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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1911)
VETOED BY WILBUR DNEPBCTi THEJjHOR A Good Sort of a Moo GOVERNOR ALDRICH ATTACHE HIS VETO TO THESE BILLS PASSED BY THE LEGISLATURE. NE evening In the early summer of 1001 I stood, awed but keenly ox pectant, on tho balcony of tbo Eth nology Building at the Pan-American Exposition In Buffalo. By my side was a short, chubby man ln-an old suit of clothes, a negligee shirt and a string tie that bad come undone and was flopping over hlB capacious chest. It was a warm evontng, and he had removed his battered straw hat, which he hold In his hand. The alzo of the hat was No. 8. The man was Thomas A. Edison. Before us spread that dream In frozen music, tho buildings fronting the esplanade, mall and plaza of tho exposition. Tho twilight was dono, nd the moment had arrlvod for the night birth of that dream Into splendor. For tho first tlmo In history architecture was to bo made allvo at night, more living than by day. Half a million Incandescent bulbs were hid along tho tranaverso linos of the buildings. The current was turned on and they simultaneously bloomed. Ensued a -spectacle for which a Caesar would havo bar tered n province a Joy that brought n gasp of ecstacy from every one of the millions who aw it. EdlBon, bare-headed, squlntod hio eyes. Tho pootry missed him. The gallop of scenic history ever tho vergo of a new era missed him. The glory of the spectacle itself missed him. Instead, he glanced shrewdly and carefully all around on the entrancing wonder, then cautiously Into his tattered straw hat and said: "I could put every filament Into that hatl" Economics, mechanics these obsessed him. That brain, which required a No. 8 hat for cover ing, could think only of tho compressed fact that all tho space occupied by tho vibrating, en ergizing and glory-working sourco of that glgantio spectacle could "bo replaced by about two pints of water or a quart of human brain. Edison Is a rare man. In his speech, of which ho Is as careful as of his filaments, ho'pulls tho core from a field of ideas and thrusts It nt you as if It were a poniard. You think about what ho says for a week, a month; and in years you don't lorget It. All of this is leading up to a consideration of what the wizard-sago said a few weeks ago when a select audience sat In his studio and watched the first performance of tho klnotog'raph, that fabulous instrument which Is destined to repro duce plays, operas, public spectacles with the action, tho color and the volco Intact. Tho great old Inventor was gratified once gatn. Another thrill had come Into his llfo. His latest adventure into tho unknown had pros pered, and his friends and associates clustered -about him with congratulations, with questions, -with assurances. For some time Edison was silent. Ho Is grate ful that he is deaf. Then ho squinted from ono to tho other, and said: "Before long you'll be working that in an aero plane, for you'll bo able to pack it into a soap lubblo!" A soap-bubblo! Rather a fragllo packing-case. Itather a small compass in which to placo a grand opera. A curious comparison. Did Edison mean what ho said? Did ho know what he was talking about? Ever since I heard that Edison said that, I "havo "boon thinking of moving pictures in connec tion with soap-bubbles. And not always In tho "way ho meant bubbles In connection with the 3dnotograph. A soap-bubble is cheap. It Is easy to make If you know how. It Is fragllo. It 1b very alluring. "It reflects all colors, all forms. It appoals uni versally to children. Sagos ponder ovor it. Poets -celebrate It. Artists reproduco It. Conundrum. Why Is a moving picture like a oap-bubblo? First, you find them everywhere. On the back streets of Ilono I saw tho pictures of the bull fight at Guadalajara, Mexico, The -Qundalajarans now look on tho moving pictures of tho prize fight at Reno. At Punta Arenas, the southernmost port in the world, I saw Chlloans applaud moving pictures of tho Bowery and the New York wator front On the Bowery I saw pictures of the battleship fleet entering the harbor of Punta Arenas. On an Island 2,000 miles out in tho Pacific Ocean the exiled lepers of Molokal gather dally before tho flickering wonders of a world which before had boon but vaguely In their dreams. Tho Sunday evening young poople's class of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, looks in pity on tho trans planted and resurrected llfo of Molokal which passes before their eyes on tho screen. A group of travelers In tho luxurious saloon of an ocean liner study the lifelike pictures of tho country for which they are bound. Tho beg gars who lino tho pathways of the tourist Implor ing backsheesh give up their pennies to see the living presentment of their prey bounding to them over tho ocean wave. In Iceland excited Eskimos applaud the hero ism of a cowboy who rescues a captured maiden from the redskins. Half-way round the world, in Northom Russia, tearful peasants sorrow over tho pictured plight of a French lover. The Bengalee moves down Mowrlnghee Road