Blackton, Smith and Rock

In 1897 our nation was about to slowly emerge as a world power. The United States was doing well in its war with spain. In New York City at the Morse building J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith wrote "Tearing Down the Spanish Flag" which was a great success. Motion picture cameras could not get to the front lines of the war . This did not stop Edward Amet. Amet went into making war pictures like the sinking of the Admiral Cervera's fleet in Santiago. I think he was so clever. Amet made the Bay of Santiago in a tub all miniature with all of the ships in great detail. He also put guns on the ship's. They pushed buttons to control the ships and gun movements, and created waves too. He showed the whole Navy battle of Santiago. What a great idea. He took his pictures to the U.S. Naval Training Station in Lake Bluff, Ill. and they were very impressed. I found it amusing and odd.