to make a print of them the rest of the picture must be masked in some
way, or else it will be very much overprinted. One way of masking the
part which prints too quickly is to cut out of opaque paper a piece
which will cover the landscape part, following the outline along the
horizon as carefully as possible, and place it over the landscape till
the sky is printed; then remove and print the landscape part. Unless
this mask is adjusted with the greatest care, there will either be a
white line along the horizon or else a heavy black one, according
whether the paper overlapped or did not quite cover the line. A much
easier way to make the two printings is to take a plate-box cover the
size of the negative, mark the outline of the horizon on it and cut away
the pasteboard, and print with this over the negative in the same way as
for the vignetting. When the sky is printed deep enough, remove the
cover and print the rest of the picture.
The openings for vignetting may be cut in any shape desired--oval,
pear-shape, round, triangle, etc.
SIR KNIGHT HARRY PATTY, of California, sends a long list of
questions, which we will try to answer to his satisfaction. Is it
better to take portraits out-of-doors in the shade, or is the light
more easily controlled in the house; should the light fall on the
sitter from his left or right side, or is it immaterial; what would
be the best arrangement of light in a bay-window with three
windows, the window being shaped like the half of an octagon; what
are the best colors for plain light and dark backgrounds, and what
material; is the flannel sheet mentioned in No. 806 white, and
would a white blanket do as well; are backgrounds always placed
obliquely to the lens, and at what angle; how near the camera
should the sitter look for a full face; should the eyes ever look
at the lens; how much above the sitter's head should the camera be
placed; what diaphragm should be used for a portrait; what method
is used for marking stops; how can one vignette heads; what
developer gives the best printing density for portraits; does metol
give flat negatives; should one use the quickest plate for
portraits; and which is the best of the Seed plates. It is easier
for the amateur to make portraits out-of-doors than in the house.
The article referred to gives directions for managing the light
in-doors. When making portraits out-of-doors it is better to
arrange the background, etc., in the angle of a building, as this
gives a more artistic picture than where the sitter is exposed to
the full light. It is immaterial which side the light falls on the
sitter. The window next to the sitter in the bay-window described
should be darkened, and the lower part of the other two windows. If
the sitter is an adult, and can keep still for three or four
seconds, it is better to cover the glass with thin white muslin, as
this gives a soft even light. The flannel sheet is white or ecru,
and a blanket would do as well. It should be far enough away from
the sitter to be out of focus. The best colors for a light
background are a yellow, white, or light gray, and for dark a soft
dull gray. The background is arranged to suit the picture, and is
not always placed obliquely. If the sitter looks just to one side
of the camera it would give a good position for a full face. One
should never look directly at the lens but just above or at one
side. A medium stop is the best to use for portraits; stops will be
explained in a later article; an article on "Vignetting" appears
this week; most professional photographers prefer pyro; metol
should give fine negatives; a medium-slow plate is best for
portraits--try Cramer Banner; the non-halation Seed's are fine
plates. The camera should be on a line just above the head of the
sitter, with the lens at a slight angle. This is said to give a
more equal focus.
SIR KNIGHT J. L. GOODMAN asks if he can salt the paper for plain
paper; if the ammonia is the same as that used for washing or
household purposes; and how to vignette a photograph. Directions
for salting paper will be found in No. 881 of the ROUND TABLE.
Ammonia for photographic purposes should be free from impurities,
and the household ammonia is therefore not suitable. Buy the strong
liquid ammonia at the druggists (liquor ammonia fort.), and dilute
it at once with an equal amount of water, and keep it in a
glass-stoppered bottle. An article on "Vignetting" appears this
week.
WALTER BAKER & CO., LIMITED.
Established Dorchester, Mass., 1780.
Breakfast Cocoa
[Illustration]
Always ask for Walter Baker & Co.'s
Breakfast Cocoa
Made at
DORCHESTER, MASS.
It bears their Trade Mark
"La Belle Chocolatiere" on every can.
Beware of Imitations.
Postage Stamps, &c.
