The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-07-24
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ing mouon pictures exclusively could almost be
counted on your fingers.
invention OF motion pictures can partially be
attributed to a California incident. Two race
morse men argued as to whether a horse, while
running had more than two feet on the ground
at any time. To prove this. "a threads were
stretched across the track, and the end Of each
attached TO a separate camera. A horse ran
down the stretch breaking each thread separately
and exposing "a Photographic plates. One of the
men took copies Of the photographs to Europe
where they caused numerous experiments. Final
ly the task of making motion pictures was given
up because no flexible. substitute for glass could
be found.
Years later a New Jersey minister, trying to
discover a way of making nonbreakable stereop-
ticon slides for use in his Sunday school, made
the discovery that celluloid was suitable. The
substitute was Immediately employed by a photo
graph supply manufacturer, which enabled
Thomas Edison to perfect his microscope, or
p~eep-hole machine, first shown at Columbian ex-
position, Chicago, in 1893. Forty feet of ribbon
film, with continuity of action rolled past the lens
in a hole in a cabinet with an intermittent move
ment that retained each picture before the peep
hole twice as long as it required to move the pic
ture to this spot. Back of the film was an cleo
trio light, and directly in front of the lens a small
hole through which the people could peep for the
sum of Ave cents. The film had sprocket holes
in the margin on one side and a corresponding
sprocket was placed on the rollers.
This device served as an idea for Robert w.
Paul Of London, the firm of Lumiere & Sons OF
Paris and a man named Grey Of New York city.
simultaneously these men thought OF attaching
the film to a stereopticon lamp and projecting the
picture on to a screen, and began working out
machines which would do this properly. The
first projected motion picture in America was
that of Grey's eidoloscope in a basement store
room in New York city in 1895. Paul perfected
his projecting machine in March, 1896, and
Lumiere in 1897. At a later date, William Ken
nedy Laury Dixon, formerly with Paul, now en-
ployed by Thomas Edison, perfected the Edison
kaleidoscope. This device was a combination OF
the "peep-hole" invention, with sprockets on each
side of the Aim introduced by Lumiere. a more
accurate intermittent movement for the film car
rage, and a powerful lamp perfected by Thomas
Edison. Other machines appeared in America
about the sam time, but later patent rights we're
all merged with that Of the Edison. The projec-
ton machines were crude and it has required
much time and mechanical ingenuity to bring
them to the state of perfection.
With machines made, a still greater problem
Of securing new interesting subjects confronted
the showmen who took up the novelty, There
being no completed motion pictures for sale. 1t
was necessary for each exhibitor. to make all his
own subjects. No one thought of making pic
lures of plays. Instead, they caught finishes of
races, scenes in prize fights, and topical events
of a sensational nature.
About this time a Kansas City operator of these
machines. learning of the projecting machine,
made plans for a concession at the Buffalo Pan
American exposition, which consisted of a rail-
way Illusion made possible by rocking the coach
while pictures were projected on a screen in
one end Of the car. Later this was exhibited
throughout the country In a specially constructed
railroad coach. and the name, 'Hale's Tour of the
World" became famous.
The greatest step of the industry following
the perfection OF projectors. films and cameras
was made simultaneously by Miles. Brothers of
New York and Eugene Kleine of Chicago. They
established Aim markets or exchanges, where
negatives we're bought and prints sold or rented.
This system served to solve the problem Of dis
tribution, by renting films to exhibitors, for this
method is successfully used today throughout the
world.
The exchange system assured a permanent film