1

Launch of Japanese Man-of-War "Chitosa"

Taken at the docks of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Cal., and shows the launching of this mammoth modern war vessel. The scene opens with a group of three people in the immediate foreground and another group of three just behind them in small row-boats. The large ship slides slowly down the ways, stern first, and the water line showing high up, even exposing the keel under the bow. As the boat floats out of sight another row-boat comes slowly into focus in the left foreground. The small boats rise and fall over the swells created by the launching. Immediately the ship has passed out of sight two of the occupants of the row-boat in the right background are seen to plunge into the water, while more boats come into focus. This is a scene which very few people have an opportunity to witness, and as the picture is very true to life it should prove a subject of great interest to the public. This film is very sharp, with the figures well defined.

Edison 15/03/1898