Lucille Jacobs, of Ladysmith, in a letter to Beaulah Pearson, wrote that she (Lucille) recalled the Gem Theatre was 'across the street from the Gerard Hotel and across from the old Unique Theatre, next to Al Sabin's house, currently a bowling alley.' The problem is that she recalls the Gem Theatre as being in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Ms Jacobs also recalled the conversation she had with a man on a passenger ferry between Prince Rupert BC and Ketchikan AK (when Anne lived there). This man said to her, "I see you were born in Chetek, Wisconsin. I was born in Cameron, Wisconsin. I just wondered if you remembered my dad showing moving pictures in a tent in Ladysmith" Ms Jacobs said she did remember the moving pictures but didn't recall the man's name. She wrote that the Gem building is still there, near Ruth McDonald's, owned by the VFW, and in excellent condition, including a new heating plant. (Personal correspondance, 3 February 1972).

John Myrman told a story on himself and revealed an important piece of family lore. He recalled that Eli Nelson would go fishing on Lake Wissota near Ladysmith during the winters. Once, while Eli was gone, John replaced Eli's minnows with wieners, enabling Eli to catch a beautiful 14 pound Northern the next morning. "He never knew who put the wieners on the hooks. That fish bit the index finger on his left hand which caused a stiff joint, so Eli could no longer play the violin." (Personal correspondance, 27 January 1972)

That little bit of history confirms Eli's interest in the violin, and verified his brother Enon's hatred for the instrument. Eli's violin practices caused conflict with his little brother, Enon, who had to complete Eli's chores for him. Perhaps this contributed to my grandmother's dislike for violin music (personal conversation, ca. 1965).

According to Rosemary Olson, Eli Nelson lived at 940 North Bridge Street, in Chippewa Falls. It was on that same fact finding trip in 1990 with my wife that I found in literally five minutes, out of thousands of documents at the Court House, Eli's Death Certificate, and knowledge that his daughter lived in Missouri. (Personal conversation, Aug. 1990)

The nation's oldest surviving movie theatre, the old Robey, was still in business in West Virginia as recently as May, 1993. (Beatrice Neb. Daily Sun, 22 May 1993)

In searching for information on the silent film era, I spoke by telephone with Dan Malkames, New York City, who at the time owned the world's largest private collection of movie equipment and films. He sold me several pieces of equipment to help complete my silent film projector system. Mr. Malkames was a friend of Tom Mix and had had lunch with Dorothy and Lillian Gish (Personal conversation, 9 March 1972).

Carbon-arc Electric (AC) Lamphouse

This view shows a closeup of the carbon arcs at 90 degrees to each other. This primitive system produces a hot, slightly flickering light, which is projected out the front (right) of the lamphouse, towards the Edison Improved Exhibition Model Projecting Kinetoscope. Notice that the carbons can be safely adjusted using the brown control knob (left).

The most recent exhibition of the PK will be seen at the top of the list.

In late September 2012 at DobbyTown in Alliance, Nebraska, the PK was once again on display for folks' inspection. The silent film THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY was exhibited on 22 September 2012 to an enthusiastic crowd. Please return to this location for an update on the presentation and new parts being found for lighting, etc. Here's a link to the 2012 poster.

Here's the link to the edited B&W silent video of THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY as seen most recently. This 352 x 288 pixels clip runs 4:55. Enjoy.

In the What's New department, a new, more modern lighting system for the lamp house is under development. While the carbon arc lighting system will remain the backbone of the lighting system, modern lamps provide more reliable service. A 1000 watt F E L Osram Sylvania and TP220 socket are being tested as alternative lighting. Stay tuned for more on this. Suggestions as to modern lighting can be sent here.

Readers of this web page will be pleased to learn that the PK has recently appeared in public at the Dobby Town Fall (northern hemisphere case) Festival in Alliance, Nebraska, in September 2003, September 2004 and September 2005. Details of these public showings will appear here in the fullness of time. An authentic Grizold 35mm film splicer and film restoration fluid were purchased in 2004. Thanks to Dennis Lee for his assistance in procuring a solid state power supply for the lamphouse and rewiring the power leads prior to the 2005 showing in Alliance.

Also in 2004-2005, the provenance for this silent film project was digitized (some 2.3 Gb of data); a summary of that work appears here for the first time.

