The Syracuse Journal, Volume 19, Number 11, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 15 July 1926 — Page 6

THE SCREEN: |JS AMAZING HISTORY

No One Took the Early Films Seriously, Not Even 1 \l nv€ntors Thirty-seven ywni «flo ther ® w<r * n ® mov,n 0 ' pictures. Today ths movls Industry ranka fourth In tha United States, with an Inverted capital of |1,500,000,Q00, employing more than 500,000 per. aona In production, distribution and exhibition, with 60,000,000 persons payinfl from ten cents to two dollars for weekly admissions to theaters, large and small, dotting towns and cities throughout the country. By PROEHL HALLER JAKLON ROOM Five of the West Orange (N. J.) laboratory of Thomas Alva Edison buzzed with excitement on the morning of October 6. 1880. Two men, one young, the other older, were keenly interested in a black wooden box about five feet high. Near the top was a peephole, and the young man, with an air of triumph, urged the older man to peer Into the small Opening. Inside an arc light sputtered. There was a noise of machinery, and there came Into view a transparent strip of celluloid bearing the prints of many photograph*. As the strip began to move, the photographs came to life. It was a moving picture of the younger man. walking, smiling, hat In hand, approaching as if to extend a greeting. As he came nearer there was heard the phonographic reproduction of the young man’s voice, saying: “Good morning. Mr. Edison. Glad to see you back. I hope you are satisfied with the kinetoThis was the remarkable demonstration which greeted Edison upon his return from the Paris exposition. The proud young man was William K. L. Dickson, an Englishman who five years before had come to study under the tutelage of the Wizard of Menlo Park? Edison had entrusted Dickson with the development of certain Ideas, and this was what the young man had to show for his labors. The Motion Picture la Born The birth of the motion picture Is marked officially by this demonstration. From this crude beginning, in less than thirty-seven years It has attained the importance of a major Industry, providing employment for more than a million persons throughout the world, and giving entertainment to more than 100,000,000 persons weekly In •very civilized and many uncivilized lands. Following the formula that the time to write history la while it is happening, an American, Intimately acquainted with the film Industry, has produced, after five years of careful. Intelligent research, a two-volume history which bears the title, “A Million and One Nights:' the History of the Motion Picture.” He is Terry Ramsaye, former newspaper man, screen editor and executive, “The original edition, of which there were only 327 sets, each bearing the autograph of Thomas A. Edison, and selling for $75, was launched by Simon A Schuster, those two young men whose wccess with the, cross word puzzle books startled the publishing world In Mr Ramsaye set out about six years ago In search of his material. The pursuit took him to all sections of the United States and many parts of Europe. Dickson was found living in retirement in France. He Interviewed the real Inventor of Instantaneous photography on Cape Cod. In all he talked with more than 400 Individuals who contribute# to the growth and development of the art. Coup and corporation records were made to give u l/the!r stories, while letters and original papers were still available, as they may not be to a later historian. Starting as far back as he could go, Mr. Ram»aye traces his picture history from Aristotle to Edison. He shows us the camera obscura, the magic lantern. Stamper's whirling disks, the spinning coin of Herschel, but the two most Important developments, he says, were the camera by Daguerre, the Frenchman, in 1829. and the inception of wet-plate photography In 1800. To Settle a $25,000 Wager The credit for the discovery of Instantaneous photography Is given to John D. Isaacs, a civil engineer, working for Leland Stanford In 1872. Stanford maintained that artists were all wrong In their pictures of horses in action. Their legs were shown In unnatural positions, be declared, and made a bet of $25,000 that he was right. He engaged a San Francisco photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, who later received the glory, to catch a trotting horse In action by employing a battery of cameras. Muybridge failed. Isaacs, knowing something absu| photography realized that tfee lens shutters then in use wsre too slow for the Job, and so he attached rubber bands with a hundredpound pull to the shutters. This gave an exi»osure of one two-thousandth of a second and "caught" the motion of the horse. Muybridge, who was the photographer, gained the fame. Isaacs went on about his own business, attaining success, and rarely referred to the incident Later the task perforated by the battery of cameras was done much more efficiently with a single camera, a spring taking the place of the rubber bands. In 1886 I.ePrince, a Frenchman living In the Chited States, used sensitized stripe of paper In place of the old-fashioned wet plate, and soon after Carbutt substituted celluloid for the paper. George Eastman, a photograph supply man of Rochester, N. Y.. produced much thinner celluloid strips and put them on the market In the form of dry plates for his kodaks. Dickson, tn September, 1889. bought a small supply for use in the kinetoscope, as Edison called his new device. Edison sold the exploitation rights to this device to a firm consisting of Norman C- Raff, a westrm capitalist; Frank Lombard, president of the North American Phonograph company, and Frank Gammon, a high-powered young business man. In turn, they marketed state and foreign rights to their toy. Edison, at his West Orange laboratory, agreed to produce the pictures. Edison obtained a patent on his klnetoscope in ' 1891 Learning that foreign patents would cost about $l5O. he told his attorney that they were not worth it. A patent more or lees meant nothing to Edison. He failed also to protect his Invention for a disk record for hte phonograph, preferring the cylinder type. How many millions were lost because of this neglect can only be gweased at The first motion-picture actor In the world, according to Mr. Ramsaye** findings, was one Fred Ott, a mechanic to Edison’s laboratory. He fnzord in absurd clothing and made funny

