Scenes and incidents, Russo-Japanese peace conference, Portsmouth, N.H. /

Scenes from the 1905 peace conference between the Russian and Japanese Governments, mediated by the U.S. Government at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt. Scenes of the dignitaries and celebrities who are part of the conference include travel between Oyster Bay, New York and Portsmouth. The Japanese, then the Russian, delegations, including envoys Count Vitte, Baron Rosen, and Marquis Jutarō Komura depart, from the foot of 23rd Street, at the East River, the wharf of the New York Yacht Club for Oyster Bay, Long Island on August 5. The Japanese delegation boards two U.S. Navy launches. The Russian delegation is greeted by third assistant secretary of state Herbert H.D. Pierce. The last two men walking down the ramp are Witte (the tallest) and Rosen, and other members of the Russian delegation board another launch. The launches are taken to ships and then to Oyster Bay to confer with President Theodore Roosevelt.
On August 9, first the Russian and then the Japanese delegations are received by Rear Admiral William W. Mead, commanding officer of the Portsmouth Navy Yard, and staff at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. Baron Kogoro Takahira is the Japanese Ambasador to the United States. On August 8, a street procession follows the arrival of the envoys Portsmouth. The parade includes the New Hampshire National Guard, with the Russians in the first carriage, and the Japanese in the second. The officials arrive at Rockingham County Court House in Portsmouth. Members of the delegations depart from the Hotel Wentworth in Newcastle, N.H. by automobile for the first conference in the negotiations, with the Japanese in the first car, and the Russians in the second.
H64509 U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 14Aug05; H64509.
Cameraman, Edwin S. Porter.
Appearing: Marquis Jutarō Komura, Baron Kogoro Takahira, Graf Sergeĭ I︠U︡lʹevich Witte, Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen, Herbert H.D. Pierce, Admiral William Mead.
Duration: 3:48 (part 1), 3:32 (part 2), 4:23 (part 3), 2:04 (part 4) at 16 fps.
According to the Edison films catalog, July 1906, the film was also available by each of five separate scenes listed in the contents note.
Paper print shelf number (LC 2737) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
Titles added to 16 mm. viewing print at time of restoration by Renovare; title for "Procession" does not appear on print.
Incomplete: 35 mm. viewing print and dupe neg pic: all titles and first two episodes lacking; last two episodes appear in reverse order.
Photographed in Oyster Bay, New York, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from August 5-9, 1905.
Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as digital files.
Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Niver, K.R. Early motion pictures, p. 288; American Film Institute catalog, film beginnings, 1893-1910, A.13747; Horwitz and Harrison, The George Kleine Collection...catalog, p. 115-116; Edison films catalog, July 1906, p. 1.
Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.
The George Kleine Collection of early motion pictures in the Library of Congress : a catalog / prepared by Rita Horwitz and Harriet Harrison with the assistance of Wendy White. Library of Congress, 1980.