answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to
hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
PLATINOTYPE PAPER.
The platinotype process was discovered a long time ago by Sir John
Herschel, but it is not till within a few years that it has come into
general use for photographic prints. The paper has been brought to such
perfection, and the working made so simple, that the young amateur will
find no trouble in using it when he wishes to make specially fine
prints.
While one may sensitize the paper, it is better to buy the ready
prepared, and as it is packed in tin tubes, the joint being made as near
air-tight as possible, it will keep for a long time, especially in a dry
climate.
The paper is of a lemon-yellow color, and it prints about three times
quicker than albumen paper. Gas-light or a weak white light will not
affect the paper, and it may be adjusted in the printing-frames in an
ordinary lighted room away from the windows.
To print, place the negative and paper in the printing-frame in the
usual manner, and expose to diffused daylight--that is, in the shadow of
a building or at a window, but not in sunlight. The image is faintly
printed, and then developed. After two or three minutes examine the
print, and if the image is well defined, with detail showing in the
middle tones, the picture is printed enough. The color of the printed
image will be of a grayish-orange tint, and will not appear as distinct
as on aristo or albumen, which are printing-out papers.
The developer for platinum prints comes in bulk, with directions for
preparing, and better results are obtained by using the prepared
developer, especially for the first few times of making platinotypes.
Dissolve the contents of the box of developer according to directions,
and place in a tightly stoppered bottle. This is the stock solution.
Make a clearing bath of 60 oz. of water and 1 oz. of muriatic acid
(chemically pure).
The prints may be either developed by floating them in the developing
solution, or the prints may be laid on a sheet of glass and developed by
the "brush" process. The latter is better for small prints.
To develop by floating the print, place the print, exposed side down, in
the developer by letting it slip evenly and quickly into the solution.
Lift and see if any air-bubbles have formed on the surface of the print.
If there are any, touch them with the tip of the finger or the corner of
a card, and return the picture at once to the developer. The picture
will develop quite fast, but it can be stopped at once by transferring
the print to the acid bath.
The developer must be used in a porcelain or agate tray, and another
tray--a glass tray such as is used for hypo will do--must be filled with
the acid clearing bath so that the print may at once be placed in it as
soon as it has been developed enough.
As soon as the print has developed enough remove at once, before
washing, to the acid clearing bath. The prints must have three changes
of the acid bath, leaving them in ten minutes each, and afterward wash
them in three or four changes of water, lasting about half an hour
altogether. Pin up to dry, blotting off the superfluous moisture with
clean blotting-paper.
Developing with a brush is sometimes to be preferred to floating. Take a
wide flat camel's-hair brush, turn some of the developer in a shallow
dish, lay the print on a sheet of glass, face up, dip the brush in the
developer, and beginning at the top of the print, brush it across from
one side to the other, and then lengthwise of the print, using light
even strokes. The picture will not be so evenly developed as by
floating, but this unevenness may be remedied by floating the print for
half a minute in the developer and then transferring quickly to the acid
bath.
Stop the development as soon as the right depth has been brought out,
and while the detail is perfect. If a print is developed too long the
print will appear flat, as in the case of a negative when overdeveloped.
As platinum prints are more quickly made than aristo or albumen, this
paper is very desirable for winter photographic printing.
The mounts for platinum prints have a plate sunk centre covered with
India paper, and are usually of a soft gray color for the margin. The
prints may be mounted on plain cards, but are much more effective if
mounted on the cards prepared expressly for platinotypes.
The paper costs 50 cents per dozen for 4x5, 80 cents for 5x7. The paper
can be bought in any size desired. The developing solution or salts cost
35 cents for a package containing enough to make 50 oz. of developer.
* * * * *
LAUGHING BABIES
are loved by everybody. Those raised on the Gail Borden Eagle Brand
Condensed Milk are comparatively free from sickness. _Infant Health_ is
a valuable pamphlet for mothers. Send your address for a copy to New
York Condensed Milk Co., N. Y.--[_Adv._]
ADVERTISEMENTS.
_On Bosworth Field_
_King Richard cried:_
_"My kingdom for a horse!"_
_But times have changed--_
_To-day he'd want_
_A Monarch wheel, of course._
MONARCH.
KING OF BICYCLES
and a wheel fit for a king. Made in 4 models. $80 and $100. For children
and adults who want a lower price wheel the _Defiance_ is made in 8
models, $40 to $75. Send for Monarch book.
[Illustration]
MONARCH CYCLE
MFG. CO.,
Lake, Halsted and Fulton Sts., CHICAGO
83 Reade Street, New York.
[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
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.
