Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/238

210 

EARLY every one of us believes that in the back of his brain he has a perfectly good moving picture scenario that awaits only the chance to be flashed upon the screen. He is now given an opportunity to produce, by the demand for scenarios in a field where hundreds of new stories are filmed every week. And now comes an opportunity, in the form of a plot manufacturer, for those without ideas, a compact little cardboard box that contains more plots than the moving picture people could use in a hundred years.



The "movie writer" as it is called, is exceedingly simple. Arthur F. Blanchard, of Cambridge, Mass., who is a Harvard graduate, is the inventor, and he believes his machine will revolutionize literary art. The device consists of a modest cardboard box six inches long, three inches wide and two inches deep. Half a dozen slots are cut in the top surface, beneath which revolve spools of paper upon which are printed several thousand scientifically selected words. Handles project from either side which are turned at will.

The word in the top slot is an adjective, that in the second a noun, the third a verb. Next comes another noun (the subsidiary character) and then follows a word expressing a denouement. Each knob is given a few twists, either selectively or at random, and a complete plot, perhaps extravagantly impossible, perhaps hackneyed, or perhaps new and useful, turns up. But at all events there will be a plot. Here are a few samples; imagination must supply the details.

Beautiful, stenographer, bribes, customs officer, adventure, recall.

Benevolent, steward, captures, empress, affair, reflection.

Chivalrous, stranger, dares, governess, alliance, repentance.

Cowardly, author, deceives, editor, anguish, rejection.

Bold, beggar, blackmails, broker, brawl, banishment.

As a toy, the mechanical plot creator also has its uses. With each person at a dinner provided with one of the machines, a story can be started by the first person, the others following in turn, each based upon the preceding one and carrying the story. It remains to be seen how many successful picture plays result from the use of this invention.

ACQUELIN, the French champion cyclist, has conceived the idea of attaching a rotary brush to the back of the motor-tricycle. His novel combination attracts much attention, in operation upon the streets of Paris.

To a light frame, made over steel tubes, the motor-tricycle is attached, and this frame holds the brush and is driven by a chain from the rear axle of the cycle. A basket of the proper shape lies next to the brush so as to receive the sweepings, as the work proceeds.