The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-06-01

engaged Tor the past rev years III
perfecting signalling devices for mill
tary uses, and photographing the hu-
man voice has received a large share
+ of his attention, with very success
full results it is said.
Professor Rankine has been ex-
perimenting with the photophone, a
device that owes its origin to Alex
ander Graham Bell, inventor of the
telephone. His experiments have
shown that not only may speech be
carried on beam of light, but that
the sounds themselves may be pho
tographed on moving film and re-
produced later. The potentialties of
this experiment are conceded to be
about the most far-reaching that have
ever been placed within grasp OF
the entire film industry.
Duplication of Sound Possible.
If not only the human voice, but
sounds of any kind may be faithful
.ly registered on a strip of film, to-
gether with pictures showing the &C
ton of the speakers, possibility is
that in time these same films may
be made to carry duplication of
sounds like the telegraph. When the
telegraph was first invented it was
possible to send only one message
over a wire, but now numerous mes
sages are sent over the same wire
at one time without any interference
with each other. Thus, while the
film was showing on the screen 1t
might also not only reproduce the
words of the players, but also emit a
musical ACCOMPANIMENT
According to DR.. Mees, telephony
by means of light is as old as the
ordinary telephone, and DR.. Bell was
the inventor of both. A beam of
light, by operating on a silenium cell
which is highly sensitive to the
changes of light, can be made to
fluctuate in accordance with the vi
bratiohs of the human voice. Con-
troll is obtained by means of small
rejecting mirror affixed to the
sound box II is explained that in
this process the transmitter trans
lates the speech into terms of light
and the receiver decides it back
again to reproduction of the origi-
nal speech.
Doubts It's Commercial Value.
The second instead of being re-
corded in the receiving device can
be made to register on roll OF NOV
ing film, which can be developed and
positive copies made from it some
what the same as an ordinary motion
picture film. 1t is said that with
the possibilities of amplificatlon, as
! worked out in recent times, there is
no limit to the range of the lnstru-
. ment, beyond that imposed by the
Icurvatures of the earth Thus it can
be worked out so that the voice may
, be photographed at whatsoever dis
lance the camera can be focused up
on the actor or the source of the
: sound.
Mr.. Mees doubts the commercial
worth of the arrangements. The in
| vention in its present state and with
! in natural limitation compares favor
= ABLY with the present telephone, but
it is costly and it's present use is most
: ly concerned with phonetic research
. and laboratory experiments. The
, principal thing that would hamper
: its working would pc thick fog, but
it is said that in thin mist it is eff
fective. 1t is reported that in Prof
a fessor Rankine's invention the repro
! ton of the voice is clear.
= Would Require Continuous Pictures.
j DR.. Mees says that the high cost
e of film would prevent the use of the
4 invention as a substitute for photo
Y graphic records. An ordinary record
Y probably would require a | large
Y amount of film.
DR.. Mees also points out that IN
order to perfect speaking motion pic
) lures it will be necessary to change
the projectors now in use. The pic
> lures as shown now are intermittent.
!, sixteen are shown to the second. 1t
would require continuous pictures in
! stead of the present Pickering. The
. character would always have to be
= on the screen, otherwise there would
:, be intermittent interruptions in his
= speech. Whereas the manipulation of
: the shutter causes the present flick
:, ering. which is too speedy for the
naked eye to observe, it is possible
that the process may be worked out
so that if there are intermittent
), pauses in the speech these would also
come in too rapid intervals and for
too brief periods for the human ear
to detect.
May Not Be Practicable.
DR.. Mees thinks that in time it will
: be possible to perfect the speaking
arrangement so that it will work sat
isfactory. The doctor, however,
while admitting it is possible to i'm
prove and perfect the invention,
: doubts its practicability This, how
t ever, should not in the least inter
fere with the rosy dream of eXhib-
ltors and others in the industry who
can look ahead and see the things of
/ the future with perhaps little more
: romance than the highly-trained
: scientific mind, which admits nothing
? but fact, and cold facts at that
Moving Picture World.