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Show SV SCREEN PICTURES 1 HILYINR I IHGY I There is so much that may be said ill! on the subject of motion pictures as Ml an educatjonal factor In modern il ; civilization that I almost hesitate to g M discuss the problem in one short art- ujilN icle. Great as is the present in- b IE structlve value of the film the most j! M conservation students admit It is in tiljlrj its infancy and, as a form ot amuse- 111 Efn ment, the very fact that motion pic- m j ture production ranks fourth among BMlU the Industries of the United States is B ' quite sufficient to prove its standing. B j 1 It is the combination of amusement If jj and instruction that is to be found in Hi I the motion picture of today that assur IPjj ed its .permanency. nj ! There was a time, a few years ago, when' the man who provided for his j family by working eight or ten hours 1 1 a day, at a not exorbitant wage, found ' , the problem of paying for clean amuse- Ml, ment a difficult one to solve. Today a j the many picture theatres, with admls- i slons ranging from five cents up, answer the amusement question very i ! satisfactorily. After a hard day's ijj work, the head of the family is en- ?; enabled to take his wife and children IB to a comfortable theatre, where, for a j 1 small amount, they enjoy well-con- will structed dramas, uproarious comedies villi and current news pictures, amplified Ijj j by good music. Wlm It is tho news picture that has de- H( ' veloped into one of the most voluable J nj educational mcdlumB of modern times. MB i J A very few years ago we depended en mr tirely upon newspaper accounts of the 1 1 happenings In foreign countries, fre- HR l quently grabled and sometimes pur- H? in posely distorted and illustrated, at HI fl best, with reproductions of still photo- III ' J graphs. Today we see the actual i ll happening portrayed upon the screen III jjf almost as distinctly as the event it- fljrnj self. We seo the European armies jj J marching to the front, battleships be- l!f j ing launched, generals and rulers In Ig ! II interesting moments, and a thousand IS I J and one other happenings that bring I j foreign lands to our very doors. That p; Is ono angle of the educational value Rj' I of motion pictures. - Bill Another, and perhaps more vitally - IJ 1 important department of screen educa- Uaj II tion is that used by private instltu- fiB III tlons. In schools and churches the mo- oil. I tion picture machine has hecame as Hani permanent and necessary as the lib- g Ml rary; not replacing it, but acting as l I a valuable auxiliary. fit jj In commercial and manufacturing JLJi lines the use of motion pictures In t conjunction with the efficiency move- Ift ment mat has done so much to further In the welfare of modern business has JJhJ been of inestimable value. The new ljlj processes of manufacture a new me- jj thod of salesmanship and kindred de- 8j tails may be shown to a multitude of M j men and women by the use of a few li j hundred feet of film, educating them Win along some particular line which j formerly would have required a vol- jj urae of exhaustive explanations and jj I many weary hours of study. i The most successful shops, factories Mfi and wholesale and recall stores of If today find that this methpd of bring- If ing the latest and best methods to the Ip attention of their employees are of flfjj mutual benefit to employer and em- ttel ployee alike, j I tln many ways the motion picture Is replaces tho library in families where books might be a luxury. In some In- u& I stances ot would be impossible for the 111 Mi poor man to possess many books. To- si day the family visits the motion pic- 1 ture theatre where, for a few cents, 9M they see the greatest works of fiction ? produced upon the screen by the best Pjl actors, with appropriate scenery and Hill it is astual scenery, not water-colored hJ canvas of the old speaking stage. tl j And so It has come to pass that Ml j tho invention which was at first re- Rj garded as a toy has been developed II I until it is at present one of the great- j ( est Instruments of modem civilization. j The elements of amusement and edib- f ml cation aro so nicely blended that we! ig It are amused while being instructed l j and Instructed while being amused, jj And the future of the motion picture is just as sure and certain as tho I Ijj future of printing, for the motion pic- Ml fill ture is merely another means of con- KJJj j veylng thought and reproducing II fl events. m |