again, placed in an ordinary fixing bath a 
few moments and then well washed. 
By the intelligent use of these methods 
an amateur may vastly improve the quality 
of his work; but I emphasize the fact that 
a correctly exposed and developed negative 
is always to be preferred to one which has 
been doctored. 
C. M. Whitney, Bayonne, N. J. 
CARD TRIES TO BE FUNNY. 
I enclose a photo taken by Miss Pearl 
Cochran, at a distance of 150 feet. Miss 
Cochran lives at Wabana Lake, in Itaska 
County, Minn., 14 miles North of Grand 
Rayids. She and her father and some 
guests were on the lake in a launch when 
on turning a point of land they came in 
sight of these 2 moose, eating on a bog, 
and caught them just as they looked up. 
H. S. Huson, Grand Rapids, Minn. 
The photo you send is truly a remarkable 
picture. If it had been under the circum- 
stances you describe, it would have proved 
of interest to all sportsmen and natural- 
ists; but there is the rub. Please under- 

stand I am not questioning your statement 
in the least, nor any statement made by the 
young lady who took the picture; but it is 
possible that someone may be playing a 
joke on you, or on me. The photo looks 
as if it might have been made from a 
painting; but it may have been from life, 
as you say. If so, the young lady must 
have been at least 125 feet out in reckon- 
ing the distance; for at 150 feet from the 
camera the bull moose could not have 
been more than one inch high on the plate. 
I recently photographed my saddle horse 
at a distance of 12 feet, on a plate the same 
size as the one on which this moose picture 
was made, and he stands 434 inches high 
on the plate. The moose would be prob- 
ably 3 feet taller than the horse, meas- 
uring from the hoofs to the point of his 
horns, and he stands 5% inches on the 
plate; so if this picture is from life he 
could not have been more than 15 feet to 
20 feet from the camera. 
If this picture was made from a paint- 
ing, as I am inclined to believe, then the 
man who made the painting is a master 
artist and I should like to know who he is. 
It looks like the work of Landseer, or Seton, 
or Rungius. Now, my dear sir, I trust 
you will accept these questions in the 
kindly spirit in which they are put to you. 
There are many people who think it fun 
to get a joke on an editor, and many an 
editor has been caught in such traps. Will 
you kindly enlighten me further? 
I beg pardon for having sent the photo- 
graph of the moose, or for having had 
anything to do with it. First, I am inno- 
cent of trying to practice any deception in 
AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 81 
the matter. The story as reported to me 
I wrote you, thinking it would be of in- 
terest to the readers of RecreEaTiIon.. That, 
only, was my motive. I believed the story 
true, and-the picture as true to nature. 
On receipt of your letter, thinking I had 
made a blunder, I immediately drove out to 
Cochran’s place and presented your letter 
to Miss Pearl Cochran. She was surprised 
that I did not know the origin of the pic- 
ture. She informed me that it was taken 
from a label which came on a package of 
goods. The young lady is in no way to 
blame for the circulation of this story. It 
rests entirely with one John H. Card, of 
this place, who was stopping there as a 
guest, and who thought it funny to deceive 
me in this matter. 
This man Card has in the past borne a 
bad reputation as to killing game out of 
season. I issued a warrant some time ago 
for his arrest, but the deputy sheriff, one 
Sawyer, who, by the way, has been dis- 
continued as deputy sheriff, failed to do 
His duty, so Card escaped punishment. He 
has in the past killed both moose and deer 
for lumber camps. 
H. S. Huson, Probate Judge, 
Grand Rapids, Minn. 
Since the foregoing was put in type I 
have learned that the drawing which Miss 
Cochran photographed was made by Carl 
Rungius.—EnIrTor. 

PLATE SOAKING. 
A correspondent writes in RECREATION in 
regard to pin holes and dust. I emphasize 
what he said about using only the best 
brands of plates, but be sure to find out 
which really are the best, choosing brands 
used by professional photographers of good 
standing. 
-After dusting the plate, which must be 
done carefully, dust the plate holder as 
well. When cleaning my camera the other 
day I was surprised to see the quantity of 
dust and dirt that had collected within a 
short time in the inside folds of the bellows. 
The movement of focusing sets all this dust 
in motion, to settle on the plate during ex- 
posure. 
It is not always advisable to soak the 
plates in water before developing; some 
brands of plates may stand it, but others, 
will not. The action of the developer is 
quite different if the plate is first soaked 
in water. The developer does not get down 
into the film in the same way as when 
poured over a dry plate. The water held in 
the film dilutes the developer and renders 
its action slower and less vigorous. I do 
not know of any plate makers who advise 
preliminary soaking. 
The many inquiries for formule of devel- 
opers of all kinds seen in the photographic 