=STAMPS.=--100 var., 15c.; 200, 45c.; 300, $1.00; 400, $1.75; 500, $2.50;
750, $5; 1000, $7; 600 asst., 30c.; 1000 asst., 35c. All contain Timor,
Benin, Ching-Kiang, Bosnia, Eritrea, Holkar, San Marino, Tunis. Agents
wanted; large com.; ref. required; list free. J. T. STARR STAMP CO.,
Coldwater, Mich.
[Illustration: STAMPS]
100, all dif., & fine =STAMP ALBUM=, only 10c.; 200, all dif., Hayti,
Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Agents wanted at 50 per cent. com. List FREE!
=C. A. Stegmann=, 5941 Cote Brilliant Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
STAMPS
=10= stamps and large list =FREE!=
L. DOVER & CO., 1469 Hodiamont, St. Louis, Mo.
STAMPS on Approval! 50% disct. _List free._
W. C. Shields, 80 Sorauren Ave., Toronto, Canada.
[Illustration: THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]
Hold their place in the front rank of the publications to which they
belong.--_Boston Journal_, Feb. 19, 1896.
HARPER'S
PERIODICALS
MAGAZINE, $4.00 A YEAR
WEEKLY, $4.00 A YEAR
BAZAR, $4.00 A YEAR
ROUND TABLE, $2.00 A YEAR
[Illustration: PISO'S CURE FOR CONSUMPTION]
CURES WHERE ALL ELSE FAILS,
Best Cough Syrup. Tastes Good. Use
in time. Sold by druggists.
This is for Butterfly Collectors.
You say, "Some prefer to set insects on pins arranged to show their
colors to the best advantage, but this is not so good a plan from a
scientific point of view." Do you mean that you do not advise us to
transfix the butterflies on pins? What should we use in place of
pins? Is there any cure for "mites" besides camphor? How can you
protect your specimens from ants? Is not chloroform as effective
and less dangerous than the cyanide of potassium as a killing
agent? When you go butterfly-hunting in the country, is there any
particular box to keep them in until you get home? Must the
contents of the bodies of the big moths and butterflies be taken
out? Must their proboscis be stretched before they are stiff?
ELIZABETH CASTLES.
NEW ORLEANS, LA.
The very best plan is to raise your butterflies from the caterpillar.
Then you get the best specimens--best in plumpness and in color. In
arranging them in a collection, use the pins, of course. What we meant
to say is that arranging them in the form of stars, crosses, etc., is
not the best from a scientific point of view, because when so arranged
they are distributed according to color. It is better to arrange by
groups, male and female, egg, caterpillar, pupa, and cocoon if it makes
one.
Camphor is the best for mites and ants. Used freely, it ought to prevent
both. Chloroform is not as good as cyanide of potassium. The latter need
not be dangerous. To carry your butterflies home in, some provide a tin
box, light, with plenty of light cotton for packing. Contents of bodies
cannot be taken out and the fly preserved in good shape. The proboscis
should be stretched before the fly is stiff. When putting on the
fastening-board, get into as natural position as possible. Self-reared
butterflies should be killed as soon as their wings are expanded and
they are perfectly dry.
* * * * *
An Arizona Indian Delicacy.
Are you interested in a description of a great delicacy of the
Hualapai Indiana, called the "army worm"? Since the heavy rains in
this part of Arizona the Hualapai Valley has been covered with a
species of worms called the army worm--I suppose because they
travel in regular armies. They are from two to four inches in
length, and of a yellow-green color. The Indians go out in the
valley in parties to gather them. Each member of the party--the
party is mostly made up of squaws--has a basket on her back. She
first selects a spot where the worms are quite plentiful, then sits
down and goes to work.
She picks up a worm between her thumb and forefinger, gives a shake
of her wrist to break its neck, and then throws it into her basket.
When she has her basket full she comes back to town. She takes a
kettle of boiling water, drops the worms in one by one, and then
strings them on a string and hangs them up to dry. When they are
perfectly dry the feast commences. They say they taste just like
fish, but I am willing to take Indian evidence for that.