and gives up two pennies to seo tho funeral of King Edward to see it actually move. The Mora In tho alloys of Zamboanga goes without an extra shirt, that he may view the reception of Universal as Froth. Anywhere, everywhere, you find them. In tho United States you will havo to hunt a town of less than 2,000 inhabitants It you wish to escapo' tho moving pictures. Flvo millions of Americans daily visit theso shows. Tho exhibitors pay $18,000,000 a year for tholr films. Tho public pays $57,500,000 a year to boo thorn. Mr. Edison has an average weekly royalty therefrom of $8,000. So It Is n pretty big business, pretty thor oughly organized, qulto universal in Kb reach, soap-bubbly In Its universality. The child of the poor, with a cloy plpo and tho suds from the weokly wash, can havo just as good a time as any rich young follow with an. Im ported meerschaum and tho best castllo. So it is with the .movlng-plcturo shows. It re quires little capital to run them. A long room, easily darkened, a nine-feot square patch of white cloth, some benches for tho spectators, an,opor ator at ten dollars a week, and a rented film, now takes tho placo of a company of actors, stago scenery, properties, lights and a properly equipped building. And tho poor boy gots as much valuo for his nickel aB tho rich boy can got for any number of dollars. Yet, they run into dangers that no soap-bubbles can allure. Flro is of hese tho most patent. Of tho moral dangers wo will speak lator. It Is through tho moral soap-bubblo that wo can seo more clearly tho moving picture's gossamer tinsel. Fire, however, is tho first and most vital dan ger. Tho Charity-Bazaar flro in Paris, in which so many women woro trampled to death by cow ardly men, was caused by tho fall of a spark upoii somo celluloid movlng-plcturo films which had boon dropped Into n basket. In Canton 600 men, Chinamen, woro burned to death In n fire In a movlng-plcturo show houso. -In Quito, Ecua dor, fifty men and women lost tholr lives In a similar calamity. It speaks well for tho widespread and con stant vlgllanco of the flro departments of the United States that no great catastrophe has yot como to tho movlng-plcturo houses of this country. , Lives havo not been lost In tho moving picture shows. Lives have been lost through tho moving picture shows. Whore onco tho dime and nickel ' novols sug gested ways of crime to unbalanced youth tho moving picture has come to mako a more ready and more potent appeal. Tho printed word is never bo nrdont with an Impressionable mind as tho acted word. Several wayB havo beon thought of to lessen theso obvious evils. Charles Spraguo Smith, late chief of tho Peoplo's Institute in Now York, thought he had solved tho problem when ho In duced tho manufacturers of the moving pictures to agree to a national board of censorship. The manufacturers, good trado diplomats, readily assented, and then saw to It that tho board of censorship Bhould bo advisory and not antagonistic. Tho result is that many picturoB that creato havoc among youthful minds whon shown on tho public screens "get by" tho na tional board of censorship. No. This bubble that Edison has IoobocJ upon us will play Itself out just so far as the instincts of tho whole people of this country will permit; no farther, no sooner. One night I went to a prize fight. Only mon were present. The casual observer might have said they were ail tough mon. After tho fight a canvas was erected in tho ring and an an nouncer said, "An exclusive film will now be shown to the members of this club," The picture proved to bo of French manufac ture and portrayed a vile situation In a dive. Instantly hisses and a storm of execration burst from tho audlenoe. Tho running of tbo film was stopped and the picture removed before It was all shown. Grim silence greeted the 'removal of the canvas. The crowd that gloried in the actton of the trizo ring would not endure any pictured sexual ilopravlty. To mo that wob a wondorful revela tion of Anglo-Saxon psychology. Thus it avlll always b"o In our thoator, whother the admission prlco be flvo ccntu or two dollars. American audienoes want action; they wnnt thrills; thoy want dosperato courage and wild heroism; but thoy want it nil clean. Thoy want the good to triumph, the guilty to bo punished, and wrong to bo avenged. . A -Parisian manufacturer offered $200,000 for the right to make moving pictures of tho Ober ammergau Passion Play. His offor wns refused. Ho wept back to his studio, engaged a company of very skillful actors, rehearsed them carefully and reproduced tho Passion Play, almost aB well as It was originally dono, and tho cost was about a twentieth of what ho offered for the original. This manufacturer had an oyo on a now field for tho moving picture. While his imitation will, perhaps, find a comparatively small market, it cannot hopo to reach tho class that would have purchaBpd a guaranteed reproduction of the Oberamraergau play; viz., the churches. For tho churches have not yot como utterly un der tho sway of tho moving picture, despite tbo fact that the Congregational and Presbyterian churches