JAPANESE POSTAGE STAMPS.
Every one who sends me 100 good stamps of his land will receive 100
stamps, in 20 varieties, from Japan.
K. TODA,
BINGO MITSUNOSHO -- JAPAN.
FREE!
Send 10c. to pay the postage, and I will send you a 225-page catalogue
with illustrations of every stamp FREE. 100 varieties foreign stamps,
5c.; 200 varieties foreign stamps, 25c.; 12 varieties Japan, Spain, and
Portugal, 2c.; 400 varieties foreign stamps, $1.25; 500 varieties,
$1.75; 750 varieties, $4.50; 1000 varieties, $6.50. Approval sheets for
good references.
RICHARD R. BROWN -- KEYPORT, N. J.
[Illustration]
STAMPS!
=800= fine mixed Victoria, Cape of G. H., India, Japan, etc., with fine
Stamp Album, only =10c.= New 80-p. Price-list =free=. _Agents wanted_
at =50%= commission. STANDARD STAMP CO., 4 Nicholson Place, St. Louis,
Mo. Old U. S. and Confederate Stamps bought.
STAMP COLLECTORS!
12 South America, 9c.; 15 Mexico and Central America, 10c.; 18 West
Indian, 10c.; 15 Australia, 11c.; 16 Asia, 10c. Large monthly price-list
free. Approval Sheet agents wanted; 50% com. and prizes given. C. W.
GREVNING, Morristown, N.J.
[Illustration]
100 all dif. Venezuela, Bolivia, etc., only 10c.; 200 all dif. Hayti,
Hawaii, etc., only 50c. Ag'ts w't'd at 50% com. List FREE! =C. A.
Stegmann=, 5941 Cote Brilliante Ave., St. Louis, Mo
1000 VARIETIES.
Any boy or girl may secure this fine collection of stamps by a little
work. Send 6c. for =100 Var.= and outfit to
E. M. MANSUR, Box 2, Floral Park, N. Y.
FOREIGN STAMPS ON APPROVAL.
Agents wanted At 50% com. Lists free.
CHAS. B. RAUB, New London, Conn.
500
Mixed Australian, etc., 10c.; =105 varieties=, and nice album, 10c.; 15
unused, 10c.; 10 Africa, 10c.; 15 Asia, 10c. F. P. Vincent, Chatham,
N.Y.
125
dif. Gold Coast, Costa Rica, etc., 25c.; 40 U. S., 25c. Liberal com. to
agents. Large bargain list free. F. W. MILLER, 904 Olive St., St. Louis,
Mo.
10 Stamps
free to every applicant for our app'l sheets at 50% disct. Franklin
Stamp Co., 74 Fayette St., Allegheny, Pa.
=FINE APPROVAL SHEETS.= Agents wanted at 50% com. P. S. Chapman, Box 151,
Bridgeport, Ct.
FINE PACKETS in large variety. Stamps at 50% com. Col's bought.
Northwestern Stamp Co., Freeport, Ill.
STAMPS! 100 all dif. Barbados, etc. Only 10c. Ag'ts w't'd at 50% com.
List free. L. DOVER & CO., 1469 Hodiamont, St. Louis, Mo.
* * * * *
Amateur Press News.
[Illustration: EDWARD HERING,
President of Pacific Amateur Press Association.]
At present there are four amateur press clubs on the Pacific coast--one
sectional and three local. The Pacific Amateur Press Association is
composed of amateurs residing in the States of California, Oregon, and
Washington. It meets annually in different cities on the coast. The next
convention will be held in San Francisco next July. At conventions we
have an exciting time at banquets, political fights, etc. Mr. Edward A.
Hering, of Seattle, Wash., is President. The dues are fifty cents per
year, no initiation fee being charged.
The Golden State is the largest local association in amateurdom. It
meets semi-monthly. The initiation fee is fifty cents, and the dues
thirty-five cents per month. The officers are: D. J. McCarthy,
President; L. M. Voorsanger, Vice-President; Samuel T. Bush, Recording
Secretary; Ethel Neal, Corresponding Secretary; P. C. Mortimer,
Treasurer; and William A. Day, Official Editor.
The Seattle Amateur Press Club is composed of amateurs residing in
Seattle. The Portland Club is composed of amateurs residing in the city
of Portland. The latter has just been organized, and is in a flourishing
condition. W. L. MacMullin is President. For amateur papers,
applications, or any information apply to Herbert Hauser, 1423A Bush
Street, San Francisco, Cal. Of course you are welcome to the ranks of
these amateurs if you live on the Pacific coast and contribute to or
publish an amateur paper.
