The Washington times., 1914-06-04

because Moses failed to qualify as
v-rIter OF headlines, the basis of much
q the novels. the romances. the poetry,
ID the law of The last 1000 years has
J. ln-buried in musty manuscript or en-
talned in stilted language that pc
Clliar sense of reverence demanded
: slcuio stand in the way of their appeal
a. stories or histories to the average
Intelligence.
Esecause Paul of Tarsus did not print
has famous letters in handful form, ard
throw them around the streets, the or
ulnary mortal has hao little opportunity
10 learn the true value Of these mas
|, ,rpieces as literature as well as his
tory.
And because the rising generations
y, ere too busy committing to memory
ils verses for the purpose of obtaining
little blue tickets, to exchange for 1ed
tickets which in turn were exchange
ble for white tickets, etc.-they had
no opportunity OF appreciatin5 the ut
srary value of those verses, end they
thereby missed lnuch OF the pleasure o.
nc book which has been known for
INJURIES as the Holy Bible, aud read
in such Iear and in so detached a
form that little Of its gripping, drama
tic story found its way 10 public
Ihirstng for tales of chivalry. OF ire
mendo3s conflict, of simple love, of stir
ring romance.
Pnt Stories Into Form.
II has remained for the motion pic
ture, a machine that was once hailed
as q device Of the devil, to put the
stories of the Bible into a concrete
form that has struck the great mass
Of the people with wonder and has Sc:
The entire world reading the Bible as
though il was brand-new book writ
ten by one of the six best sellers
Il is possible that some folks might
AXE exception to the manner in which
hese facts are stated. AS one OF the
little boys who spent many weary Sat
rdsy nights learning verses with
which TO obtain red tickets-and for
10 other purpose-I have put it that
way, because that is the way l feel
About it 1t was entirely by accident
that the real stories of the Bible ever
ere interpreted to me-there being no
notion pictures in those days. And
N hen they were there were a number
e us who delved into the book for
me purpose of getting "a EN- out
II is because of this fact-because
-nere are SO many little boys and girls
IA the world that were affected in
-ust that way-that such sensation
las been created by the story of The
'reation," which the International
bible Students. Association is produc-
ing in motion pictures in almost eN cry
section of the world this summer
Here in Washington the pictures are
being shown at the BelascO Theater.
u will require almost three months to
-how the complete series. new set OF
lectures being put on every week. one
lection fitting into the other until the
Omplete story. from Genesis to Reve-
alton is placed before the public in
picture form.
The Interpretation OF the Bible etcries
and the history of Christianity by mo-
ION pictures is one OF the most stupen-
Gus feats that has ever been under
-eken, and the condensation CT all of
these wonderful dramas and romances
to the stories that are worked out in
me film. has required months of the
lardest sort of work. The pictures are
hown free Of charge. and the sole OBJ
ct Of them is TO encourage reading Of
he Bible.
In Larger Cities.
They have been SO produced that the
films are now running in more than a
aOZen Of the larger cities of this cOun-
Try. many of the smaller towns, and
will be shown in practically every coun-
Try in the world. The organiza ton
which has worked out this plan for the
Encouragement Of BiElc reading has
devoted much time and n very large
mount Of money to the collection of
material for the work. Some OF the
..ioSI lIlpDI ant fiOliOn picture l'eOpl- IN
he world have been utilized in working
out the scenes. Practically every paint
ing Of Biblical subjects has been utilized
Tor the purpose of obtaining costumes.
etc, and many Of these paintings have
been photographed and the photo
graphs utilized for the purpose of max
ing lantern slides so that the great
works Of art can be exhibited with the
moving pictures.
But the pictures are not the ONLY fea-
lures Of the great exhibition There Is
a lecture that accompanies them y hich
has been put on phonOgranh records.
and these records are utilized to tol' the
audiences that attend the various erhi-
bitions Just what the pictures near.
u would De difficult to state lust how
much film has been used. but Il is safe
20 guess that IL placed end on end tho
reels would reach around the world
and leave enough to tie a good-siZed
bowknot that might loop around the
poles.
The persons who had in charge the
scheme for the pictures and made the
exhibition possible realized that IL would
he a very difficult thing to obtain au-
diences for a strictly religious enter
tainment. The desire was to make the
pictures so interesting that the people
who saw them would get out their dust
covered Bibles and read the stories as
they were TO be found there
With this end in view all the theaters
belonging to or controlled by the largest
theatrical syndicate in the country
we're leased for the summer and the