Evening star., 1925-10-10
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL~Y. COLLINS.

lG or more pictures-each slightly diff
ferinS from preceding ones-blend to-
Sether. giving the impression of mo
ton of the object pictured.
At the same time that Mr.. jenkins
received his 1894 patent for the quick
shutter motion picture camera he also
got patent for another principle.
whereby. without a shutter to inter
fere. 2O0-foot strip of film may be
shot before the lens in one second.
He has been 80 years perfecting that
camera. When that 200-foot picture
is projected on screen at a normal
speed the result is picture of action
shown 200 times slower than The &C
tual scene. The possibilities of analy-
sis OF action by that means are as
founding.
In connection with lecture deliv-
cred to the Arts Club of Washington
last Thursday evening. Mr.. Jenkins
gave first showing of several pic
lures of such sloweddown action
horses jumping hurdles, athletic feats
of men and women. pigeons flying.
The wing motion of the pigeons
brought eXclamations of surprise Won
der and delight from the astonished
artists.
The usefulness of this slowed.down
camera is not yet appreciated by the
War Department of the United States.
but three cameras have been sold 10
Great Britain. France and Japan. al
more than $4,000 each. for use in
studying artillery problems.
AT recent conference of engineers
and inventors. in Boston, Mr.. John
Hays Hammond. who is officially inter
ested in adjusting the coal strike.
mentioned that in so years the entire
supply of anthracite coal will be eX-
hausted, and in $50 years all bitumi-
nous coal will have gone up in
smoke" and fhe question of fuel for
industries and for home hea ting will
be acute.
Mr.. Jenkins pointed to the immense
deposits of coal in the Arctic. When
the practical engineers protested
that it was unavaila BILE beca use 1t
could not be transported out of the
frozen North, Mr.. jenkins proposed to
bring it all down by radio-an ap-
parently preposterous idea. He was in
earnest. and claimed that it is Just as
simple and practfca BILE sending
picture around the world by radio.
The coal would be- burned AT the
Arctic mines. producing electricity.
which would there be converted into
ra dio waves, and at the receiving sta
tions in the United States these radio
waves would be re-converted into cleo
|tritity for light and power.
In hroadcasting a picture pencil
of light eXcites a current of electricity
al the broadcasting station. and this
current, in turn. at the receiving STA
tion Is translated back from electric
|ity into light. Lixbt--and power are
synonymous. So.~t the Arctic coal
mines there will be great sending sta
itions, which will not "broadcast" and
thus dissipate the current, but will
transmit 1t along a Marconi beam.
straight to particular point, where il
will be translated into power. Marconi
has not yet perfected his beam" but
Mr.. jenkins has progressed with it to
the extent Of being able to limit the
dissipation into a single plane, and
confine 1t to the shape of q fan. with
It's ribs radiating 10 or i2 miles, in two
directions within the plane.
He has an electric bulb which is
dead under 50 volts, but illuminates
with II or more volts. Mr. Jenkins
says that with such beam. planes fixed
every 25 miles across the continent.
and such light bulbs on every mail
Iairplane, which would light when with
in the influence Of the station on the
ground and darken when ranging out
side the influence Of the beam" the
mail planes. flying by day or night.
would be independent of fogs or dark
ness by following the radio channel
made known to them by the lighting
of their radio bulbs on the Instrument
boards of their planes.
tcopyrirht. 1928. by Paul v. Collina.b