Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/600

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��Popular Science Monthly

��picture company combed libraries in search of information concerning Tan- giers. After days of labor, assisted by librarians, they found a picture of a Tangiers street. From this photo- graph, artists constructed the scene. The buildings were made accurately to the scale of the photograph ; the fixtures, the rugs hanging from the windows, the awnings, the palms on the roofs, the doorways, and in fact all details of the picture were pains- takingly worked up into true dimensions after weeks. A citizen of Tangiers might have imagined himself at home if he had walked down that stage-street. This scene cost the producing company some- thing like fifteen thousand dollars.

One of the most realistic bits of scenery work done by any company is a "mine." When this scene is thrown upon the screen the general opinion is that the "movie" company simply took possession of an existing mine long enough to make this picture. This mine, buildings and all, were construc- ted especially. It cost the company between fifteen hundred and two thousand dollars. It was built under the personal supervision of an "old timer," and it Avas done right. It was used in the "Master Key", serial.

A street used in "The Dumb Girl of Portici," one of the longest pictures ever made, consisting of ten reels.

���A tool which avoids torn fingers and the still more expensive torn tire casings

��cost the company about ten thousand dollars. The cost here named was for the actual material used and the labor of constructing this street. The street took about three months to build.

People who attend motion picture shows are often heard to remark that "all motion picture fires are 'faked.' " That is not always so. In one film plot a fight starts in a gambling house. A bullet misses its mark and sails through a box of matches standing on a shelf. The matches ignite, the flames spreading to the walls of the building and from there along the en- tire street. This street cost over thirteen hundred dollars to build.

During a storm on the Pacific ocean the schooner, "Aggie," struck a rock and, after being abandoned by the crew, lay for several hours partially submerged beneath the waves. A film company saw a chance for a very unusual scene. The wreck was pur- chased, and a large company of actors was rushed many miles to the scene. Launches were chartered and several "takes" made. Later a thrilling play was written around these naval scenes, which, alone, ran up into the thousands of dollars.

The foregoing has to do almost en- tirely with the "scenery" for the pic- tures, the outlay for actors' salaries has not been touched upon, although it is a gigantic item. The weekly sal- aries of many stars are written in four figures, and most leading actors receive "several hundred per" — week.

Attaching Tires to their Rims Easily

TIRE tool for quickly attaching the casings of automobile and mo- torcycle tires to their rims has been brought out. A large U-shaped metal clamp passes from above the tire to the under side of the rim. A lever, with a protruding arm, swings from a pivot in the clamp against the edge of the casing that is to be forced into place. By bear- ing down upon the clamp, the protruding arm of the lever presses the casing into place inside the rim. A number of small holes are bored in the clamp and the lower end of the lever to adapt it for use with tires of various sizes.

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