of Rcdlands, California, showed moving pictures nil last summer In their outdoor pavi lion. Yet tho moving picture manufacturers are de voting a lot of time and money to religious sub jects. "Josoph Going Into Egypt," "Tho Ropulao of Herod," "Jophthah's Daughtor, "Tho Rellof of Jericho," and "Tho Wisdom of Solomon" are a few of tho Biibjocts of movlng-plcturo. plays founded on Biblical accounts. Whllo tho moving pictures nro battering at the doors of tho churches they hnvo already par tially scaled tho walls of tho scIiooMioubob. Out of every sovon subjects passed by tho National Board of Censorship, ono Is classed as "peda gogical." In tho catalogues of tho manufacturers ono finds films that show lessons In "agriculture, aeronautics, animal life, bacteriology, biography, biology, botany, entomology, ethnology, fisheries, geography, history, Industry, kindergarten stud ies, mining nnd metallurgy, microscopy, mili tary and naval llfo, natural history, ornithology, pathology, pisciculture, religion, travel and zoology." It looks llko tho catalogue of an educational publishing house. Yot It Is only tho list of films that may be nnd nro ordered by "tho trodo." Subjects under theso lists are shown dally In the 7,500 theaters that exhibit moving pictures In this country. Thoy form entertainment, not Instruc tion. Thoy have put tho stcreoptlcon out of business, not tho schoolmaster. For tho public schools havo no more surren dered to tho now nnd plauBlblo lnvador than havo tho churches. Why? Why not tench children history by showing them Bcenos from tho lives of great mon, pagosnts from tho great momontB that are duly nnd laboriously recorded In tho books. Why not sit nnd watch George Washington cross tho Dela ware on the moving picture sheet, Instond of having to puzzlo your head ovor tho dry print that records it on unllvened pnge? Why not learn about tho growth of flowers pleasantly, by watching a picture lnstoad of having to patiently dissect tho flower and,, then piece it togothor again under tho instruction of a botany text book? Such pictures can bo nnd are constantly shown. Do thoy not monn the revolution of pedngogy? Not long ago the Now York Board of Education appointed a commltteo to Investigate this mib jocl, nnd find out If It woro feasible to Install movlng-plcturo machines In tho various schools of tho city. Superintendent Maxwoll was on the committee. I saw him, a fow days after the ex hibition. Ho was not very enthusiastic about tho pic tures. "A method will never be devised that will save any human bolng the labor of learning," ho said. "We learn only by taking thought, and that la work, hard work. You cannot Insort learning hypodormlcally. You cannot swallow It In tab loid form. Thore Is but ono way to tako It, and that It tho oldest way known. You will find after all of theso wtll-o'-the-wUps have vanlshod that It will bo the newest way, too." Which throws tho moving picture right back where it belongs in the theater. It can have no permanent place in the church, It can have no real place in the school, though it may be auxil iary to either, or both. The following la a synopsis of the bills vetoed by Governor Aldrlch, which had boon pnsaod. by the recent sossloa of the legislature. S. F. 86 Bnrtllng Permitting the playing of baseball or golf on Sunday. 8, F. 91 -Tanner Provided that all proposed amendments to the constitu tion shall bo publlshod in two papers In each county at tho prlco now paid tor printing In ono paper; also that the papers designated shall be ot opposite political parties in each county. S. F, 167 Tanner Extending terms ot offlco of members ot school board In South Omaha tor one your. 8. F, 316 Tanner Providing for a commission form ot government for all cities within tho state ot Nebrnskaf having more than 25,000 and lesa than 0,000 Inhabitants. S. F. 324 Lee Non-partisan Judi ciary act, providing tor nominations ot judges of tho supremo, district and county courts, without party designa tion. II. R, 24 Neir Amending oocttons 8803 and 8805 ot Cobboy's Annotated Statutes, by providing that the term of ofllco of mayors and councllmon in all cities in Nebraska, except thoso ot tho metropolitan class should bo ex tended one year, making tho torm ot tnico two years. H. R. '82--Taylor Doloznl stock yards bills, designating stock yards as "public markets," H, R. 101 ttalloy An act regulat ing tho business ot real estato brokors or agents, providing for a stato license for tho persona so engagod and to ap propriate tho recolpts from said 11- canseB and providing a ponalty tor vio lation thereof. H. R, 394 Clayton A bill amending section 13 of article 1 ot chaptor 77 ot tho compiled statutoB, exempting all bonds from taxation which are issued by the stato, oounty, township, pre cinct, city, village or school district; also property used exclusively for re ligious and charitable purposes. H. R. 537 Minor A bill tor an act to declare all persons, corporations and nsspf' Mons oporatlng telophone lines or exchanges within the state ot Nobraskti to bo common carriers and to glvo the stato railway commission of