Dreamland was a theme park at Coney Island, Brooklyn that opened in 1904. One of its major attractions was the stunt spectacular "Fighting the Flames," which simulated a major fire at a six-story hotel and featured a cast of 2000 including 120 firefighters, who had to rescue guests jumping from windows as well as 15 people trapped on the collapsing roof. Ironically, Dreamland itself was destroyed in 1911 in a massive fire.
Scene III of the Buster Brown Series. Shows a bargain counter in a department store and a large gathering of women examining goods. It is a special sale, and a great deal of interest is shown by the ladies, who jostle and crowd each other to secure the choicest bargains. Mrs. Brown enters, accompanied by Buster and Tige. Mrs. Brown is unable to get near the counter and is in despair.
A brief vaudeville-style demonstration of a "Dog Transformator," a machine that instantly turns dogs into sausages, and amazingly, sausages back into dogs.
A boy pulls a prank on his poor old mother.
The subject of this documentary is an orphan asylum for infants. The beginning portion includes the dining facilities for the children. A woman dresses as a nurse leads approximately two hundred small children into the eating area where they stand behind their chairs. At a given signal, each child sits down and begins eating. The remainder of the film is devoted to showing some of the infants, less than a year old, being pushed in baby carriages and bathed, and later having haircuts. All of the children wear similar attire and the nurses wear uniforms. New York City.
Shows a band of mischievous cowboys being chased by Indians. A number of shots are fired at the pursuing Indians by the cow punchers, and the Indians' arrows are seen landing in the water pretty close to the fleeing men.
Mr. Peter Jones has vowed to get married. In his efforts to secure a desirable wife he has inserted some advertisements in the newspapers. So we find him going through hundreds of letters as he thrusts aside disdainfully the greater number of photographs accompanying the answers. One letter finally finds favor in his eyes; the writing is excellent, the phrasing is pleasing and the photograph which he extracts from the envelope shows to him the likeness of a young girl, pretty, smiling, lovely, in every way ideal for a life’s companion. But while he dreams with half-open eyes of the joys in store for him, old Truth comes out of a well in the middle of the room, and she presents to him a mirror in which he may see reality.
A man hides his valuables under his mattress before going to sleep, blissfully unaware of the two burglars on his roof.
A poor family in a rundown house where snow falls through the broken roof, there's no coal to heat the pathetic little stove, mother is sick, father sends daughter out to beg. Rejected by other beggars, the girl collapses in the snow…
1904 journalistic actuality.
In the interior of a small Russian cottage dwells a peasant with the reputation of being able to foretell future events. Alternatively, a Japanese soldier and a Russian General visit him and ask him about the outcome of the war both their countries are engaged at. One after the other, both men are shown visions where their respective countries win, and both give the peasant a big sum of money for his services.
The severe cold of the winter of 1903-04 allowed the rapids of Niagara Falls to freeze over, allowing the brave tourists to enter the chasm and cross to the other side over the formed ice bridge.
A married couple faces the demands of what Theodore Roosevelt called 'the strenuous life'.
A husband rushes for a doctor and his wife has triplets.
A camera moving forward on an overhead crane gives a traveling view of men working on machinery. Carts carrying parts and pieces of machinery pass by on rails; cranes lift machinery; and men perform their various duties, including hammering objects. (Library of Congress)
A family moves out to the 'peaceful' suburbs where everything goes wrong, including the mother-in-law moving in.
It is the birthday of Uncle Rube, a foxy old peasant who has gathered at his table his family and his help, among whom is a sleepy farmhand, a boy just suited for being made fun of by his comrades. The dinner over, Uncle Rube proposes to finish up the day at a cabaret, singing and drinking. The farmhand, already intoxicated quite enough, takes to bed. Stretching himself out as he falls asleep. Uncle Rube and his companions, seeing him asleep, propose to have a little fun at his expense. They balance the bed upon a stool, with a vessel of water at the head as a counterweight. The farmer takes a trumpet and makes some shrill noises which awaken the unfortunate boy, who, breaking the equilibrium, falls head first into the water while his comrades dance around him. Uncle Rube who has taken possession of the clock executes a breakdown. Frightened, amazed, the farmhand falls into a bucket of water from which he is unable to extricate himself.
Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.
A closeup of the steam whistle blowing at the "Westinghouse works" complex of factories in Pennsylvania, probably at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
The adventures of an inattentive man who can't look away from his book.
