57^2 



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. 



A 



