Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/368

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��Popular Science Monthly

��Washington Monu- ment as a Motion- Picture Screen

WHAT is prob- ably the largest motion-picture screen in captivity^is claimed by the city of Wash- ington, D. C. It is nothing more or less than the Washington monument and it has been pressed into ser- vice by the resource- ful Bureau of Com- mercial Economics, which has decided that as long as the out-of-door public must have its cinema entertainment, it can get along with- out Mary Pickford and Charles Chap- lin for the time being and subject itself to an educa- tional and uplift movement.

It is the avowed purpose of the Bureau of Com- mercial Economics every once in a while to conduct mot ion - picture shows which are to

��be strictly educaiional, and ilie putures will be projected on the fair whiit' sides of the Washington monument in the Capitol city.

The Bureau inaugurated its season by a special "invitation jierformance" on the evening of Decorati(jn Day, when scenes from the Grand Canyon, the Yellowstone, the Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, Sequoia, and other nationally famous places were flashed against the towering shaft. A cold, wet night kept a great many away, so that comparatively few saw the monument's debut as a motion-picture screen.

On account of the monument's rough surface it was found necessary to project the pictures on a special silken screen, which a local florist pro\ided, together with a gigantic wreath having a diameter of thirty-six feet.

The projecting apparatus was con- tained in a specialh'-designcd motor- truck fitted with remo\-ai)lc sides. An electric generatmg cqui[iment for the projection arc lamp is also carried. The motor-truck was built to nui h-oni city to city throughout the cast antl give tree demonstrations wherever possible.

The United States government loaned the films, which were made in \arious departments. They include, aside from scenic pictures, films showing the \arius activities of the government, the growth of plants from seed to blossom and seed again, the work of the forest service, and pictures of military training.

���The Washington Monument as a Motion Picture Screen. The Projecting Apparatus Is Contained in a Specially-Designed Motor-Truck Which Is to Run from City to City

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