Plans to Open Up Old Indian Mounds

With the departure for the Loulsl«M court of Henry B. Collins, Jr., ethnologist, the Smithsonian Institution teltiates an exploration of an almost tergotten area of prehistoric Ufa on this continent. The region, which extends westward from New Orleans, was the camping ground of the Attacopa rod Chitlmaeha Indians. It has been .vrcricoked by archeologists and •oil - - ever been written ohout it.

gC ' 'IAShI ■L. Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor of the motion picture film; the camera and the Klnetoscope—the technological foundation of the art of the motion picture. (Courtesy Simon and Schuster.) faces. Soon vaudeville actors began to appear. A young dancer named Dennis was among them. She is now Ruth St Denis. The first motion-picture emporium was opened April 14. 1894, at No. 1155 Broadway, New York.. Ten peephole klnetosc<>[»es attracted the public. It must be remembered that pictures on tbs screen as we know them had not yet made their appearance. All movies were shown to one person at a time, through the peephole. This, of course, limited the patronage. The magic lantern, on the other hand, for several hundreds of years had shown still-pictures to entire audiences. On the Screen at Last Why not combine the magic lantern and the klnetosoope? This question stirred, almost simultaneously. the minds of several men. Including Edison. In Chicago Edwin Hill Amet pondered the fdea; in Virginia Prof. Woodvill Latham played with It; in England Robert Friese-Greene started working, and in France two Instrument makers, Louis and Auguste Lumlere. set about to ’ put motion pictures on the screen. Out of all this effort grew litigation which In one form or another was going strong until as late as 1911, and may still have a belated appearance on some court dockets. Mr. Ramsaye says that the Lumlere projector made its debut In March, 1895. under the name of the cinematograph. Several weeks later Professor Latham, In America, demonstrated his projector, and only a short time later A met made his showing. In general, all these devices were the same, with minor exceptions in the perforation of the film and in method of winding and rewinding. These precipitated legal battles in which were spent millions of dollars In costs, only to end, as a rule. In compromise and combination of the competing parties. Thus the projector, the last vital development of motion pictures, was ready to revolutionize the world of amusement as early as 1895. The first public screen showing was made April 20, 1896, at the old Koster A Blal music hall. In Twenty-third street. New York. These were simple subjects, dancers, acrobats and the like—anything With action In It. . The idea that any actor would want money for his efforts never occurred to the early film makers. The publicity they got out of It was held to be ample remuneration. ’ Carmencita. a Spanish dancing star, performed; Annabelle Moore put on a Sandow and other notables of the time al\. wor ked on this basis of payment Censorship Begins About this time came the first censorship. The Edison company had produced a piece In which Dolorita put on" a hoochle-koochle. a dance made known to America at the Chicago world’s fair. Klnetoscopes by this time. In 1896, were fairly well distributed, and there were several doing business on the Atlantic City board walk. Somebody took a peep at Dolorita, became shocked at her performance, and promptly wrote a letjer to the authorities. The result was that the owner of the establishment wrote the New York office, "Send me another film. The police say that Dolorlta’s dance Is too strong." As early as 1896 the movies, not yet known by that title, of course, began to attract the attention of scores of men who saw the opportunities for money-making. Their imaginations had been fired by such the filming, in of the fight at Reno. • which ran 13.000 feet, an® was shown at the old'New York Acadehiy of Music, the first special showing of a picture. The same year one Alexander Victor, a magician, opened the first motion-picture theater with 200 chairs In it. This was In Newark. N. J., and admission was 25 cents. It soon failed. The war with Spain helped boost the new art. Here was an opportunity to get real action. The Vltagraph company, formed by Jimmy Blackton. a New York reporter, Albert E. Smith, a spirit cabinet exhibitor, and one Pop Rock, a Harlem billiard hall keeper, concocted a picture called "Tearing Down the Spanish Flag." In Chicago George K. Spoor, news dealer by day and ticket vender by night in a cheap vaudeville house, and Edwin H. Amet. the Inventor of one kind of projector, showed the destruction of Cervera’s fleet Both of them were fakes. The flag was/Torn down" on a lot to Brooklyn, and the “fleet” was maneuvered In a washtab at the Waukegan (IH.) studio of Spoor and Amet \ This was the day of the film pirate. If anyone made a picture which attracted the public, others Immediately would copy tt The Industry had lured the unscrupulous entrepreneur as well as those who lived by higher ethics, and where money is at stake anything is likely to happen. One company produced the story of the crucifixion, and another promptly copied It and "bootlegged" It to not unwilling exhibitors. The'sUtus of general production of pictures tor

