San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-04-21
DALLAS TEXAS
DRAMATIC
CENTER
Amusement in Cold Storage
in Vaults of Picture
Exchange.

DALLAS, Tex, April 21--Cp)-An
endless stream of drama flows daily
from Dallas to every nook and corner
of Texas. 1t is the comedy and trag-
edy, the pathos and the burlesque of
the make-believe world of the cinema.
This city has come to be known
among theater operators as the film
capital of Texas, because more than
II 100000 feet of pictures is shipped
every dag from Dallas to the show
houses of the state. There are seven
teen exchanges here, employing about
800 persons, all busy throughout the
year in the various activities neces-
sary to transport the amusement and
instruction which make up the pro-
grams in the 966 movie theaters of the
state.
About 2300 separate shipments are
made every day and some consignments
go forward on Sunday. These reels of
amusement go out by steam road, cleo
trio line. automobile. express, parcel
post and some even by airplane in
an emergency.
EXPRESS BILL HEAVY.
The express company assigns a
truck to about every two or three ex-
changes, each truck devoting all of its
time the entire day to rushing the or
ders to the various stations. One COM
pany operates a film automobile ex-
press business, which picks UP and
delivers film within n radius of 100
miles of Dallas. The express bill
alone on this business runs into many
thousands Of dollars monthly. This
charge is paid by the theater opera
tors.
The pictures are gathered here from
many places over the country, where
the various producing companies main
tain laboratories. Each exchange re-
ceives about seven sets of every play
it handles. These seven are sent to
the theaters which first contract for
them. When these theaters have com
pleted the run, the reels are returned
and reshipped TO other theaters. This
process continues until there is no
longer a demand for the play.
FILMS FIVE YEARS. !
Some of the silent shows go the
rounds for years, as is indicated by
the fact that in the storage vaults of
number Of exchanges are films in
which some we'll known present day
stars are shown playing old-time slap
stick comedy. They are the attractions
of other days, but many of these pio-
neer productions are still doing bust
ness in the outlying districts.
When a film comes in from a thea
ter 1t goes at once to the inspection
department of the exchange, where it
is examined for defects and given any
needed repairs. Girls in each exchange
do this work.
When the Texas Motion Picture
Theater Owners Dissertation holds its
annual convention here in MAY the
delegates will be taken on a sightsee-
ing tour of the many exchanges whence
come their pictures. One Of the most
interesting things they will see will be
the storage vaults.
The problem of saving the film from
fire Is ever present. The reels are
stored in fireproOf containers placed |
on metal shelves in vaults whose doors
are Of steel and whose walls are of !
thick brick. But when an exchange
has built such a vault it has only be- |
gun on its problem of fire prevention. |
Chemical fumes arising from the
films eat into the insulation on cleo
trio wires and into water and gas
pipes. Such cOnduits within the vaults |
are covered with a chemical which |
counteracts the gas and prevents it |
from eating away the pipes. The at
mosphere of these vaults sometimes is 1
poisonous with gas from the many
stored reels.
Damaged reels are packed and re-
turned TO the manufacturer who re-
treats them so that they may be turned
Jut again as a new nroduct