FRANKIE L. POTTS, R.T.L.
KINGMAN, ARIZ.
* * * * *
DEAR ROUND TABLE.--In the issue of August 11, I saw a very
interesting account of the "American Thermopylæ," but as it is
probable that an injustice was done therein to the memory of Moses
Rose, I determined to write to the Table concerning what I know of
the affair. The gentleman who told me the story had heard it, I
believe, from an intimate friend of James Bowie's.
The last fatal days of the Alamo had come, and all knew that they
must die sooner or later. When the line was drawn, all crossed it
but Rose, who said:
"Men, I have determined to escape from this trap. I can speak the
Mexicans' language, and if I get away I will send help; if not, _to
die is as little as any of us can do_."
They all shook hands with him warmly, bidding him godspeed, and he
started on his perilous way. Fortunately he managed to elude the
enemy; but the whole night he ran on, over the immense
prickly-pears and cacti, in his bare feet; and when, at daybreak,
he reached a friendly camp and fell insensible, it was hours before
all the huge thorns which had penetrated his flesh could be
extracted. Two days passed before his consciousness returned, and
then his first words were, "Did you send them help?" Alas! they had
known nothing of the pressing danger, and in that short while the
American Thermopylæ had been accomplished.
A story is current upon the Mexican border that James Bowie was
dying at the time the foes broke into the Alamo. His room was so
situated that he could see everything that happened in the large
hall; and when the Mexicans had despatched all the other defenders
of the garrison, they made a rush for him. Bowie sprang up from his
bed, and killed fourteen men in the doorway with his terrible
knife, and then slowly backed toward the farther wall, a revolver
in either hand, bringing down an enemy with each shot. When his
ammunition had been exhausted he fell heavily from weakness, and it
is claimed that he was dead when the enemy reached him. How much
truth there is in this last story, however, I am unable to say.
V. BOWIE.
* * * * *
Kinks.
No. 37.--MATHEMATICAL RIDDLE.
A man being asked how far it was to a certain city, repeated the
familiar ditty:
"Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,"
and said he had answered the question. Had he, and how far was it?
* * * * *
No. 38.--DIAMOND.
A letter. A contest. Flourishes. Despoils. To get again. Immovable. A
letter.
* * * * *
No. 39.--A DESCRIPTION IN VERSE.
For strength a very Hercules,
Emblem of endless motion,
And formed of what we know as well
As sailors know the ocean.
Man may control but not defy,
For at its mercy man must die.
* * * * *
No. 40.--THREE EASY WORD-SQUARES.
1.--1. A cardinal's cap. 2. A dwelling. 3. Colophony. 4. A proclamation.
5. Portable lodges.
2.--1. A tine. 2. A runner. 3. A yellow pigment. 4. An organ of
sensation. 5. A grassy plot.
3.--1. Keen. 2. To revere. 3. To fish for. 4. Revolves. 5. A crowd.
VINCENT V. M. BEEDE.
* * * * *
Answers to Kinks.
No. 33.
Solution of cross-word enigma.--Central column of acrostic, _Cockade
City_. Cross-words of acrostic: 1. Bracing. 2. Brooded, 3 Brocade. 4.
Bookish. 5. Bleared. 6. Bordure. 7. Boneset. 8. Beechen. 9. Basinet. 10.
Banters. 11. Brayles.
* * * * *
No. 34.
Parthenope.--1. A siren who, having failed to win the love of Ulysses,
threw herself into the sea. 2. A Crustacean of the Indian Ocean. 3. One
of the Asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.
* * * * *
No. 35.--A FLEET OF SHIPS.
1. Friendship. 2. Hardship. 3. Lordship. 4. Ownership. 5. Worship. 6.
Mastership. 7. Guardianship. 8. Authorship. 9. Ambassadorship. 10.
Dictatorship. 11. Judgeship. 12. Scholarship. 13. Horsemanship. 14.
Apostleship. 15. Stewardship. 16. Tutorship. 17. Apprenticeship. 18.
