The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 10, 1911. THE MOVING PICTURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 13, 10 July 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JULY 10, 1911. THE MOVING PICTURE.

The headway that the moving picture is making all over the world is little short of astonishing. Tor some time, the belief was 'gerieral that it would have its day and pass out, as so many new things had done before, but instead it is growing more popular. And the result is not surprising when one considers the uses to which the cinematograph. is constantly being put. It is made to portray the doings of the world, from a prize fight to a coronation; brings the chief scenic features of countries that most of us can never hope to see before us in the most attractive fashion; shows us the busy manufactories in full operation; tickles our risability and appeals to our emotions. The range of subjects is ever growing, and whilst the cinematograph blends instruction with entertainment there can be no doubt as to its future. But apart from ' "shows," the moving picture is going to take a prominent part in our future . teaching system. Geography", history, astronomy, ornithology and a host of other "ologies" can be more effectively taught by the moving picture than by present methods. For instance," take the ornithology lesson, which sounds terribly trying. At school every scholar is told how the caterpillar comes to be a butterfly. The child believes it, of course, but is not impressed.. But to 'watch the whole process on an enlarged scale, as shown by the cine- | matograpli, is something to marvel at—something the scholar cannot and does not desire to forget. Or if the various dates in history had been associated with a wonderfully enacted living picture, or geography with brilliant views, how*much easier it would have been for most of us! The idea is not brand, new. It has already been tried in teaching medical students and others. Professor Doyen, of Paris, was the first to use the sinematograph in surgery, and, like other pioneers, he suffered for it. Professor Doyen brought the cinematograph' in, and kept the students out. Next day he gave a lecture, at which the film was projected and every detail explained. Unfortunately, the students objected, serious rioting took place, and the police had to be called in. But in the end the Professor won. The students quickly altered their views, and came to appreciate that the new meth? od had big advantages for them, as well as for the surgeon and the unfortunate patient. In the United States the same use has been made of the cinematograph. On December 16 last, TOOO theatres throughout the United States exhibited pictures showing how consumption was bred in cities, and how it could be fought. As a means of arousing everybody's interest in the efforts to stamp out the "white plague," nothing could be more telling than this. And if the living picture has been so wonderfully successful in teaching the adult, it will be even better for children at school. It has already been tried in Germany. The Hamburg Board of Education, at the beginning of the year, -decided that .cine-education, as it is called, should fonn - a part of the ordinary lessons of the children in that city. Now every morning, from 10.30 to 12 o'clock, one of the big theatres in Hamburg is fillet? with children', who take their lessons from films. The first subject chosen was the drama of the Earth," and it was repeated daily until every scholar attending the State schools had seen it. Then a fresh, one was selected. And very soon the children in the schools here will look upon their "cine" lesson as quite a regular thing, and one of the pleasantest, too.

had founded only a very little while after its consecration, and the crowning of the Norman Conqueror in the building where the remains of his saintly predecessor lay served to emphasise the con- S nection of the new king with the Saxon race. Since then the abbey church has never lost its importance -as an element l in the history of the great continuous monarchy which is the pride of the British nation.