Mr. CVlllns, who is assistant curator of ethnology In the National museum and whose expedition the bureau of ethnology is financing, win investigate the mounds in the area with a view to determining whether they are true mounds or mere shell heaps, and to collect bones, artifacts and pottery. Bo far ail the pottery found along the gulf from Florida to Louisiana has been similar, indicating a cultural re-

lationship among the peoples and suggesting a migration route. The Attacopa Indians were one of the few known cannibal tribes of the American continent. Whether they engaged in the practice for ceremonial purposes or for the love of it, is not known. Other cannibal tribes were found in Cuba. Jamaica. Venezuela. Columbia and Brasil. —From a Bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution. Seven radio beadons have been antablisbed on the Great lakes.

the svaAqrsE jovrnal

First Movie Actors Worked for Joy of it or for the Free Advertising these days can be measured by a review of a Bio graph catalogue, then current: IS4—The Pretty Stenographer: or Caught in ths Act—-28 ft.—An elderly but gay broker |e seated ai hie desk dictating to his pretty stenographer. He stops In the progress of his letter and bestows a ktaa on the hot unwilling girl. As he does his wife enters. She is enraged. Taking her husband by the ear she compels him to get on his knees. The pretty stenographer bursts into tear* They Use the “Cutback** “The Life of an American Fireman," produced to 1902, was one of the first pictures to utilize that very effective device, the cutback. It showed a child in a burning house, with the brave fl remar on his way. In-1903 Adolph Zukor, a Chicago furrier, arrived in New York to collect $3,000 which a friend had borrowed to start a penny arcade. It was nol prospering, and Zukor’s efforts to save his money put the furrier into the penny arcade business, and later led to his meeting with Marcus Loew, another penny arcader. By 1906 Zukor was a fullfledged theater proprietor. Famous Players-Lasky corporation, the world’s biggest movie concern, ro suited, while Loew is head of the Metro-Goldwjn-Mayer company, a close rival. Carl Laemmle, clothing store clerk of Oshkosh. Wis., In the winter of 1905 confided to a Chicago advertising agent that he was tired of the clothing business. They talked over the possibilities of the movies. Finally he opened a theater in 1906. A few months later he started a film exchange and sold prints to other showmen. Out of his subsequent efforts to organize the independent interests in their fight against Edison came the Universal Pictures. Both Laeinmle and Cochrane, the advertising man, made fortunes. ’ In 1907, the censorship pot long simmering boiled over. Ramsaye recalls for us the Chicago Tribune editorial, “The Five Cent Theater,” which damned the nickelodeon up and down hill. At that time Chicago had 119 such shows. They were blamed for juvenile crime, and a list ol pictures, to which objection was taken, was printed. The same year New York officials became aroused and closed every 5-cent show in the city. Exhibitors protested, there was a compromise, and as a result the National Board of Censorship was formed. The first state to pass a censorship law was Pennsylvania in 1912. Appealed to “Rough Element” w The cinema, It seems, had been in bad odor, more or less, from the start. Its appeal, itz critics asserted, was mainly to the “rough element." Then, too, followed the theater disasters in which many persons lost their lives. Films often caught fire in the crude projection machines, and many persons feared to enter such theaters because of the reported danger to their lives. Everyone had heard of the Charity Bazar fire in "1897- at Paris. Nearly 180 persons, among them many French nobles, had lost their lives