Penmanship. 19. Partnership. 20. Generalship.
* * * * *
No. 36.--TWO GOOD ANAGRAMS.
1. Alexander Hamilton. 2. Toussaint l'Ouverture.
* * * * *
For Amateur Journalists.
Mr. W. S. Beattie, 651 Madison Avenue, New York, says: "I extend an
invitation to all amateur journalists throughout the United States, and
also those in foreign countries, to aid me in compiling a 'History of
Amateur Journals and Journalists.' Anybody who at any time controlled or
contributed to an amateur paper is asked to send me a copy of such
paper, or of any amateur paper they know of, together with the following
information: When established? Number of pages? Average circulation? By
whom established? When circulation was discontinued, if at all, and
where was it published? Correspondents will kindly enclose stamp if an
answer is needed."
William Saam, 1708 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, wants to receive copies
of amateur papers, and he desires to edit a department.
* * * * *
Questions and Answers.
Henry W. Hill, who lives in Columbus, O., writes to know the cost of
attending the Eastern colleges per year, saying that he gets the
impression, from reading the newspaper accounts of football, baseball,
and other games, and the list of sons of wealthy parents who attend
these colleges, that they are intended mainly for the well-to-do, and
that young men of moderate means or of no means are practically cut off
from attending them. He especially asks the status of the poor student
at Harvard or Pennsylvania. "Is he left severely alone?"
It is easy to suppose that a reading of the newspaper news concerning
Eastern colleges would give the impressions here outlined. And yet we
are sure that such impressions are not intended to be conveyed by the
writers of the news. Let it be distinctly stated, and with emphasis,
that the great majority of students at all Eastern colleges, and Western
ones too, are sons of poor parents. There is no social exclusion of a
poor man because he is poor--none at all. And this is emphatically true
at all the colleges. In response to our inquiry, a member of the Faculty
of one of the leading universities wrote thus: "Here is an average
student. He maintains a creditable standing in his class, and finds time
to play football, or the game his fancy dictates. He becomes acquainted
with all members of his class, and many besides, and forms numerous warm
friendships. He may take college honors, and is likely to receive honors
on class-day. His life on the campus, in the class room, on the
athletic-field, and at his boarding-club is taken as the measure of his
real worth, and length of purse and of ancestry are of equally small
value. And he lives comfortably on $500 a year."
Three recent Princeton classes, including honor men, were asked to give
their personal expense accounts. Their replies show from $250 to $700 a
year, with an average of $442.68. One student gives his account in
detail thus: Dues, games, newspapers, $25; Books, $20; Car fare, $15;
Clothes, $50; Current expenses, $50; and College bills, $240. Total
$400.
F. C. Bears.--The origin of the term "blue stocking" is given by Brewer
as follows: A woman's club met at the house of a Mrs. Montague, in
London. Men were admitted, although it was a woman's gathering. One of
the regular attendants was a Mr. Benjamin Stillingfleet, and he always
wore blue stockings. It was one hundred years or more ago, when
knee-breeches were in vogue, and the bright blue lower-leg coverings
were conspicuous. Hence the name.
The New York Stock Exchange, dear Sir John L. M. Taylor, is a private
not a public institution, and is maintained by fees assessed upon its
members. It is not the same as the Produce Exchange and the Consolidated
Exchange, which have members and buildings of their own. Peter
Lindbloom, Baltimore.--The Table regrets it cannot undertake an
elaborate explanation of the silver and gold question as you ask it to
do. Apply to Congressional Campaign Committee, Washington. D. C., or to
State or National Campaign Committee of either party. Simply write a
letter containing a brief statement of what documents you desire. They
are usually sent free.
[Illustration: STAMPS]
This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin
collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question
on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address
Editor Stamp Department.
The new Trinidad stamps are on the market, and make a handsome set. The
central figure is Britannia, and the values are printed in different
colors.
1/2 penny, mauve, value in green.
1 penny, mauve, value in red.
2-1/2 penny, mauve, value in blue.
