t
practical "taking" camera and evoked the enthusiastic cooperation of
George Eastman in the production of this tape-like film, and the modern
motion picture was born. The projecting machine was substantially like
the "taking" camera and was so used. Other inventors, such as Paul
in England and Lumiere in France, produced other types of projecting
machines, which differed only in mechanical details.

When the motion picture was taken up in earnest in the United States,
the world stared in astonishment at the apparent recklessness of the
early managers. The public responded, however, and there is hardly a
hamlet in the nation where there is not at least one moving-picture
house. The most popular actors have been drawn from the speaking stage
into the "movies," and many new actors have been developed. In the small
town, the picture theater is often a converted storeroom, but in the
cities, some of the largest and most attractive theaters have been given
over to the pictures, and others even more luxurious have been specially
built. The Eastman Company alone manufactures about ten thousand miles
of film every month.

Besides affording amusement to millions, the moving picture has been
turned to instruction. Important news events are shown on the screen,
and historical events are preserved for posterity by depositing the
films in a vault. What would the historical student not give for a film
faithfully portraying the inauguration of George Washington! The motion
picture has become an important factor in instruction in history and
science in the schools and this development is still in its infancy.

CHAPTER VII. THE STORY OF RUBBER

One day in 1852, at Trenton, New Jersey, there appeared in the Circuit
Court of the United States two men, the legal giants of their day, to
argue the case of Goodyear vs. Day for infringement of patent. Rufus
Choate represented the defendant and Daniel Webster the plaintiff.
Webster, in the course of his plea, one of the most brilliant and
moving ever uttered by him, paused for a moment, drew from himself the
attention of those who were hanging upon his words, and pointed to his
client. He would have them look at the man whose cause he pleaded: a
man of fifty-two, who looked fifteen years older, sallow, emaciated from
disease, due to long privations, bitter disappointments, and wrongs.
This was Charles Goodyear, inventor of the process which put rubber into
the service of the world. Said