AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



161 



apart. After having cut off the top and 

 bottom, smooth the edges with a file and 

 the chimney is finished. For dry plates, 

 this is still too strong a light, and must be 

 surmounted by a larger box, the openings 

 of which are covered with ruby glass or 

 fabric. A similar way of cutting bottles is 

 by means of a pointed flame produced by 

 a blow-pipe. A small spot is heated and a 

 drop of water will start a crack. The 

 flame is then applied a little in advance of 

 it, and the crack will slowly follow the 

 flame. By this method many elaborate de- 

 signs can be produced. — Geo. S. Becker, in 

 Western Camera Notes. 



THE COON WAS NOT HARNESSED. 



Oxford, Md. 

 Editor Recreation : 



Mr. Homer G. Gosney, in May Recrea- 

 tion, complains because his woodcock pic- 

 ture did not receive higher consideration 

 by the judges in your late photo contest, 

 and seems to blame you. He disclaims 

 any desire for a higher prize, yet seems 

 dissatisfied because he did not get one. I 

 am glad to have friend Gosney give an 

 honest opinion of my efforts at amateur 

 photography, but when his observations 

 are false as to matters of fact, I request 

 a small space to refute these reflections, 

 as many of my friends are regular readers 

 of Recreation. 



In criticising the picture "Besieged," Mr. 

 Gosney calls attention to a "string, or 

 rope," which, he claims is tied to the coon's 

 collar. That is not true. No string or 

 rope hampered the movements of this un- 

 fortunate raccoon. He was caught with 

 coon dogs, the same as any other coon, 

 and as shown in the picture, along a shore 

 familiar, no doubt, to all his ancestors. If 

 the water was not sufficiently "choppy" to 

 meet Mr. Gosney's ideas, it was the fault 

 of the wind and not of the camera. 



I send you by express the negative from 

 which the picture "Besieged" was made, 

 that you may pass your own judgment as 

 to whether the coon was tied and the string 

 held by a man on the bank, and whether 

 the water effect is not fully shown in the 

 development of the plate. 



The scratch on one end of the negative 

 was made after exposure and before de- 

 velopment, in an effort to get the plate out 

 of the plate holder with the point of a 

 small knife blade. The plate simply stuck 

 in the holder and was scratched in the 

 effort to pry it out. 



J. E. Tylor. 



I have examined the negative carefully, 

 under a powerful glass, and emphatically 

 endorse all Mr. Tylor says of it. There is 

 no evidence in it of any string having been 



used. There is a scratch in the film which 

 was no doubt made with a knife as stated. — 

 Editor. 



Mr. Gosney asked your readers to judge 

 the 3 pictures. He did not give justice to 

 the picture entitled "Besieged." If the 

 coon had been held by a rope would the 

 cord stand out straight or would it be 

 slack? This scratch on the photo, for that, 

 is what it appears to be, is out straight. 



Did you ever approach the nest of a. 

 woodcock and see it slanting the way Mr. 

 Gosney's picture shows it? His picture 

 looks as if he were right up on the bird. 

 Would that bird stay there while Mr. Gos- 

 ney got his camera in order? The birds, 

 are sensitive about being approached. 



F. A. Greenhawk, Easton, Md. 



SILHOUETTES BY PHOTOGRAPHY. 



There is a considerable advantage to 

 be derived from studying silhouettes which 

 is hard to find in the detailed picture. 

 If one really wishes to impress the mem- 

 ory of a friend's face indelibly on the 

 mind a study of the silhouette is a neces- 

 sary preliminary. There we find certain 

 characteristics all separated from the con- 

 fusing details and in the outlines of several 

 silhouette poses we secure truths that are 

 worth study. 



If only desired for the mere fun of the 

 thing photographic silhouettes are cer- 

 tainly worth anyone's while and will be 

 found easy to make and entertaining. 

 I have an album of these pictures on a 

 table in the reception room and can always 

 depend on it to while away a little time 

 in entertaining a caller who may be ac- 

 quainted with some of the originals of 

 my silhouettes. Guessing who's who is no 

 end of fun sometimes, though as a rule 

 silhouettes are about as easy to recog- 

 nize as the best likenesses. The only 

 way they may be made doubtful enough 

 to guess about is by using odd poses — 

 not always a profile or profile groups. 



The best silhouette that can be made 

 is made by photography. It is far in ad- 

 vance of anything that can be cut out of 

 black paper, I care not how deft the hand, 

 for it is truer and has far more in it. At- 

 tempt to cut out a figure from a print 

 and then blacken it. The result will not 

 have all those little touches that can not be 

 done with scissors, and though good 

 it will not compare with a photographic 

 silhouette. 



I do not know that I follow the most 

 approved means of obtaining my silhou- 

 ettes, but it does nicely nevertheless and 

 I will describe it. 



I simply pose my subject in the window, 

 a sunny one, draw the white curtain, ex- 

 pose a back plate i-io second and develop 

 with a developer to which extra alkali 



