Aunt Janes Nieces Out West | Page 8

Film City Uncle John remarked:
"We are invited to visit this place and witness the making of a motion
picture. I believe it would prove an interesting sight."
"Let us go, by all means," replied Arthur. "I am greatly interested in
this new industry, which seems to me to be still in its infancy. The
development of the moving picture is bound to lead to some
remarkable things in the future, I firmly believe."
"So do I," said Uncle John. "They'll combine the phonograph with the
pictures, for one thing, so that the players, instead of being silent, will
speak as clearly as in real life. Then we'll have the grand operas, by all
the most famous singers, elaborately staged; and we'll be able to see
and hear them for ten cents, instead of ten dollars. It will be the same
with the plays of the greatest actors."
"That would open up a curious complication," asserted Louise. "The
operas would only be given once, before the camera and the recorder.
Then what would happen to all the high-priced opera singers?"
"They would draw royalties on all their productions, instead of
salaries," replied Arthur.
"Rather easy for the great artists!" observed Patsy. "One
performance--and the money rolling in for all time to come."
"Well, they deserve it," declared Beth. "And think of what the public
would gain! Instead of having to suffer during the performances of
incompetent actors and singers, as we do to-day, the whole world
would be able to see and hear the best talent of the ages for an

insignificant fee. I hope your prediction will come true, Uncle John."
"It's bound to," he replied, with confidence. "I've read somewhere that
Edison and others have been working on these lines for years, and
although they haven't succeeded yet, anything possible in mechanics is
bound to be produced in time."

CHAPTER IV
AUNT JANE'S NIECES
The picture, which was entitled "The Sacrifice," proved--to use Patsy's
words--"a howling success." On Monday afternoons the little theatres
are seldom crowded, so Mr. Merrick's party secured choice seats where
they could observe every detail of the photography. The girls could not
wait for a later performance, so eager were they to see themselves in a
motion picture, nor were they disappointed to find they were a mere
incident in the long roll of film.
The story of the photo-play was gripping in its intensity, and since Mr.
Werner had clearly explained the lesson it conveyed, they followed the
plot with rapt attention. In the last scene their entrance and exit was
transitory, but they were obliged to admit that their features were really
expressive of fear. The next instant the wall fell, burying its victims,
and this rather bewildered them when they remembered that fully half
an hour had elapsed while the dummies were being placed in position,
the real people removed from danger and preparations made to topple
over the wall from the inside of the building. But the camera had been
inactive during that period and so cleverly had the parts of the picture
been united that no pause whatever was observable to the spectators.
"My! what a stuffy place," exclaimed Louise, as they emerged into the
light of day. "I cannot understand why it is necessary to have these
moving picture theatres so gloomy and uncomfortable."
"It isn't necessary," replied Uncle John. "It's merely a habit the builders

have acquired. There seemed to be a total lack of ventilation in that
place."
"No one expects much for ten cents," Arthur reminded him. "If the
pictures are good the public will stand for anything in the matter of
discomfort."
"Did you notice," said Patsy, slowly, "how many children there were in
that theatre?"
"Yes, indeed," answered Beth. "The pictures seem to be an ideal
amusement for children. I do not suppose they can understand all the
dramas and love stories, but the pictures entertain them, whatever the
theme may be."
"They are not allowed to go unless accompanied by a parent or
guardian," Arthur stated; "but I saw a group of eleven under the care of
one cheery-looking old lady, so I suppose the little ones evade the law
in that way."
On Tuesday forenoon they drove to the office of the Continental Film
Manufacturing Company and inquired for Mr. Werner. Every approach
to the interior of the big stockade was closely guarded in order to
prevent the curious from intruding, but Werner at once hurried out to
greet them and escorted them into the enclosure.
"You are just in time," said he, "to witness one of the scenes in our
great picture, 'Samson and Delilah.' They're getting it on now, so you
must hurry if you want to see the work. It's really the biggest thing our
firm has ever turned