4 penny, mauve, value in orange.
5 penny, mauve, value in mauve.
6 penny, mauve, value in black.
1 shilling, green, value in red.
5 shilling, green, value in vermillion.
10 shilling, green, value in blue.
1 pound, green, value in red.
The last three are double the size of the smaller values.
The proposed New York Philatelic Club house is still in the air. Over
one hundred subscriptions of $25 each have been received, and new
subscribers are coming in every day, but the difficulty of obtaining a
suitable house has blocked the plan for the present. The committee has
been offered several houses at a rent of $2000 per year, but this is a
little more than they care to pay at present. In London there has been
no such difficulty.
I cannot too strongly impress upon collectors the necessity of handling
valuable stamps with care. A startling instance has just come under my
observation. I was shown an album the owner of which collected stamps
from 1868 to 1875 inclusive. Page after page was filled, with all the
stamps in the spaces set apart for them, stamps of which large dealers
to-day have no stock. Had the stamps been in good condition, the value
of the collection would be four or five thousand dollars. If in
"first-class" condition, it would be difficult to duplicate at six or
seven thousand dollars. Yet this collection was offered to all the
dealers in the city for four hundred dollars, and not one of them would
buy it. It was at last sold for three hundred and fifty dollars, and the
dealer who bought it would have been glad to have sold it at once at an
advance of twenty-five or fifty dollars. An inspection of the album by
lovers of stamps almost brought tears to their eyes at seeing the way
rare stamps had been maltreated. Hardly one scarce or rare stamp had
escaped mutilation--perforations trimmed, pieces torn out of the body of
the stamp, corners gone, backs "skinned," face of stamps rubbed,
creased, or dirtied--in fact, almost every philatelic mistake possible
had been made, and a fine collection utterly ruined. As a matter of
course, in many instances the commonest stamps were in good, and in some
cases in mint, condition. The explanation of this fact is that the
commonest stamps had been replaced by better copies when the originals
were torn, whereas the scarce stamps were scarce, and could not so
easily be replaced.
GEORGE WERNER, 277 Fairmont Ave., Newark, N.J., wishes to exchange
with collectors in British colonies and South American countries.
PHILATUS.
[Illustration: IVORY SOAP]
'Tis wisest to economize
By blending, in the home supplies,
The highest worth and widest scope.
Now Ivory, being pure and good
For laundry, bath and toilet, would
Save fully half the bills for soap.
Copyright, 1896 by the Procter & Gamble Co., Cin'ti.
[Illustration]
EARN A TRICYCLE.
We wish to introduce our Teas. Sell 30 lbs. and we will give you a Fairy
Tricycle; sell 25 lbs. for a Solid Silver Watch and Chain; 50 lbs. for a
Gold Watch and Chain; 75 lbs. for a Bicycle; 10 lbs. for a Gold Ring.
Write for catalog and order sheet Dept. I
W. G. BAKER,
Springfield, Mass.
HARPER'S NEW CATALOGUE,
Thoroughly revised, classified, and indexed, will be sent by mail to any
address on receipt of ten cents.
[Illustration: THOMPSON'S EYE WATER]
SHAKESPEARE THE BOY
With Sketches of the Home and School Life, the Games and Sports, the
Manners, Customs, and Folk-lore of the Time. By WILLIAM J. ROLFE,
Litt.D., Editor of "Rolfe's English Classics," etc. Illustrated. Post
8vo, Cloth, $1.25.
Dr. Rolfe has in this book combined all that we know of the youth
of the poet with all that is on record of the life of the time, as
it affected boys. In other words, he has described the games
Shakespeare played, the amusements of the country-side, the school
and the lessons taught, the training at home and the town life. He
gives a picture of Stratford-on-Avon as it must have been then, and
incidentally calls attention to the influences which affected the
character of the great dramatist while growing up.
* * * * *
BY THOMAS W. KNOX
THE "BOY TRAVELLERS" SERIES
ADVENTURES OF TWO YOUTHS--
IN THE LEVANT.
IN SOUTHERN EUROPE.