Here's another view of the carbon arc lamphouse, showing the carbon rods and the condensing lens on the front of the lamphouse.

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A Family Mystery

Who was the Mystery Woman who appeared among my grandfather's private papers and photos? The photos were taken in the Yellowstone Park area, ca. 1903 - 1909 and one looks remarkably like the heroine of the movie THE GIRL FROM MONTANA, copyright 14 March 1907. (Kent Niver The First Twenty Years, (c) 1968, pg. 113) These films were made by William N. Selig of Los Angeles, who fled Chicago to avoid Edison's process servers.

Enon Nelson worked at Yellowstone National Park as a carpenter and plumber for the railroad company, during the winter of 1902-03, building Old Faithful Inn. We have rare photos of the construction at Yellowstone, but that's another story! Byron Nelson also recalled having been bored to tears as a teenager as his Dad and a good friend near Livingston MT, told hours of raucous stories and laughed until they were hoarse. Who was this friend from the early years of the century? Although it was true that Enon worked for a time at Yellowstone, his son, Byron Nelson, confirmed that his Dad "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." (Personal conversation, ca. 1967)

In December 1971, I wrote to the Herald - Telegraph, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, to ask their readers if they'd heard of the Gem Theatre or any of the names mentioned in the newspaper clipping. In January 1972, John Myrman of Chetek WI sent me the DIETZ BATTLE OF CAMERON DAM film flyer, illustrated here. He was given the flyer by Stanley Carlson in 1922. Mr. Myrman stated that my grandfather's brother, Eli, showed this film throughout the upper midwest, ca. 1915 - 1920s.

In November 1971, Leah Burt, Assistant Archivist at the Edison National Historic site, sent me photocopies of Edison Kinetoscope owner's manuals, which enabled me to determine what parts were still missing. It appears to be the Improved Exhibition Model, without automatic shutter. (Personal correspondance, 10 November 1971). The price was $180.00, complete system with Economy Transformer (which is no where to be seen).

In numerous letters and in personal conversation, I learned that the Edison PK machine had a '30 day' single pin movement, which would wear out in a month due to the fact that it wasn't encased in an oil bath, as were later models. (Personal correspondance with Harold Neumann, 11 September 1971). He owned a mint condition 1911 print of D.W. Griffith's HIS TRUST.

In July of 1997, I visited the Cameron WI Public Library in search of information regarding the silent film DIETZ BATTLE. I stopped in Cameron to determine the location of Cameron Dam. Imagine my surprise when the librarian, Patti Becker, said, "You mean the Dietz Battle book, don't you?" "No", said I. "I refer to the Dietz Battle silent film." "Oh", said she. "I didn't realize there was a film." "Oh", says I. "I didn't realize there was a book." So, we exchanged our information. I scanned the book, and determined that the site of the Cameron Dam wasn't closeby. I gave her a photocopy of the DIETZ BATTLE film flyer.

The book, John F. Dietz Defender of Cameron Dam on Thornapple River, was written by Malcolm Rosholt and published in 1974. Mr. Rosholt lives in Rosholt WI. He confirmed meeting Eli Nelson, probably in the early 1960s, and being invited to view the film DIETZ BATTLE OF CAMERON DAM. Mr. Rosholt was conducting research for his book, but was unable to stay to see the silent film, which is apparently lost. A descendant of John Dietz lives in Boca Raton, Florida. The last remaining daughter married a fellow in Texas. The Winter WI Gazette reprinted the Dietz story a few years ago. Newly found notes of our telephone conversation :
I called him on 14 June 1998 to discuss DIETZ BATTLE OF CAMERON DAM. He said WI Gov. Blaine was part of this history. Dietz' daughter was very proud, had a diary, lived in TX. John Dietz is buried in Rice lake. His son lives in Milwaukee, John Dietz III or IV lives in Boca Raton FL. Malcolm told me that the Winter WI newspaper, The Gazette, reprinted the story. Malcolm discussed his time in China. He also said a man came to visit in the 1960s and said he had an old movie about the dam. This was when Malcolm was researching for his DIETZ BATTLE book. (Personal conversation, 14 June 1998). My efforts to contact the Dietz family for their comments continue. In 2004 I re-read Rosholt's book, thanks to the SCC Beatrice librarians who found it through inter-library loan.