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WAY back in 1697, William Congreve, greatest of English comedy writers, penned in his play of "The Mourning Bride," the ever famous lines: "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,

To soften rocks or bend a knotted oak."

Two hundred years after Congreve delighted the players of old London, whose fathers had known Shakespeare in the flesh, music still sways humanity, and Apollo of the golden lyre, divides honors in the theatres with the Muses of Comedy and Tragedy.

We have no less an authority for it than Hamlet that "the play's the thing." Shakespeare makes him say so when the Prince is planning to unmask his treacherous step-father, but if the royal Dane could look in at one of our great movie theatres, one of these evenings, he would be likely to doubt the truth of his assertion. The play-that is to say the screen play is not more than half the performance, and it must be rather a good cinema performance to score as heavily as that. The music programme, contributes so much to the popular approval and enjoyment that an uninitiated spectator might be excused for exclaiming, "Why, this is not a picture show-It's a concert!"

It is a very interesting study-this elaboration of the "Mere movie" into a composite entertainment, which has no greater resemblance to the original model than a feeble crawling caterpillar to a gorgeous fluttering butterfly. Cheapness was the chief recommendation of the original "Nickelodeon", the unprepossessing ancestor of the splendid screen-theatre of today, with its imposing architecture, its luxurious upholstery, its artistic decora

tion and its great organ and large orchestra, representing an outlay that would stagger a grand-opera impressario.

They were heroes in their way—those pioneers of cheap popular amusement who converted tumbledown shacks and tenantless stores into temples of a new art, and went ahead fearless of city ordinances, and the pestilential danger of crowding hundreds of patrons into figurative rat-holes devoid of ventilation and calculated to burn up at a second's notice like a match-box. Their triumph was, however, short. The law of the survival of the fit, swept them into the discard. Most of them were notoriously unfit for the struggle for existence in a new art, but they nevertheless blazed the way for successors with more capital, more enterprise, perhaps better brains and intelligent determination to convert a fad in photography into a legitimate and permanent business. Cinema shows now have a prominent place among the great enterprises of the world. The aggregate capital represented in picture production is colossal. The erection of splendid theatres has even changed the business centers of large cities, as in San Francisco.

But throughout all this evolution of picture exhibition, music has steadily increased its utility in attracing the multitudes. It may not be too much to say that motion pictures are practically inseparable from music of some kind, and if divested of it would lessen their popularity and perhaps pass into disuse. Music is the pulsating soul of screen pictures. It imparts to them emotion and depth, and raises them above the level of noiseless fleeting shadows that appeal

only to the eye, and gratify no other sense. Music therefore overcomes a serious defect of the "silent drama," by making it grateful to the ear as well as eye and thus giving it naturalness; for in life all motion is accompanied by sound.

Human speech is sound systematized. When the lips move in speech the listener's sense of hearing is also aroused. An automobile picture can speed across the screen in silence but in actuality a moving motor car is a noisy object. noisy object. The actual discharge of a pistol vibrates on

true sense. They are moved on a reel which is projected rapidly on the screen but the component parts of the photographic reel are as devoid of motion as ordinary kodak pictures. The rapid passage of the pictures projected on the screen completely deceives the human eye, much as a juggler by rapid passes of his hands deceives the thousands of theatergoers, whose gaze is fixed intently on him. The human eye, wonderful as its construction has its limitations, for the reason that the act of observing anything

has never utilized music to the expensive extent of the cinema. If the managers of large picture houses could dispense with expensive orchestras, they would be. as slow to employ them as the legitimate stage.

The intelligence, originality, ingenuity and mechanical skill which is being employed to make music available for millions of cinema patrons is beyond conception. Comparatively few houses can pay for large orchestras composed of highlypaid musicians. Mechanical substitutes are indispensable. Modifications of the great and costly organs that require a large theatre to house them and an artist of first-class ability to operate them, are beyond the reach of large numbers of picture places. But American ingenuity has been equal to that emergency. Mechanical instruments that synchronize the expression of the music with the different degrees of action on the screen have been developed with such efficiency that the picture exhibitor is poor indeed who cannot furnish his patrons with a good substitute for a satisfactory orchestra. It is gratifying to mention that in this line of enterprise California is leading, just as our favored State is ahead in the production of screen attractions. The American Photo Player Company of San Francisco, New York and Chicago has made a wonderful business and artistic success in the manufacture and installation of musical merchandise, suitable to the motion picture industry. Artistic attainment in organ music devoted to photo plays, is rapidly approaching the standard of symphonic and organ recitals. The public has manifested such a taste for this form of musical expression that the American Photo Player Company is constantly increasing the already large capacity of its factories in California and Illinois. It has a large plant at Berkeley and another at Van Nuys and still the demand taxes the supply; so vast is the motion picture business in all its ramifications.

It has been found that a versatile pianist and organist in a picture house, by aid of one of those improved mechanical instruments has advantages over an orchestra. He has the power to modulate from one scene to another without a

break whereas an orchestra leader will sometimes carry an inappropriate theme into a new scene rather than stop to turn over music books, and displease sensitive

ears.

The Fotoplayer type of instrument has a keyboard much like a piano, but being equipped with a double tracker on which the ordinary music rolls are run it may be played as a regular piano, or run as a player-piano. This patented double tracker enables the entire instrument to be controlled by one operator, who, while one roll is being played, can insert another and avoid all annoying pauses. A series of organ stops arranged above the keys enables the instrumentalist to obtain organ or orchestra effects.

Along the front of the instrument there are devices which the player can operate SO as to produce many soundspistol shots, gatling gun, crackling flames, waves, door-bells, fire gongs, autohorns, sleigh bells, storms, etc., etc. All this musical machinery is contained in one case, about seventeen feet long, less than four feet wide and five feet high. The compact little machine's pipes for orchestral effect consist of violin, cornet, flute, flute d'amour, and viol d'orchestra in the treble; in the bass viol d'orchestra, cello, flute d'amour, reed organ and pipes. A picture house of small capacity employing one man can render a variety of orchestration from the emotional melody of organ tones to the rattle and bang of drum beats to a complete instrumental registry from stop to trap.

For houses of larger resources the Robert-Morton symphonic organ has been evolved. Played by one performer this organ rivals a symphonic orchestra. Its emotional range is only limited by the musical sympathies of the performer at the console. This instrument, without any adjustment may be played by an organist as an organ producing both orchestral and cathedral effects, as desired. Moreover it can be played with music rolls, or be utilized to augment the musical effect of an orchestra of four or five instrumental soloists, and reach impressive symphonic proportions. The same company which has produced the Fotoplayer, has worked in conjunction