The Alaska citizen., 1915-08-30

the klu kluX klan necessary. but rather he was seduced by the un- scrupulous adventurers. who exploit ed situation for their own selfish ends.
 There was nothing of race in my idea. and I may say there is nothing of race autagonism in my production. l. is simply the pictorializing of an epoch
 Taking the book reading it and dreaming about it. however. did not do the work. There were eight months of incubation. First three men. and they were professors of colleges. were asked to work out the correct historical data. There were interviews with veterans of the Civil war on most important points, re course to maps and reports down at Washington and finally a patient county by county tour of Louisiana. Mississippi, Alabama and North Caro- lima until Piedmont was discovered. Then came the location of the bat tlefields. after which the veterans with their maps went forth to lay out battlefield just as it was at Petersburg and just as it was in part during the march of Sherman's army from Atlanta to the sea. Where approved territory was found the experts went to work upon it. If a road wound this way, if there was brook or river. or a house or barn. that road. brook, house and barn were found or put in. If a town was needed along came an arch itect with his corps of builders and they put it up just as some gray haired old mEn remembered it. They remembered burnings, and town, two towns were put in five altogether were built. One man remembered the burning of town by night. Something must be done about that. A fireworks man said he could build bombs which, eX- ploding in the air, would give enough light to work at night. Incidentally it may be added that the bombs cost $50 apiece. but they did the work
 Was it difficult to get the ac- tors?"
 No" replied Mir. Griffith, not difficult, but tedious. You see We | advertised in the newspapers that We wanted so Dlany persons. men women and children. We established employment bureaus, so to speak, and made our selections. How about the negroeS?'
 They were the easiest. The negro is a natural actor, and l do not mind saying that among the 4500 of them We took out of the fields, out of the shops and from every other place we found some with remark able talent A producer may some day put forth the tragedy of the negro on the film-he will find men and women of that race fully com. petent."
 Of course, it was explained they did not use the 1S,OOO persons all the five or six months they were ac. tually photographing the drama, While it is true that by the time he had finished his long term of study MT. Griffith did not use a scrap of paper book or scenario, yet he had arranged it all in his mind.
 The great multitude for the flight from Atlanta and the town scenes were not actually under employ ment longer than two weeks. Then
 it may be added that the expenses ran far up into the thousands every day.
 "The only way we could handle 1
 them was by military discipline" said Mr Griffith. We laid out a camp for the whites and a camp for the blacks. We set up two com missaries Then we divided our forces into sections, each section command ed by captain who had his staff under him. That is how the picture i was worked out.
 Every section leader in the big battle scenes or the town scenes kept his section, rehearsed it and looked after it. Complete telephone systems were installed for every section and the orders delivered from headquarters were megaphoned by the captains to their commands" !" 1 The headquarters alluded to in | the battle scenes was siXty-foot tower in front of the whole scene. It was there that George w. Bit zer best camera man in the world" MT. Griffith says, and five assistants set their cameras. Every scene, it may be said was taken six times.
 Finally when every move of every