Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-06-05
From the ST. Louis Republic.

cTOIn J00 81. 4<Out0 kkepuUlICs
Thomas Al Edison told . reporter today
that he believed the end Of the present
legitimate stage at hand - q result OF hia
newest Invention. q talking motion picture
machine. called the kinetophone. which
proved successful In = denomination hold
few days ago.
the present e show must give way to the
cheaper form OF amusement, which he de-
clares will give almost an much ~ the
other for one-twentieth OF the price.
There win be no more barnstormera
either, because no one will be willing TO
pay for second-class acting when the lore
most stars are performing for the "talk-
dime. VI s
The inventor xas found It the Edison
plant In West Orange, N. ]. s
MT. Edison 10 upstairs In tho labOrA-
tory said Miller Hutchison. his chief
engineer and personal assistant, a. he led
the way. 81.
It IL three flights to tho ''insomniA
The wizard OF electricity was ready for
questions IA
rs the machine perfecteds', asked tho
reporter. N
Mornings perfect. 4. replied Edison. but
It works It Will be put IN operation ut
Y the Colonial theater In Brooklyn insids
Of 80 days
What does your new invention do r.
1t delivers at the exact instant Of oc-
curence on-the Aim any sound made at
tho moment such action takes place
Every word uttered by the actors IL re-
corded and delivered In time with the
action; the creaking OF. q gate. whistle.
the noise Of hoof beats, even the click Of
cooking g revolver. comes apparently from
..zov Ten /: i c sans s, oesra s;omins-
rho photograph which IL placed DO.
hind the screen, 10 wired to the pictUro
machine. which may be 100 yards away.
The speed OF the talking part acts as
brake on the Aim, so that neither can ret
ahead OF the other. There are speciai
lasts.
Other records can be made to come In
to place successively. and the performance
may be carried out through q whole play.
Whole operas wilt be rendered, and the
nlms can even BIO colored by hand Il the
display Of color II needed
Small towns whose yearly taxes would
not pay for three performances ,of the
metropolitan Opera company. can see and
hear the greatest stars In the world for 10
cents. And It will pay because Of the vol.
ume Of business.
We want democracy In our amuse-
ments. II y safe to say that only one
out Of every 80 persons In the United
States has any real right to spend the
price asked for theater ticket. what
chance has the workingnian for Iam,ise-
ments whose income IL from e to 81 .
day? No chance at all, except at mo-
ton pictures. and the fact that Is 100000
persons day see motion. pictures In the
United States shows the poor realise this =
How long did 1t take to work but the
plan for talking motion picturesf''
Thirty-seven years. replied Mr.. Edi-
son slowly. 1t is all OF that time since
made q ion-picture show inside .
box by dropping the succession OF draw
ings rapidly, and attaching record to
two eartubes.',
And wasn't that successful7's
Not the kind OF success wanted. what
I wanted must affect the whole people.
Actors will have to leave the legitimata
stage to work for the movies In order to
get any money This IL all the better tor
them. They can live In one placesali the
year round and bRrnstorming wifi cease
automatically when no one wants to "a :
several times the amount Of the movies.
show for some inferior production Of
successful play
''Will there be great future IA M.
Money!" said Mr.. Edition. why. All
the money / make on an invention xoes
for furthcrtng my experiments I do not
seek money. Besides. there will be any
number Of others begin along the same
line. and have found that an inventor
Is always sacrificed for the public good :
which 10 satisfactory to me, 30 long as
the great masses are benefited Often
the courts do not uphold me, but somehow
get the credit, whatever that Ii good
for" he added with laugh.
One thing deplore.s and that IL the
number Of low-grade motion pictures
shown here many OF them coming from
Europe. where the ideas OF fun are coarser
than here
In Europe the people are laborers.
while here they are mainly workrnen.
There is difference In the order OF IN
tellect and the idea Of what is entertain.
ing. With the kinetophone In operation
these inferior pictures must cease because
OF their very tnferiortty.
on the contrary, replied Edison earn
estly they are going to be benefited
They viii be able to lead normal home
life. can see nothing in the future sui
big studios centralized. perhaps ii New
York, employing all the actors ali tl,a
year round and at better figure than
they now get" 7-.
Helped Conan Doyle.
Discussing the books on f,is library
shelves Conan Doyle picks out Certain
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