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Animated Pictures 339 Frenchman. Why not acquire or erect a building solely for the animated photographs, and devote the whole programme to the picture turn ? He decided to make the experiment, and forthwith opened a palace exclusively for animated pictures. The idea caught on instantly. The public flocked to the new form of evening’s entertainment, and, what was more, packed the house every hour it was open. Fellow- citizens were not slow to observe the fortune which their enterprising comrade was acquiring so rapidly, and forthwith picture palaces sprang up like magic, not only in Paris, but throughout the whole country. The new craze crossed the Channel and conquered these islands just as completely. Then it seized the American people. The idea in those days was to convert empty shops into picture palaces. The cost of the transformation was small, necessitating a few dark curtains, seats, white screen, and a projector. Humble charges for admission became the rule in order to attract the masses. The demand for empty shops became insatiable, and in the American towns it was by no means uncommon to see a dozen or more of these converted amusement halls in a short street, all showing to full capacity throughout ten hours of the day. Then disused railway arches, forlorn fac- tories—indeed, any building capable of being con- verted into a picture palace was taken and adapted to the new craze. The next step was the acquisition of larger buildings, to gut their interior, leaving only the four walls and roof standing, and then to intro- duce seating capacity to the best advantage. While this move was in full swing more ambitious entrepreneurs sought more attractive pastures. Here