The Sun and the New York herald. [volume], September 05, 1920, Section 4 Sunday Magazine, Page 5, Image 41

About The Sun and the New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1920-1920

Image provided by: The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundation

                
THE SUN AND NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1920.
Navy Makes Debut in Movie Thriller and Likes It
Often Pictured but in
Regular Screen Dra
ma for First Time,
Officers and Men En
joy Experience and
Win Praise of Film
Experts
EVERY man who has served In the
I Tilted States Army or Navy will
assure you that a "rookie" never
Knows what duties will confront him wher
pa Joins the colors. It Is evident that an
fiillstment In either service entails a variety
of duties such as novices never dream of
when they take the oath upon donning the
uniform. Several thousand sailors of the
Atlantic fleet little thought, when they
joined up" to "save, see and learn," that
rnme day they would play active parts In
a spectacular motion picture drama.
Navy men have been seen In pictures
many times, but never prior to "Bride 18,"
a serial produced by William Fox, which
has an entire fleet of warships and aircraft,
with their officers and crews, having been
udered by the Navy Department to devote
several weeks exclusively to the Aiming of
i screen serial.
Depicts Navy in Peace Time.
"Bride 13" is not a war picture, but re
veals the navy in the role of n great rescu
ing force, hunting down a band of pirates
that descends upon the American coast In
a submarine and kidnaps wealthy brides.
The Navy Department saw in this serial,
vhen the story was submitted, an oppor
tunity to present to the people an Intimate
and complete picture of the peace time ac
tivities of the men ashore and afloat.
The naval units utilized were part of the
command of Rear Admiral Charles P. Plun
Kott, stationed at Newport, R. L Admiral
I'lunkett was ordered by the Department to
give the film company, under the direction
of Richard Stanton, whatever cooperation
was required to make the picture.
A conference was held at Newport be
tween Admiral Plunkett and his staff and
Director Stanton and his assistants. Stan
ton explained to the Admiral the situation
established by the scenario and asked that
the navy officer prepare a plan of action
such as he would outline were he actually
Confronted with the prohlem of combat
ing a hand of submarine pirates hovering
off the const. The Admiral designated
Commander A, I Bristol of the destroyer
Breckinridge In Immediate command of the
"motion picture fleet'' and outlined to him
his views of the strategy that should be
followed In the theoretical attack on Amer
ican womanhood.
The ships were In readiness and the fleet
set out from the harbor. Thereafter for
weeks big guns were fired, depth charges
dropped, bombs hurled from seaplanes, sub
marines went into action and Newport re
sounded to the many explosions staged in
the fllmi'i of the picture. Commander
Bristol on the Breckinridge superintended
iliS operations of the fleet after dally con
sultatinns with Director Stanton, whos"
the screen In which It sees the pirates firing
shrapnel at the aviator and the bursting
of bombs thrown from the clouds by the
navy officer. Shells actually were fired at
a navy seaplane to obtain this action and
they did burst close to the plane. Although,
of course, they were not the regular service
projectiles, the pilot did not relish his Job
and said so when he alighted.
Pursuing the Villain.
To photograph these secenes in the air
the camera man, Horace O. Plimpton, Jr.,
set up his camera In the nose of a second
seaplane. Plimpton who by the way Is a
civil engineer has been a camera man sev
eral years on feature productions. He has
cranked his camera while suspended from
the side of a railroad box car and has been
bound with his camera to the front of a
locomotive speeding a mile a minute; but
prior to "Bride 13" he had not "shot"
sceneB from the air. He got plenty of avia
tion in th" serial, what with chasing the
villain fleeing across the country In his auto
mobile, recording the struggles of heroine
against her pirate captors a thousand feet
above ground, and grinding away at a des-
CAMERAMAN
"SETS UP"
ON A
U.S.
DESTROYER
"flag ship" was the sub-chaser 177. The
submarine R-l. commanded by Lieutenant
Commander Q. W. D. Dashiell, was the
"pirate submarine." Capt. O. W. Steele of
the Shawmut, mother ship of the seaplane
squadron, overlooked the essential contribu
tion of planes 12, 13 and lf, the squadron
itself being under the command of Lieutenant-Commander
B. G. Leighton. senior
pilot. Subchaser 177 was in Charge of Chief
Eontswain's Mate Wortham.
