The Washington times., 1914-07-13
bottom section is ftted the operating
Idea of Boys.

!
| chamber.
Idea of Boys.
The idea Of taking submarine motion
| pictures came to the sons of the invent
or while watching the projection Of a
scientific film showing fish swimming In
a small glass aquarium tank. These two
boys. J. Ernest Williamson and his
brother. George NJ. Williamson, had
worked with their father in the devel-
| opment OF the tube. They had both Of
ten been down in the tube in the wa
| ters of Norfolk Harbor and seen fish
swimming about as they looked through
| the glass ports. They set about arrang-
Ing experiments. and secured excellent
snapshots with an Ordinary camera of
! fish swimming along the bottom of
Hampton Roads.
1t Is a curious coincidence that the
/ first successful motion pictures ever
taken beneath the ocean were made at
! a spot only few miles from the place
| where Columbus ships first dropped
son boys designed a special chamber
for the Photographic work and also
drew the plans for vessel from which
to lower the tube and chamber.
This chamber is a hollow sphere of
| steel with an inside diameter of five
Ieet. From its center cone of steel
five feet long and five feet in dame
ter at the large end project horizontally
This cone penetrates the sphere and
at its small end. where II is eighteen
| inches in diameter, a steel bulkhead is
fitted In this bulk head there are two
glass ports, three inches in diameter,
and placed one above the other with
about five inches between them They
! are the eyese for the photographer and
the camera. The large end of the cone
is closed by a piece of plate glass an
inch and one-half thick and five feet
in diameter. 1t was manufactured in
is optically fIawless.
4 !, -.- ,... -. .....I intention that the
first pictures be taken on the Pacific
! coast near southern California but upon
the advice of DR.. Townsend. curator OF
the New York Aquarium. the Bahama
| islands were selected as being richest in
varied forms of marine life and varie-
| gated coral.
Gregory Takes Picture.
The Williamson brothers had charge
OF the entire OUTFITS preparation. con-
struction, and operation. They secured
/ Carl l.. Gregory, OF the Thanhouser
! Finn Company. regarded as being one
| of the most expert photographers in
the country. to make the first photo
| graphic film ever taken beneath the
ocean.
| is due the success of the undertaking.
PhotographinE under water through
water is something new. Density and
light values had b be studied carefully
! TO avoid improper exposure and faulty
! focus. Besides. the problem OF find!n :
good locations was 4 troublesome
! cne. Prior to starting work with the
| camera Mr.. Oregon, cTuised around
! the waters near Nassau, carefully
! scanning the bottom through plates OF
I glass inserted in the bottom of their
| boat Whenever a spot of unusual
! beauty was seen 1t was buoyed. So
were the old wrecks that could be dis
med resting against the very reefs
. that destroyed the fine ships they once
:. ..' ,.. st~"t"hes of coral
reefs were similarly marked and so
, l. me bottom
that were the abodes for thousands of
brightly colored fish.
Film of Marine Garden.
The first film was made in the cele-
! hrated Marine Gardens at depth vary
ing from fifteen to twenty-five feet ac-
| cordIng TO lhe surface OF the bottom
Bv mooring the barge to four anchors
| across the tide and then stacking the
cables on one side and taking in those
ON the other. 1t was pesxhis = Vet Il