Le Zoegraph de Thomas James West (Union Street Hall, 24 mars 1897)

EXHIBITION OF ANIMATED PHOTOGRAPHS AND "X" RAYS.-The "Modern Marvel Compagny" gave an instructive display of the "Zoegraph" among other limelight exhibits in Union Street Hall on Wednesday evening. The effect of passing the photographic films at the same fractional part of a second as the exposures were made in the camera, behind the lens of the lantern (which is the modus operandi of this instrument), caused a marvellously animated reproduction of life to be thrown on the screen. The first series represented the arrival of the Paris express, when one saw the train rushing up the platform, passengers descending and entering, the shutting of the doors, etc., in a manner calculated to inspire awe in the ordinary observer. Several marine views were cast on the canvas, and the rise and fall of the swell and the lapping of the tide on the tide on the beach were highly realistic. Every scene was full of life and action -so true to nature, indeed, that the impression was as if one were looking on the reality through a mirror. A garden scene was particularly realistic. While a gardener was plying his hose among flowers and shrubs, a tricky boy was observed slipping up from the background and annoy the gardener by screwing off the water. The man set after the youth immediately, and, dragging him back to the hose, gave him, to the great amusement of the audience, such a sousing with the water (not to mention a well-aimed parting kick) that the culprit looked more like a half drowned cat when he got clear than any member of the human species. Another striking picture was a scene of a charge of cavalry, lasting from the time the troop appeared as a speck on the horizon to the rush past, and among others worthy of note were the "Vanishing Lady," the "Lightning Artist," and, above all, the "Serpentine Dance"- as vivid and attractive as if (to quote the lecturer) the audience saw them on "the stage of the Alhambra." At the close, a séance took place, at which an exhibition of the Rontgen rays elicited great wonderment. A professional gentleman in the audience put his hand in front of the screen, when it was discovered that the bone of his middle finger was unduly large. This, the gentleman himself explained, was due to a joint enlargement. Interesting and instructive as all these illustrations were, the benefit derived from them was greatly enhanced by the remarks of the lecturer-Mr. T. J. West. this gentleman, who is not altogether a stranger to Cupar (having visited the town previously in connection with other touring companies), has lectured twenty-nine times before Royalty, and shewed by his intelligent observation and graceful delivery that his reputation as a lecturer is based on no meretricious claims. The Modern Marvel Company, it may be added, is organized by one of the largest Syndicates going, with great wealth at its back. Its mission is to buy up every noteworthy invention or discovery capable of exhibition, and to tour round the country giving representations of them along with oral explanations. The entertainment thus becomes not merely a pleasure for sight seers, but a positive instruction to all interested in modern developments in every field of labour.

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St Andrews Citizen, Cupar, samedi 27 mars 1897, p. 5.