when a projector lamp exploded. Prejudicial feeling immediately arose to impair seriously the status . of the screen In the minds of the upper classes. With the establishment throughout the country of many theaters there was created a demand for more and better films. People were tiring of the old run-and-hop variety of subjects. Exhibitors wanted story pictures, and the producers’ problems began anew. The motion picture had no respectability then, and actors were scornful. It was necessary to seek out the hungry ones and ’tactfully suggest work in “the pictures." Actors who met on the movie stages of Edison, Vltagraph and Biograph in those days kept their film “shame" a secret. It was the accepted practice of the time to impress the actors into service as carpenters, scene painters, and the like. Florence Turner, an early favorite, when not a/cting was mistress of the wardrobe. But when Maurice Costello went over to Vltagraph from Edison a precedent was set up. "I am an actor and I will act—but I will not build sets and paint scenery." He vfon on his dignity. Enter Charlie and His Pants Charles Chapman made his screen debut in 1913. His big pants and curious gait caught the eye of Adam Kessel of the New York Motion Picture company, who strolled into a theater just in time to see the act go on. Kessel offered him $75 a week to appear in-the films. Charlie refused it, as he did a subsequent offer of SIOO a week. Finally the ante was raised to $l5O and he accepted. His first picture was made at Los Angeles for Keystone. It was called the “Kid’e Auto Races," and made a hit. Other Chapman pictures followed, and the little Englishman became famous before his name was known. Later his name was changed to Chaplin. Os the later developments in the industry, the most significant was the effort to avoid censorship and regulation that might Seriously interfere with progress. In 1917 a wild party for Fatty Arbuckle in Boston drew unfavorable attention both to the players and film officials who attended it. In 1921. Arbuckle with other movie people smashed into a screen scandal. The divorce of Mary Pickford from Owen Moore in Nevada was another cause of scandal because of her early marriage to Douglas Fairbanks, an actor just winning public favor. The producers felt that something had to be done. They formed an association of motion picture produ ers. and placed at the head of It WU» Hays, one-time chairman of the Republican national committee, and postmaster general. Hays tackled his job seriously, and is now the screen’s most powerful figure when it comes to deciding on what may be shown. He can kill any story and can exile any actor from the screen. And he has used thia power. Mr. Ramsaye has brought his fascinating history down to the separation of the producing department from the exhibiting departmeat of the Famous Players* organization. Balaban A Katz of Chicago took over the theaters. On June 5, 1928, Famous Players bought them back. This present article mentions only scattered gleanings from the eighty-one chapters of Ramaaye’s work. For one incident set down here there are scores of equally interesting ones gathered to the two volumes. The one thing about this history which appeals perhaps more than any other single quality Is the attitude of the historian. His face was not long and stern when he wrote. He saw the human side of this comedydrama. He had a twinkle in his eye.

SomwtArn* They Didn’t Say She had urged him to study the correspondence course at home, and he had—Just as the advertisements said. At last his salary was raised SSO a month—also Just as the advertisements said. “Darling, I owe it all to you," be said. “Well, dear," she returned, “don’t worry.’ You won’t after pay day.” Which was Just the point ths advertisements failed to mention.