Neat and bright amateur papers to reach the Table are: the _Defender_,
Grove City, Minn.; the _Newsboy_, 1609-1/2 Baker Street, San Francisco,
Cal.; the _Boys' Club Magazine_, the Press Club, 740 Bryant Street, San
Francisco, Cal.; the _Gleaner_, Walter A. Dyer, 274 Worthington Street,
Springfield, Mass.; the _Monthly News_, Paul Foster Case, Fairport,
N. Y.; the _Recorder_, 579 American Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis.; the
_Recruit_, 1104 East Fifteenth Street, East Oakland, Cal.; the
_Talisman_, 100 East Twelfth Street, Portland, Oregon; the _Monthly
Visitor_, Haverhill, Mass.; and the _Albemarle_, Eau Claire, Wis.
Publishers of all the papers will be glad to hear from members of the
Order. All, or nearly all, send sample copies free upon request, and all
welcome bright contributions. They are creditable to their editors and
publishers as well as contributors. Some time since we remarked that few
amateur papers could be made to pay expenses. Several publishers write
to say that they make both ends meet, and even realize a profit. But the
greatest benefit is not a financial one, but the experience gained.
The following members are interested, and want sample copies: A. C.
Bell, Garfield and Central avenues, Medford, Mass.; Philip A. Barry, 22
Clifton Place, Boston, Mass., who wants members for the "Round Table"
Amateur Press Association; R. M. Shumway, Batavia, Ill.; Sigurd Rhode,
1202 West Michigan Street, Duluth, Minn.; and James F. Bowen, 36 St.
James Avenue, Boston, Mass.
* * * * *
Biscayne Bay and Its Marvels.
Biscayne Bay is situated far down the east coast of Florida, a
little below the settlements of Miami and Cocoanut. It is a
magnificent sheet of water, the largest in Florida. If you enter
the bay in a boat, you will first notice the crossing of a bar.
Then you will naturally look across for the other shore and see
groups of white houses seemingly far apart. And then you will look
into the water below you and see, far down, "submarine gardens of
purple, yellow, and red weeds, bright green moss, and multicolored
shells of various shapes and sizes." The water is of the clearness
of amber, for it is seldom roughened by storms.
How to reach Biscayne by land. The journey to the bay by stage
requires two days, with a stop at Camp Stranahan, on New River. You
will obtain more fun, though, if you take the schooner at Lake
Worth and sail down the Atlantic, a distance of eighty miles. Going
south the boat hugs the shore to avoid the northward flow of the
Gulf Stream. During the autumn the band at the Royal Poinciana
Hotel, at Palm Beach, can be plainly heard. The freight and
passenger boats that run between the lake and the bay generally use
Bear Cut entrance to the bay.
The fish found in the bay are remarkable for their great variety.
There are the tarpon, the silver king, and the kingfish, all of
which afford great sport. They are from twelve to fifteen feet
long, and weigh from seventy-five to two hundred pounds. Then there
are the bream, Jack, mullet, trout, and salt-water shad, the angel
and hogfish, the baracouta, and the Spanish mackerel. There is also
a fish which goes under several names. Some call it the cavalier,
the negroes, "car-walley," and Dr. Henshall, in his _Camping and
Cruising in Florida_, calls it the crevalle. I forgot to mention
that pompano, sheepshead, runners, and mud-fish are also found
plentifully. But these are not the only species of fish found.
There are the shark, jew-fish, ray, and porpoise, and in the small
creeks abound alligators and crocodiles. The manatee, or sea-cow,
has just lately found its way here. It came originally from the St.
Lucie River. Huge pachyderms are found whose flesh resembles that
of bear steak. Of shell-fish you will find clams, oysters, crabs,
shrimp, conchs, and the logger-head, hawksbill, and green turtle,
and plenty of terrapin. Is not this sufficient to show you what a
fine fishing-place Biscayne Bay is?
The population about Biscayne Bay is cosmopolitan, possessing, on
one hand, a well-known author, and on the other a pure-blood
Indian, called Tiger Tom, or Old Tiger. Kirk Munroe and Old Tiger
are good friends. The original inhabitants of this region were
English and Bohemian settlers. The Everglades lies to the west of
the bay about six or seven miles. A recent poetic writer said of
them: "A huge lake, miles upon miles in extent, of cold, clear,
pure water, black as night, studded with innumerable small islands
thickly grown with moss-draped cypress-trees, nesting and breeding
places for millions of birds, hiding-places for deer, bear,
panther, alligators, and wild-cats, and the larger ones affording
camp, farms, and villages for the Indians. The scenery is beautiful
and weird beyond description; the silence is an anodyne that lulls
the senses to sleep as irresistibly as the croon of the mother
soothes her child.
