AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



327 



''With an innocent fawn I once had the 

 pleasure to establish a friendship; it did 

 not last long, but came to that stage where 

 the little spotted beauty would eat sugar 

 from my palm. I had come to think se- 

 riously of kidnapping my guileless prize, 

 and was doling out a bit of sweet stuff one 

 morning, leaning on my haunches with my, 

 hand extended toward my newly made ac- 

 quaintance, when I was suddently thrown 

 headlong to the ground. I was conscious 

 of a fierce attack from the rear; an attack 

 so sudden and so brutal that I scrambled 

 to my feet, half stunned, to face a full 

 grown doe. her eyes ablaze with in- 

 dignation and her horns lowering for 

 another onslaught. With the instinct of 

 the artist hunter I reached for my cam- 

 era, which swung by a strap from a near- 

 by tree. In my haste I fumbled the strap 

 and the box fell to the ground. At the 

 same instant the irate mother deer came 

 onward with a crash. I darted behind the 

 tree trunk, and the furious animal buried 

 its antlers deep into the trunk, thrusting 

 one hoof at the same moment squarely 

 through the side of my picture machine. 

 With a vicious jerk that made the tree 

 tremble to its roots, the doe extricated her 

 horns from the bark, and, with a snort of 

 mingled defiance and chagrin, plunged into 

 the underbrush to join her bleating off- 

 spring." 



This story would be an unmitigated 

 hair-raiser, but for one thing. It is writ- 

 ten around a picture of a hornless doe, 

 copied without credit or notice of copy- 

 right, from the guide book issued by 

 the New York Zoological Park. So also 

 are "Antelope Suspecting the Presence of 

 a Hunter;" "Elk Photographed in the 

 Open," and others. 



It was naughty of the Metropolitan to 

 omit the copyright notice of the Zoolog- 

 ical Society from such a fine lot of pictures; 

 but to Clarkson Peters who has burst 

 like a Chinese bomb into the ranks of the 

 real photographers of wild animals in 

 their haunts, 1 offer my sincere congratu- 

 lations on his enterprising discovery. May 

 he live long and prosper, and have more 

 adventures: for like Artemus Ward's kan- 

 garoo, he is "a most amoosin' cuss!" 



A COURAGEOUS AMATEUR. 



The photography department is one of 

 the most interesting to me in Recrea- 

 tion. I was always devoted to my rod. 

 gun and wheel, until by accident I lost 

 my left arm. That makes it inconvenient 

 for me to use those implements. How- 

 ever, I can operate a camera with good re- 

 sults, and therefore have turned my at- 

 tention to that work. I prepare my own 



chemicals and do my own finishing. I have 

 made it a careful study during the past 2 

 years, and am now where I can profit by 

 the valuable suggestions and advice to be 

 found in Recreation. In turn, I would 

 cheerfully do what I could to assist any- 

 one to overcome the difficulties of ama- 

 teur photography, especially those I had 

 to contend with. I am proud to say I 

 have mastered many of them, but only by 

 hard work. 



I have noticed that many amateurs are 

 not careful enough with their developer. 

 If we are negligent and careless in han- 

 dling our prints and spoil them, we can 

 readily see where the fault lies; but if our 

 developer is going wrong-, it will some- 

 times fool the best of us. It is, therefore, 

 wise to know our developer. 



Developer is often kept until it becomes 

 old and useless. That is one way in which 

 many a good plate or negative has met its 

 fate. 



This difficulty can be overcome by a 

 simple remedy, and you can have good, 

 clear developer until the last drop is 

 used, no matter if it takes months, or even 

 a year. 



The first step is to use metol hydro- 

 chinon developer, the formula for which 

 comes with nearly all plates. I give below 

 a formula if you wish to make up a small 

 quantity at a time: 



Metol, % ounce, or for V 2 of amt., 60 



grains. 

 Hydiochinon, % ounce, or for l / 2 of amt., 



60 grains. 

 Water, 80 ounces, or for ]/ 2 of amt., 40 



ounces. 

 Crystallized Sulphite of sodium, 4 ounces, 



or for y 2 of amt., 2 ounces. 

 Crystallized Carbonate sodium, 2]/ 2 ounces, 



or for y 2 amt., i}4 ounces. 



The above is double strength. Add wa- 

 ter when using. Dissolve in order given 

 in distilled water or boiled water that has 

 been filtered. 



Insist on having fresh and pure chemi- 

 cals and pure water. Don't think it too 

 much work or trouble to boil a little water 

 or have dishes and bottles clean. Many 

 amateurs overlook these important points 

 and still expect to have good results. 



Second step: When your developer is 

 made, put it into small bottles instead of 

 large ones, if you don't expect to use it 

 all at once. As it is of double strength, 

 4 to 6 ounce bottles will make 8 to 12 

 ounces of developer ready for use. * When 

 using it open only a small quantity at a 

 time, and always have it fresh and clear. 

 The bottles must be filled to the neck, 

 corked tightly and put in a cool place. 

 Thus prepared it will keep indefinitely. 

 O. L. Hower. Milwaukee. Wis, 