THE LAST HATS OF SUMMER; FOR TOTS’ SUMMER WEAR

THE last rose of summer and the last hat of summer are alike beautiful, but whereas the last rose was left blooming alone, the last hat is blooming among myriad others. Genius is burning like everything with millinery designers; they continue to overflow with fine ideas for midsummer. Perhaps the season inspires the loveliest headwear or perhaps they enjoy exercising talents that were more or less suppressed last winter, goring the vogue of untrimmed and uninteresting hats. t Here are five hats which have come into bloom recently in the millinery garden' and have been chosen as rep-

V/ Five of the Latest Summer Hata.‘

resentatlve of beautiful types suited to midsummer. First there is the beloved leghorn, adorably developed by an applique trimming of handmade renaissance, laid over the crown. The brim-edge Is bound with silk to a color and on both the upper and under brim three tight little, bright little roses are posed, with folded silk stems. This Is an exquisite hat. Next comes a wide-brimmed, black lace hat with semt-faMng of chiffon and a flange on the upper brim of a novelty millinery fabric which Is also used for the “ bow that completes a simple but Impressive model. Beautiful handcraft is the outstanding feature of the hat of tagal braid, turned up at the back. It has a collar of folded velvet and

\ If r i - ; i I • IB CM fe > E l . • • • f 05 * . Y ' ‘ An Easily Laundered Dress.

an Intricately made trimming of narrow braid and small berries placed at the right side. Among these softly feminine headpieces the black Spanish sailor stands out boldly. It is a'bangkok straw with a collar of black belting ribbon arranged in pencil plaits across the front, edged with a narrow contrasting ribbon. This is a tailored hat of the severe type, to be worn with a suit of similar character. Midsummer calls for the lovely widebrimmed. hair-braid hats, like that which brings this brief story to a happy ending. Lace overlays the top of the shape and extends over the brim edge and a cluster of roses is posed at the front This model is lovely in any of the light colors. Many a ways and means committee may work overtime considering Last Season’s Frock If last season’s frock seems not quite fresh, why not make an overdress of georgette in plain color? That is the popular vogue now. Or Use it on the skirt in tiers, wide tucks «r in plaited lengths. Overlay the sleeves with it and use it as a scarf, collar or a bolero. Cure of Suede Shoes Pale suede shoes require some care to keep them beautiful. They will not took well after they

the problem of keeping little tott clean without getting any furthei than the washtub. In a grimy work this homely friend of the family is th< only answer. Here stylists come tc the rescue with clothes of all kinds that can be washed and Ironed easily and quickly; and it happens that these very simply designed things look bet ter than any others on the youngsters In hot weather for those who live near the beaches, bathing suits and beach coats may bring laundry work down to the irreducible minimum. Lit tie ones wear their knitted bathing suits during most of their waking hours when they can play on the

sands. Beach coats to be worn ovm them when needed are made of gay printed terry cloth, which does not need to be ironed. They may be made of other printed cottons or of heavy, unbleached domestic, with cut-out figures of little animals, flowers, children or birds applied to them. These are sewed down with cotton floss, using the buttonhole stitch. Chambray, cotton broadcloth, coarse linens and gingham maintain theit lead at the head of the list of dependable fabrics for little dresses and rompers. Nearly al! dresses are made with panties to match and nearly all have round collars In white or a plain color and banding on the sleeves and pockets to match the eollar. Tbs

pantie frock pictured, of checked ging ham, is cut with kimono sleeves round neck, slit a little way down at the front, and straight panties. It la hardly more difficult to Iron than a handkerchief. The floral motli sketched on and above the pockets is done with cotton floss in the lazy daisy stitch. Little boys’ suits are Just as simply designed; most of them made of chambray. Even frocks and suits in which the little tots finish the day, when they are tidied up for the family dinner, are designed very simply. Dotted swiss, with colored dots on white, 11 liked for them and their round collars of white swiss are worked about the edge with floss matching the dot in color. JULIA BOTTOMLBJT. (©. IMS. Western Newepepec Union.) have been worn in the rain, so d« not wear them on a doubtful day. Bui if they have been caught In a showei only, continual brushing win soften them again. Some suede shoes wear shiny in patches. The nap Is quickly rubbed up by a vigorous application of the wire brush sold at most shoe shops. ; — . A black velvet gown that receives much attention in a colorful season has huge sleeves of white lace embroidered tn gold.