"The sough of the cypress in the passing breeze, the rocking of the
canoe on the all but motionless water, the call of a bird, the dip
of a distant Indian paddle, the crack of a rifle, the bellow of a
'gator--these are only occasional sounds. It is a wilderness of
silence, beautiful and restful, if just a little aweful sometimes,
far away from the world, unmolested nine months of the year,
healthful and pure, because natural." A glowing description, is it
not?
The islands are fertile, and the Indians make them very productive,
raising corn, pumpkins, pease, and melons.
HARRY R. WHITCOMB.
UMATILLA, FLA.
* * * * *
How Granite is Sawed.
Not long ago I went to a granite-works. The first place was a
shedlike building where they were chiselling the granite. The next
was where they sawed the stone. The saws are straight, and are made
of steel. They have no teeth on them, but instead they let sand and
water in under them. The saws draw the sand back and forth over the
granite. The sand acts as teeth to the saws. It takes an hour to
saw an inch.
The next place is where they polish the stone. At first ground iron
is used; afterwards emery. The polisher is a flat iron disk, which
turns round and round over the surface. A man stands by to guide
it.
CLAUDE KENDALL, R.T.K.
NORFOLK, CONN.
* * * * *
A Bit about Autumn Birds.
Heretofore I have only occasionally seen a ruby-throated
humming-bird around my home. This fall they are very common. The
gentleman who lives next door is a florist, and this year planted a
long row of different varieties of nasturtiums. In September, when
school began, I spent my afternoons studying in the hammock. At
first I noticed only a few birds, but as the month wore on they
became more numerous. About the middle of the month I could always
see several of them poised in the air before the blossoms, their
throats gleaming with metallic lustre.
There was a small pear-tree with scanty foliage near the flowers.
Many a time I have seen the birds light on some slender dead twig
and daintily arrange their plumage with their bills, then shoot off
like a flash to gather some more nectar or to indulge in a turn at
watching their little ones. The flowers climbed the fence and came
over into our yard before the month was over, and then I could
watch them from my hammock without sitting up. Several times I have
approached the fence as noiselessly as I could and looked over to
find myself within a few feet of a ruby-throat.
I have witnessed several severe battles between the males. They
would fly this way and that, shoot upwards and then downwards,
sometimes uttering a not unmusical squeak. Before September was
over my feathered jewels were gone. My neighbor florist also
planted some sunflowers near the fence. They grew to be about six
feet high. As he did not pick the blossoms they went to seed, and
during the latter part of September and the first part of October
the vicinity of the plants has been the battle-ground of the
English sparrows--a regular "Delmonico's" for thistle-birds.
While the seeds lasted there was always a flock of birds around
clinging to the swaying stalks or picking the seeds up off the
ground. The English sparrows are the same that they were in the
spring, but the thistle-bird is quite different. That little ball
of feathers had given up his gaudy yellow colors and black cap and
wing coverts, for a general color of dark olive with the
above-mentioned black parts of a dirty blackish-brown. The American
goldfinch or thistle-bird or wild canary or yellow-bird is about
four and a half inches long, and in the spring has a general color
of yellow with a black topknot, wings, and tail.
ALBERT W. ATWATER, R.T.K.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
* * * * *
A Florida Prairie.
How different is one of our prairies from those out West! Ours are
low, flat, clay ground sometimes hundreds of acres in extent. Not
very large, you say. These prairies are interspersed with large
groups of shrubbery and palmetto, which stand alone on this wide
expanse of marshy land. In the rainy season these prairies are
covered from six inches to a foot deep in the water. Sportsmen in
water-proof boots used to tramp through the water, and many a
wild-duck did they bring down. Ducks are scarce now. But if the
ducks are gone, the prairie abounds in game in spring-time and
autumn. Then the sportsman is in his element--rabbits and quail
galore. At night the boys blow up their dogs and go 'coon and
'possum hunting, which sport is one of the most exhilarating and
fun-producing I know of.
HARRY R. WHITCOMB.
UMATILLA, FLA.
THE PUDDING STICK.
