.
Following them was a bugler, and. lastly
a pair Of barking collie dogs. The actor
performs In exactly the same manner as
on the stage, and all sounds. even his
footsteps, are heard by the audience.
1t was said at the Edison plant that
while the action OF the camera and the
photograph had been perfected, there
was still more work to be done before the
invention would be marketed. At present
the records'play only six minutes. but II
Is said that II will be possible to extend
them to thirty minutes.
Here IL what the first man who ever
talked to an audience from a moving plct-
ure said about IT.
no what vast purpose IL may attain
can only be guessed. Consider. for in
stance, the historic value OF kineto-
phone production OF George Washington
II II were possible to show il now, and
you will realize the splendid opportunities
OF future generations 10 study the great
ones Of to-day. The political orator can
appeal to untold thousands while remain
ing at his own freside; the worlds great
est statesmen. actors and singers can be
seen and heard In the smallest hamlet
not only TO-DAY but one hundred years
from to-day-in fact. there seems to be
no end to the possibilities Of this greatest
invention OF the wizard OF sound and
sight Thomas A. Edison"