tho stato ot Nebraska power and authority to regulate tho rates and service, and exercise a general con trol over tho same, and to require con' nectlon ot telephone lines, and -Interchange ot toJophono companies, and to permit tho consolidation of competing companies and to prohibit tbo granting of franchises In cities whoro thoro la in operation a company engaged in the furnishing ot tolophono service with out first securing tho consont ot the state railway commission. H. R. 573 Gordos Providod that tho officers of all stato institutions supported by public funds should make monthly reports of the condition ot such stato institution or board to tho auditor of public accounts and re quired tho auditor to condense such reports and place them, each month, In tho hands of tho governor, and es tablishing a uniform system of book keeping. H. R. 574 Qerdos A companion bill to 573, providing that a uniform sys torn of bookkeeping shall provnll in all stato olllcos and that an expert no countnnt bo appointed to oxnmlno Into tho condition of each stato ofllco or stato institution. H. R. 57C Gerdes Providing for a stato board of supervision of mainten ance funds, whoso duty It shall be to look after and havo a gonernl super vision ot tho disbursement ot funds appropriated for tho maintenance ot executlvo departments or offices. Taft May Go to Texas. Washington. l congress adjourns during tho spring months, President Taft may go to Texas to see tho fed oral troops maneuver. Tho president answered an Invitation to witness tho maneuvers extended by Governor Col qultt of Texas. Ho said in substance that ho would llko to seo tho man euvers, but that It depondod on con gross whether or not he could go; Andrew Carneglo has presented Sioux City, Iowa, with $75,000 for a public library, Annapolis. In momory of tho French soldiers and sailors who gained no individual famo llko Lafay ette, Rochombeau or Steuben, but who helped tho thirteen colonies gain tholr liberty, a statuo has been unveiled hero on tho grounds of St. John's col logo. The president and Mrs. Taft, Ambassador Jussorand ot France, Sec retary of War Dickinson and Secre tary of tho Navy Moyor wore among thoso who witnessed tho coremonles. B. F, Bush has been elected presi dent of the Missouri Pacific railroad. i IV may" nnd fault with tho things you &, There may b time we could ceaawa. you, And there may bo folk who can quickly see Y'ou're not aa Rood ns you ought to tv For the bt of us have a fault or two v And each man on earth must poweM a row. nut you can't be wholly, blindly bad If you've got a boy that oalla you "DaJ.t It's a homely word, but a ahtbboleth Of the good In you, on his boyish breath, Ana we know tltat he with hia myaua, ITn. U... . .nil. V. . . . . t.ltf MIV .11. IV, . m TT U. UUI IIIUUB1I nmi I. That he aeea some trait a that the world can't nnd For the world, you know, is too oftes bllnd- And you'ro not a chump, and you're not a cad If, you've got ft boy that oalla you "T)A.H (To, a boy knows man as a man may not. And ho knowa the soul and the heart you've got. And he never aaka that rou analyse What you do or say, but be truata hU eyei And he banka hta hope and hta faith and trust On your deede and words and a bey la juat. And you need not be full of gloom or aaa. If you've got a boy that ealla you "Dad. And you'll notice this, If you've 4TBh a noy, That the world la tuned to the aong of Joy, That you've got good frlenda, that you nave rew roes. That you atand up nnn to mlafortun! mows Yea, the beat of us have a fault or two And each man on earth muat poaaeaa a few: Dut you've got good cauao to be mighty giau If you'vo got a boy that calla you "Dad." THEIR FUTURES. "When I grow up" snld the Httlo boy, "I'm going to lo a great pltoher, nnd people will como for miles to see mo play ball." "When I grow up," replied the lit. tie girl, "I nm going to be a yoting lady and I will have lots of young mon to toko mo to the ball games nnd try 10 explain your pitching to-me." His Sparest. '!Can you lnnd me a few ot your spare attractions?" asked the sideshow man of the dime museum manager. 'I've got to put , on a show at the Hlcksoy county fair, and find myself short of porformars." "Spare attractions?" asked tha dlmo museum man. "Well, yes. Lot mo see. I guess I could let you have flvo or six living skeletons and a dozen snakes. They're the sparest I've got at presont," A Real Gain. "Bloss mol" exclaims tho friend, "I novor saw a man put on flesh as you havo In the last six months. Why they'll havo to set a V In the back oi your vest boforo long." "Boforo long!" sighs the man who is taking on about a pound a day, and can't stop It. "Why, man, they've al Unhatched Plot. "And didn't tho play havo a good setting?" wo ask of the' author ot the drama which haa been trlod on the dog and abandoned. , "I guess not," ho mourns. "The eggs all broko as soon as they struck tho stage or tbo actors." His Summer Suit. 1 "Got your summer suit yet?" aska tke man with the Incandescent wht. kers ot the man with the shifty eyes. "Sure. Got It yesterday. My tailor sued me for last wlntt's overeoat"