Officers and Men Enjoy It.
T'ne apieal of the scenario to the officers
and men had been well calculated. The au
thor, Edward Sedgwick, had known active
servlee aboard battleships and was able to
apply Intelligently his knowledge of nava!
equipment and practice. The officers and
men enjoyed hugely their unique duties and
went to them with a will and a dash highly
I, leasing to the director.
Officers of des'royers led boatloads of
their men in hand-to-hand deck fights with
swarthy renegades; Commander Bristol
himself, in his official capacity on the bridge
of the Breckinridge, was the leading picture
actor in many scenes. Seaplane pilots as
sumed the role of pirates and captured the
fair heroine, or, as their natural selves,
picked up the hero from the waters of the
bay Into which he had been cast by the
villain.
The navy planes contributed largely to
the serial, appearing in some of the most
thtilllng scenes. In one of the early epi
sodes an aviator hurls bombs from the air
to destroy the pirate submarine. The audi
ence Is regaled with a startling battle on
m
DO
t0
KIDNAPPED
BRIDE ABOARD
k PI RATES 'SUBMARINE
3se
"oooooooo'
THE MEN WHO
PUT THE NAVY
in -ike" MOVIES" left
A RIQHT: COMMANDER A.L.
BRISTOL, U.S.N. DIRECTOR.
Richard stanton and lieut.
COM MANDERG.W.D. DASHIELL .
perate battle between a seaplane and a
navy dirigible.
On board the mother ship Shawmut, on
the day of the filming of the race be
tween the seaplane and the automobile, Com
mander Lelghten, commanding officer of the
seaplane squadron, talked about hla pets
the planes.
"People know very little," he said, "about
seaplanes and what can be done with them.
The squadron, which came into existence
last February, is on trial for Its continuance
In connection with the work In the navy.
To make the general public familiar with
seaplanes and their possibilities will help us
win our point.
"Besides, the fullest publicity relating to
life in the navy is desirable to stimulate re
cruiting, which would not be much of a
problem if the youth of the country were
able to picture to themselves the many ad
vantages and pleasures connected with the
service.
"The seaplane squadron adds a new fas
cinating reason for entering the navy. More
and more aviation pilots and mechanicians
will be needed. It is becoming a very com
mon thing for men and women, too to
pay as much as $2a for a few minutes flight
In an airplane. It is not very difficult for
any able seaman to have that experience
for nothing."
As Commander. Leighton spoke, the R-1S
of the seaplane squadron, piloted by Lieut.
William Townaley, whirred Into view with
the rescued hero of the serial in the for
ward cockpit, and a moment later alighted
within twenty yards of the Shawmut's stern.
There for the camera she demonstrated her
wonderful mobility of action on the water.
Popocatepetl Grumbling Again Fills Natives With Superstitious Dread
DOWN In the valley of Mexico the
Indians are watching old Popo
catepetl and wondering what devil's
brew is mixing in the bowels of the volcano.
"Popo" had been silent at Pike's Peak for
over a hundred years. No living Mexican
had heard it rumble or seen it smoke until
a few days ago. when unmistakable volcanic
disturbances were reported. A tradition still
exists among the Indians that if Popo
eatepetl breaks into eruption there are cer
tain to be disturbances equally volcanic
among the people.
Five hundred years ago, when Cortes
planted an iron heel on the Aztec nation,
they saw their superstition confirmed. As
I'ortes marched on the City of Mexico, while
he was building a military road over the
lidge that connects Popocatepetl and
Iztaccihuatl, "Popo" was violently active.
In History and Legend.
Again, in 1802, a few years before Mexi
can independence was won, there was an
eruption of Popocatepetl. While Miguel
Hidalgo y Costilla, fhe parish priest of
Dolores, rang hLs famous liberty bell and
shouted the call to arms known as the
Grito de Dolores, "long live our Holy Mother
of Guadalupe, long live America, and death
to bad government," Popocatepetl smoked
and thundered and flamed.
