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��Popular Science Monthly

��A Machine That Thinks Up Movie Plots

NEARLY every one of us believes that in the back of his brain he has a perfectly good moving picture scenario that awaits only the chance to be flashed upon the screen. He is now given an opportunity to produce, by the demand for scenarios in a field where hundreds of new stories are filmed every week. And now comes an opportunity,

���Turn the handle and new words appear on the face of this machine — words that sug- gest plots for motion picture plays

in the form of a plot manufacturer, for those without ideas, a compact little cardboard box that contains more plots than the moving picture people could use in a hundred years.

The "movie writer as it is called, is exceedingly simple. Arthur F. Blanch- ard, of Cambridge, Mass., who is a Har- vard graduate, is the inventor, and he believes his machine will revolutionize literary art. The device consists of a modest cardboard box six inches long, three inches wid-e and two inches deep. Half a dozen slots are cut in the top sur- face, beneath which revolve spools of paper upon which are printed several thousand scientifically selected words. Handles project from either side which are turned at will.

^ The word in the top slot is an adjec- tive, that in the second a noun, the third a verb. Next comes another noun (the subsidiary character) and then follows a word expressing a denouement. Each knob is given a few twists, either selec- tively or at random, and a complete plot.

��perhaps extravagantly impossible, per- haps hackneyed, or perhaps new and useful, turns up. But at all events there will be a plot. Here are a few samples; imagination must supply the details.

Beautiful, stenographer, bribes, cus- toms officer, adventure, recall.

Benevolent, steward, captures, em- press, aft'air, reflection.

Chivalrous, stranger, dares, governess, alliance, repentance.

Cowardly, author, deceives, editor, anguish, rejection.

Bold, beggar, blackmails, broker, brawl, banishment.

As a toy, the mechanical plot creator also has its uses. With each person at a dinner provided with one of the ma- chines, a story can be started by the first person, the others following in turn, each based upon the preceding one and car- rying the story. It remains to be seen how many successful picture plays re- sult from the use of this invention.

A French Motor-Tricycle Sweeper

JACQUELIN, the French champion cyclist, has conceived the idea of attaching a rotary brush to the back of the motor-tricycle. His novel combina- tion attracts much attention, in operation upon the streets of Paris.

To a light frame, made over steel tubes, the motor-tricycle is attached, and this frame holds the brush and is driven by a chain from the rear axle of the cycle. A basket of the proper shape lies next to the brush so as to receive the sweepings, as the work proceeds.

���That a professional cyclist should have in- vented this street-sweeper is natural. But why use muscle when gasoline motors are cheap?

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