0- THE • ®| KITCMENM CABINCTSII ==X===========Z=S==========£=K* (©. 1»1», WuUrn N»wapap«r Union.) “In it rainy, Uttlo flower? Be glad of rain; Too much aun would wither the«t ’Twill shine again; The clouds are very thlok. ’tie true; ? But just behind them smiles the blue.” EVERYDAY .GOOD THINGS A new roll much in vogue at pre»> ent Is prepared just as one does

Parker house rolls, an<J when folding the roll* add a small section <4 orange freed from membrane and seeds. Place to the tins to rise and just before going tote the oven pour over a mixture of orange Juice and powdered sugar. Bake until brown. Hermits.—Take three

fourths of a cupful of sweet fat, add one-half cupful of sugar, two wellbeaten eggs, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved to a tablespoonful of sour milk, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and one cupful of currants. Mix well with flour to roll: sugar well before cutting Intocookies. Oatmeal Cookies.—Take three cupfuls of oatmeal which has been ground and toasted until slightly brown, add one-half cupful of sugar, one cupful of water or cold eoffee and one cupful of shortening, one-half teaspoonfuk of salt and flour to roll. Bake in & quick oven. Sugar Cookies. —Take two cupful* of sugar, one cupful of shortening, one teaspoonful of soda and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted” Int® one quart of flour, four well-beaten eggs and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Roll, cut out and bake quickly. . Coconut Cookies.—Take one cupful of shortening, one and one-half cupfuls of sugar, two eggs, one cupful of" grated coconut, one-half cupful of sweet milk, one-half teaspoonful of soda, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, one teaspoonful of vanijla, twoeggs and one cupful of coconut. Roll and cut. bake In a quick oven ; use as little flour as possible. Coconut Macaroons. — Cream one tablespoonful of butter with one-halt cupful of sugar, add one beaten egg, one and one-half cupfuls of browned and ground Oatmeal and one-half cupful of coconut. Drop by spoonfuls on a buttered sheet and bake In a hot oven. This recipe makes twenty-four. Pies and puddings should coot slightly before covering with a meringue; if put in hot the meringuewill be covered with dots of liquid. • The Balanced Ration. To know the relative value of different foods and different dishes, wilt

keep one fronu serving one day a menu in wjdch all dishes are high in food value and the next day a menu altogether of the less nutritive

dishes. It Is preferable to take the day as a unit in planning menu* rather than a single meal, for in this way it Is easier to keep the fuel' standard about the same each day. Concentrated foods which are mostly in the protein and fat groups, should be combined with the starchy foods. One part protein to three parts starchy foods Is the most common proportion. Cheese, a highly concentrated food without waste, when combined with rice, macaroni or potatoes, makes a good main dish and is highly nourishing. Sugar tn the form of candy is another concentrated food and should not be eaten on an empty stomach as it is sufficiently satisfying to spoil the, appetite for a meal. Eaten at the close of a meal when we enjoy a little sweet we are not likely to overeat. Soups having stimulating properties put the stomach Into better condition to digest the food which follows. A cream soup is best to precede a light meal. A clear soup which has little" nutrition but is an appetizer is good for a heavy dinner. There is no limit to the variety which a little planning may produce in the line of cocktails. fruit juice of various kinds, bowd down to a thick sirup, Adds flavor. Lemon ice, bits of banana and pineapple with a few grapes for a garnish makes an especially well-flavored one. The average grown person who is normal would feel and be much better ' to cut down on the food consumed at least one-third. To spend more time in masticating the food, so that the digestive apparatus need not overwork, would be another great advance in keeping the body fit. One of the finest breakfast foods for young and old is the clean whole wheat right from the granary. Soak It overnight then cook slowly on the back of the stove for several hours until the grain bursts and is surrounded by the soft Jellylike substance, which indicates that it has been well cooked. Salads and vegetables should always have place Ln the dinner and luncheon menus, and in the spring and summer are especially Important Crisp, tender vegetables stimulate the appetite by their crispness and tenderness. Indian "Big Mtdicina” The Indian ceremony of “making medicine” in the medicine lodge is a solemn scene on the Glacier National park reservation. Articles of clothing, pieces of meat, hides and small trinkets of all sorts are wrapped around the tree as “powerful medicine” while the Indians sit around end commune with the Great Spirit Afaacof A rabbit’s foot is a poor substitute for horse sense.—Arkansas Gazette