Although Popocatepetl is only one of sev
eral peaks that shoulder up from the valley
of Mexico, it dominates the great plain Just
as Fujiyama dominated Japan. Rising from
a plateau which is itself 7.000 feet above sea
level. "Popo" thrusts Its snowy head 10.000
feet higher than the plain. About this moun
t.iin and its neighbor. Iztaccihuatl, ten miles
'listant to the north, legenj and history
both have gathered.
The two peaks were named by the Indians.
Popocatepetl in the Aztec tongue meant
"the mountain that smokes" and Iztaccihjatl
meant "the white woman." From the city of
Mexico the smaller peak, with its long man
He or erpetual snow, looks like the sleep
nig fUiire of a woman draped in white.
Tie Indians told many stories about the
two mountains. They were gods. Or they
ire g.ants transformed Into mountains be
cause they had incurred the displeasure of
the gods. The giantess that was Iztacci
huatl died, but Popocatepetl lived on, doomed
to, gaze forever upon the dead face of the
woman he loved. Sometimes, In his grief,
he moined and trembled, and tears of Are
'an down his cheeks.
It was believed that Iztaccihuatl was the
shod" of spirits of wicked rnlers. whose
sgoniea brought fearful bellowings from their
prison house and convulsions In time of
eruption. All these legends had Invested
the mountains with a mysterious horror and
the natives shrank fiom attempting the
asent.
When Cortes came within sight of Popo
petl he was told that no man had ever
Uimoel to the top. That in Itself was
enough to stir the Spanish adventurers to
the attempt, and, moreover, there was one
of his officers, Diego Ordaz, whose rivalry he
feared. Cortes knew that to scale the moun
tain would win the respect of the Indians
and that Ordaz, who was eager to attempt it,
might not come back. So Ordaz. with nine
Spaniards and several Indians, started on
the ascent.
The climb led them first through dense
forest growth, then up through stunted,
straggling trees until they came out above
the timber line and saw stretching above
them the great slopes of lava rock and
above that the fields of Ice and snow. At
the tirnlter line the Indians turned back.
Ordaz nnd his men went on until clouds of
sulphurous fumes swept down upon them,
carrying cinders that nearly blinded them.
They were forced to turn back, and brought
down with them some great icicles which
they had found on the slopes. These alone
were enough to we the Indians. Charles V.
of Spain later made Ordaz a knight for this
exploit and gave him permission to wear
upon his coat of arms the picture of a burn
ing mountain as his device:
Two years later Cortes sent up another
party under Francisco Montano to obtain
sulphur from the crater, for his supply of
gunpowder was running low. This time
Popocatepetl was quiet The Spaniards
climbed to the edge of the crater, which they
found to be a mile In circumference. A
ciiiarter of a mile below they could see the
bubbling Assures opening into the great
Milphur beds at the heart of the volcano.
I,ots were cast to decide who should go
down into the mouth of the crater to bring
back the sulphur. The choice fell upon
Montano himself, and he was lowered In a
flasket to a depth of 400 feet. He repeated
the descent several times, scraping the
sulphur from the sides of the crater.
Popocatepetl is now considered a very easy
climb, as mountains of that height go. and
before Mexico was such an unlikely place
for tourists to be hundreds of them climbed
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3NOW CAPPED PEAK OF POPOCATEPETL WHICH TH REATENS AN ERUPTION.
It every year. The ascent la made up the
northeast slope, over rough roads left by
the sulphur carriers and timber cutters.
The walls of the crater to-day show a
great variety of colors. Huge patches of
sulphur, some of them still smouldering, are
visible everywhere, Intermingled with the
white steaks of snow and ice that All the
crevices and cover the ledges of the black
rocks.
For a great many years the mountain has
from time to time been systematically mined
for the sulphur deposits. Since the con
quest of the country by Cortes something
like 100,000,000 tons of sulphur have been
taken from the crater. The deposits are
believed to be 1.000 feet deepsand the crater
Aoor covers an area of half a mile. Four
centuries of exploitation do not seem to
have diminished the supply.