IN CENTRAL EUROPE.
IN NORTHERN EUROPE.
IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
IN MEXICO.
IN AUSTRALASIA.
ON THE CONGO.
IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE.
IN SOUTH AMERICA.
IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
IN EGYPT AND PALESTINE.
IN CEYLON AND INDIA.
IN SIAM AND JAVA.
IN JAPAN AND CHINA.
Copiously Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $3.00 per vol.
_OTHER BOOKS BY COLONEL KNOX:_
THE YOUNG NIMRODS IN NORTH AMERICA.
THE YOUNG NIMRODS AROUND THE WORLD.
2 vols. Copiously Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $2.50
each.
* * * * *
HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York
"IT IS THE UNEXPECTED THAT HAPPENS."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
* * * * *
OVERHEARD IN A HOTEL.
"Let's get up a game of ball," said the Tennis Racket.
"All right," said the Big Fiddle. "I'll play first base."
"And I," said the china Water-Jug, "will take my usual position of
pitcher."
* * * * *
Patrick was the captain of a brick-schooner that plied between New York
and Haverstraw on the Hudson. One day his schooner was loaded, ready to
start for New York. But Patrick never gave the word to the crew to cast
off the hawsers and get under way. Instead, he sat lazily swinging his
leg over the spokes of the wheel, smoking his pipe.
The owner of the brick-yard, who was also the owner of the schooner,
seeing that the vessel had not started, and wishing to have the load
landed in New York as soon as possible, rushed down to the dock and
irately demanded of Patrick why he did not get under way.
"Shure, yer honor, there's no wind."
"No wind! Why, what's the matter with you? There's Lawson's schooner
under sail, going down the river now."
"Yis, I've been er watchin' her, but it's useless my gettin' under way.
She's got the wind now, and, faith, there's not enough of it fer two."
* * * * *
AT THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE.
"Say, Billie," Jacky whispered, gleefully, "this place is simply fine.
It costs thirty-five cents to take a bath, and I guess we won't have to
take 'em every five minutes, the way we do at home, when pa finds that
out."
* * * * *
The water in the bucket was very muddy, and the farmer had poured it out
on the ground.
"You mortify me dreadfully," said the Bucket to the Water, after the
farmer had gone. "The idea of your getting so dirty; and everybody will
blame me, because I've brought you up."
* * * * *
NOT THAT KIND.
"Hullo!" said Bobbie to the violin-player in the hotel orchestra.
"Wouldn't you rather be at the sea-shore than here on a hot day like
this?"
"No," said the violin-player, "You know I'm not a sand-fiddler."
* * * * *
WHAT HE WAS AFRAID OF.
"I wonder why that dog howls so every time the band plays?"
"I guess maybe he's afraid somebody will put the band around his neck."
* * * * *
"How do you feel this morning?" asked the Butterfly of the Caterpillar.
"Oh, kind of creepy," said the Caterpillar.
* * * * *
"Look at that old Centipede with his hundred legs--how proud he is!"
said the Beetle.
"Yes; and how absurdly so," returned the Katydid. "With all hundred of
'em he couldn't ride a bicycle!"
* * * * *
"My name is a great one," said the Lettuce head. "It has been spoken by
one of the most illustrious soldiers of modern times, and is, in fact,
engraved upon most of his monuments."
"Your name?" cried the Egg-plant. "Nonsense!"
"It is true," said the Lettuce head. "The soldier's name was Grant, and
on all his statues you are likely to find his famous words Lettuce Have
Peace."
* * * * *
"I tell you," said the Shepherd's Dog, "our lambs know how to treat
those geese."
"What do they do?" asked the Cow.
"Why, only this morning as we passed them the geese hissed us, and those
lambs simply looked at 'em scornfully, and said, 'Bah!'"
* * * * *
"Do you like fishing?" asked the Carrot of the Angle-worm.
"Well--yes," said the Angle-worm. "That is, I like it down near the
Jersey coast better than in the mountains."
"What's the difference?" asked the Carrot.