If you wish to entertain a number of young people on your birthday,
Susie, why not have a spelling-match? This rather old-fashioned
amusement combines pleasure and profit, and it has been a favorite
diversion in drawing-rooms lately. Of course every person who possesses
the slightest desire to be well educated will learn how to spell
correctly, and an ill-spelled letter or note would, I hope, be an
impossibility for any of my readers; and yet when good spellers are
called upon in public they sometimes become confused and make droll
mistakes. You may try this at the breakfast table to-morrow if you
choose. Ask brother Tom suddenly to spell "polypetalous," or
"madrepore," or "exfoliate," or "healds," or "septuagenarian," or
"separate," or any other word you like, and unless he is a marvellously
cool young gentleman, and as well a phenomenally clever speller, he will
get a little mixed up over his vowels and consonants. At the breakfast
table you will find that papa, and mamma, and the girl from Boston who
is visiting your sister Ethel, and the neighbor who has just stopped in
to tell how the invalid in the next house but two has passed the night
will each and all be drawn into the game, and you will have a home
spelling-bee soon started.
For a social spelling-match send out your invitations some days in
advance. Ask an equal number of boys and girls, and make some
preparations before the evening arrives. Your mother or sisters will
help you in selecting a list of words from the dictionary, which should
all be words in common use, not obsolete or specially technical words.
Do not have proper names in the list. Do not avoid easy words. I have
seen people stumble over "receive," and over "friends," and over
"scissors," and "measles."
When the evening and the guests are together present, arrange the seats
in two rows, lengthwise in the room, after the manner of the old
district school. Let the referee sit at a small table at the top of the
room between the heads of the lines. At the other end place the person
who gives out the words. When any one misses a word he or she must
change places with the successful one who spells it correctly. Those who
miss three words must drop out, and words must be given opposing sides
alternately.
Prizes must be given to the best and the worst in the class. Two of each
if you like, or, if you prefer, only one of each. Light refreshments
will be in order when the "bee" is over. About the prizes: do not make
them expensive. Any small book, a cup and saucer, a photograph, a little
picture frame, a silver book-marker, or a pound of candy will answer the
purpose very well.
Another agreeable diversion for an evening is to select ten initial
letters, first having given everybody a pad and a pencil. Any ten
letters will do, as c, b, f, l, m, n, d, r, t, x, or any others you
like. Five minutes are allowed, in which the party engage in writing
telegrams, each successive word of which must begin in the alphabetical
order of the letters given out. The reading of these telegrams is often
very funny, and evokes shouts of laughter at the queer combination
produced.
M. E. SANGSTER.
[Illustration]
A baby's bath should be replete,
With all thats spotless, clean and sweet;
So every careful nurse will choose
The very purest soap to use.
Copyright, 1896, by The Procter & Gamble Co., Cin'ti.
BREAKFAST--SUPPER.
EPPS'S
GRATEFUL--COMFORTING.
COCOA
BOILING WATER OR MILK.
[Illustration]
PRINTING OUTFIT 10c.
Sets any name in one minute; prints 500 cards an hour. YOU can make
money with it. A font of pretty type, also Indelible Ink, Type, Holder,
Pads and Tweezers. Best Linen Marker, worth $1.00. Sample mailed FREE
for 10c. stamps for postage on outfit and large catalogue of 1000
Bargains. Same outfit with figures 15c. Larger outfit for printing two
lines 25c., post-paid, Ingersoll & Bro., 65 Cortlandt St., N. Y. City
PLAYS
Dialogues, Speakers, for School, Club and Parlor. Catalogue free.
T. S. Denison, Publisher, Chicago Ill.
HOOPING
COUGH
CROUP
_Can be cured_
by using
ROCHE'S HERBAL
EMBROCATION
The celebrated and effectual English cure, without internal medicine. W.
EDWARD & SON, Props., London, Eng. Wholesale, E. FOUGERA & CO., New York
HOW TO BUILD YACHTS AND BOATS.
Send 20 Cents,
=The Rudder=, 155 Broadway, N. Y.
CARDS
The FINEST SAMPLE BOOK of Gold Beveled Edge, Hidden Name, Silk Fringe,
Envelope and Calling Cards ever offered for a 2 cent stamp. These are
GENUINE CARDS, NOT TRASH. UNION CARD CO., COLUMBUS, OHIO.
[Illustration: Thompson's Eye Water]
Popular Books for Boys
BY THOMAS W. KNOX
* * * * *
THE "BOY TRAVELLERS" SERIES
Copiously Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $3.00 per volume.
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.
_OTHER BOOKS BY COLONEL KNOX:_
Hunting Adventures on Land and Sea.
2 vols. Copiously Illustrated. Square 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $2.50
each.
THE YOUNG NIMRODS IN NORTH AMERICA.
THE YOUNG NIMRODS AROUND THE WORLD.
* * * * *
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York