REFUGEE SKETCHES - 1914 - Edwin Thanhouser

Edwin Thanhouser (November 11, 1865-March 21, 1956) was an actor, businessman, and film producer, most notable as a founder of the Thanhouser Company, along with his wife Gertrude Thanhouser and brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan.

The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was a motion picture studio founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser (November 11, 1865 - March 21, 1956), Gertrude Thanhouser (April 23, 1882 - May 29, 1951) and Lloyd Lonergan (March 3, 1870 - April 6, 1937).

MR. THANHOUSER'S SKETCH

Mr. Edwin Thanhouser, of New York City, tells just a few words. He said:

The tragedy of it all came upon me in one brief second. One morning early, I stood at my bedroom window in Argentière watching a troop train pull out. The recruits shouted the Marseillaise with tremendous enthusiasm. The ardor with which they sang thrilled me through and through. Then suddenly, while their shouting still echoed in the distance, I heard a great wail below me and looking down, I saw the mother and sister of one of those boys sobbing as if their hearts would break. Never before have I experienced such a dramatic effect,—first the song and then the sob. It was tragic.