The Indian sulphur miners go down by
ladders or are lowered by ropes and wind
lass. The sulphur is taken out by hand
and loaded In bags containing about twenty
tlve pounds of the stuff. These are hauled
up to the crater rim. where other workmen
take two or three of the bags, sit down with
them on a straw mat and shoot down the
snow slopes until they reach the roads be
low. Naturally, this sulphur mining is one
of the most arduous of occupations, because
of the strain placed upon the heart by work
ing in such rarefied air and because pf the
severe exposure to which the workmen are
subjected. f
Rivalry of the God.
Sliding down the sides of Popocatapetl is
all In the day's work now for these Indians,
but there was a time when they would have
thought such conduct highly sacrilegious.
It was all right for Quetzalcoatl to carry on
that way, hut Quetzalcoatl was a king god.
In his reign there was peace and plenty for
all men. There was abundance of corn, ond
cotton grew in all colors, ready for weaving.
You didn't even have to dye It. Quetzalcoatl
was god of the Toltecs and the arch enemy
of Tez-atlipoca, another god. Tezcatlipoca
put the fear of himself In Quetzalcoatl's
heart once, and the Toltec god ran so fast
that he went straight up Popocatapetl and
slid down the other side, on his way to the
sea.
From the summit of Popocatepetl the eye
takes In one of the most magnificent pano
ramas on the North American continent.
The city of Mexico lies to the northwest; ten
miles 'o the north Iztaccihuatl rises 16,000
feet, and three other great peaks, Orizaba,
Xlantecatl and Matlaeueyatl, are clearly vis
ible. The ascent of Iztaccihuatl is much more
difficult than that of Popocatepetl, and It has
not often been accomplished. It has no
crater, and there is no trace of lingering
volcanic heat. This volcano Is believed to
be much older than Its neighbor. It Is linked
to Popocatepetl hy a long saddle over which
Cortes,butlt a military road and along which
he rode to the conquest of the Valley of
Mexico.
Comedy at the Finish.
Director Stanton's farewell dinner to Com
mander Bristol aboard a yacht chartered by
the film company for certain scenes was
really the only breathing spell in all the
veeks the navy was engaged In acting for
the screen. Bristol was accompanied by
two of the Breckinridge's officers Lieut.
Hugo Schmidt and Gunner Edward J. Jar
zembowski and by Lieutenant-Commander
Dashiell of the submarine R-l. While
Stanton acted as host, much comedy relief
vas furnished by Sedgwick, the scenario
writer, who is a 230 pound unterrlfled Tex
an. Camera man Plimpton was Induced to
take part, and he was responsible for the
following mutual congratulations:
Stanton (to Commander Bristol) Com
mander, the words do not exist for an a.! -ouate
expression of my appreciation. How
ever, I am able to utter this much: As
ravel commander you are a marvelous mo
tion picture actor. Consider 'yourself per
manently engaged.
Bristol (to Director Stanton) Richard, s
a motion picture director you are a whale
of a naval commander. Consider yourself
in irons.
Underground Crossing
Like Merry-Go-Round
IN spite of the Improved traffic regulations
for which New York Is noted and per
haps because of the necessary delays
these cause persons crossing congested
streets, new methods or safety for foot
passengers are constantly being devised.
Two methods that have been proposed are
the rotary turntable and the moving under
ground passageway. Both have been de
scrltied and Illustrated by Edwin F. hinder
in Science and Invention.
The rotary turntable is a sort of under
ground merry-go-round. A large circular
platform rotates about a centre post, which
i geared to the driving. mechanism and con
nected to an electric motor. The platform Is
reached from the sidewalks by stairway or
moving incline. Going down to the lower
level by one of these the pedestrian steps
aboard at once, as the edge of the platform
travels slowly, rlose to the corner station.
He steps off as easily as soon as the electric-ally
lighted sign warns him that he has
arrived at such and such avenue or street.
The other device is a moving platform
under the street, electrically lighted and
operated. This platform would carry the
people below the street and across to an
other incline, operating upward to an exit
similarly situated on the opposite side. This
type of conveyor would serve most efficiently
by the construction of eight moving endless
chain platforms, placed In pairs, each work
ing In opposite directions. The four street
corners are thus connected by these sub
surface, passages and as the platform are
kept In motion continually by the electric
motors which drive them there would be no
delay in getting quickly to the other side of
the crossing. At the same time the surface
street would be freed for the use of
cars, &c
. v