regulations regarding bicyclists. This is one of the most important
details of wheeling in cities that can come before the attention of the
wheelman. The laws against bicycling would be much more stringent were
it not for the work of the League of American Wheelmen. This League
maintains, in substance, that a bicycle should be treated practically as
a horse and carriage on the road. The tendency, however, for legislators
is to curtail the rights of bicycles. As a result, certain laws have
been passed, and the contest is continually going on between the two
parties: those who assert that bicycles have and should have as much
right upon the road as carriages, and those who believe they should be
more restricted. If the community of wheelmen wish to have more rights
on the road than they have to-day, or as many of them have to-day, the
least they can do is to observe the ordinances, for by each infringement
of a city ordinance the chances of securing better legislation become
less. For example, there are city ordinances in New York which require
that every bicyclist should carry a lantern after dark; that no one
shall coast within the city limits; that every bicycle should have a
bell in good order attached to it, which shall be rung on certain
occasions. There are laws of a similar nature in most of the cities in
the United States now. It is a very simple matter for one bicyclist who
comes to a hill on the outskirts of New York city to coast. It is a
pleasure to enlist, of course. There may not be any policeman about, and
it is very possible that the bicyclist can have his coast and not be
discovered. At the same time, if he is discovered and arrested, the case
comes up in court; and especially if he is a well-dressed, respectable
citizen of the city, the opposition at once secures a handle for
argument that the bicycle must be restricted, that people do not observe
the ordinances, and that the bicycle in general is a nuisance. Few
readers of the ROUND TABLE could perhaps realize this at first sight,
but it has been used time and time again in the New York city courts as
an argument against bicyclists, and it is therefore the duty of every
person who rides a bicycle to observe these rules. The questions of
lights and bells are parallel. You may succeed in riding at night
without a light in some small city where the laws are not enforced, but
if any trouble arises you have done the best you could to bring the
bicycle into disrepute.
THE MANIA FOR COLLECTING.
It is doubtful if there is anywhere in the world a boy or a girl who has
not at some time or another suffered from this very harmless disease of
"collecting." It comes to most of us almost as surely as the mumps, but,
unlike many other of the diseases of childhood, it can be had more than
once, and there is no limit, apparently, to its phases.
Stamp-collecting, and autograph-collecting, and the collecting of coins
are most reasonable, instructive, and oftentimes profitable; but what
can be said of a person who collects toothpicks? It would almost seem as
if such a person were insane, and yet to some men it has appeared to be
worth while to do it. An English journal states that probably the
distinction of owning the most valuable assortment of these useful
little articles belongs to an Eastern Rajah, whose collection contains
toothpicks of the rarest workmanship and design, many of them studded
with costly jewels. Others of them are valuable from their antiquity and
the unique circumstances under which they came into his possession. The
most curious miscellaneous collection, the paper goes on to say, ever
made was that of an eccentric Scotsman, William Gordon, who lived at
Grahamstown, near Glasgow. He had an immense collection of the most
varied description, including adzes, gimlets, hammers, keys, jars,
bottles, toothpicks, tops, marbles, whips, toys of all sorts, sizes,
shapes, and materials, besides having an assortment of walking-sticks
and gold and silver watches. The most remarkable articles ever used as
toothpicks are the whiskers of the walrus, which are quite stiff, and
improve with age. The writer tells also of a curious fad of an eccentric
collector, who went in for bottled battle-fields, as he called them. He
had about seventy-five bottles, each bottle containing some of the soil
of a historic battle-field, and duly labelled.
Surely, if this mania continues to develop, we shall shortly hear of
collections of canned volcanoes, and barrelled rivers, and preserved
voices--in fact, the last would not, in these days of the phonograph, be
a had thing at all. If, instead of taking an autograph-album to a
celebrity, and asking him to write his name in it, a collector might
readily take a phonograph fully supplied with cylinders to the famous
men of the time, and ask them to say a few words to be handed down to
posterity, not by word of hand, but by word of mouth. It would be a
great joy to us now if some means of preserving the voice of
Shakespeare, Washington, Napoleon, and other illustrious dead had been
devised in the old days.
[Illustration: THE CAMERA CLUB]
Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly
answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to
hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
Owing to the number of questions, we devote the entire Department to
answers this week.
SIR KNIGHT E. MAGSAMEU asks how to burnish prints without a
burnisher; if ferrotype pictures be made with the pocket kodak, and
if so, how are they made; if lantern slides can be made with a
kodak; if blue prints can be burnished; how to print a title or
name on a photograph; what is meant by the diaphragm; and what is
the reason tall buildings in his pictures have the appearance of
falling down. To burnish prints get a ferrotype plate (price 5c.),
clean it with a soft rag dipped in benzine, take the prints from
the water and lay them face down on the shiny side of the plate.
Lay a piece of blotting-paper over the print and rub it with a
squeegee (which is a rubber roller), till all the moisture is out
of the print and it adheres to the plate. Leave it on the plate
till dry, when, if it does not come off itself, lift it at one
corner and it will peel off the plate. The contact with and the
drying on the ferrotype plate give the print a fine gloss. If one
has not a squeegee, a smooth bottle or even a wooden rolling-pin
can be used. Ferrotype pictures cannot very well be made with a
pocket kodak. Sir Knight Samuel Boucher, Jun., Box 68, Gravesend,
L. I., says that he will send the formula for ferrotype plates to
any one who asks him for it. Lantern slides can be made with a
kodak. Blue prints cannot be burnished. See No. 855, March 17,
1896, for directions for marking negatives. A diaphragm in
photography is a thin metal plate with a hole in the centre, which
is placed between the lenses of the camera tube to concentrate the
rays of light and increase the sharpness of the picture. The
smaller the opening the sharper will be the picture, but the
exposure will take longer than with a larger opening. The reason of
the lines of the buildings in the pictures being out of
perpendicular is because the lens is not rectilinear.
SIR KNIGHT WILLIAM F. BEERS, San Remo Hotel, 75th Street and
Central Park, New York city, wishes to know the best book for
amateurs. Wilson's _Photographics_ is a good book, and gives
detailed directions for making pictures. Sir William says he has a
3 by 3-1/2 daylight kodak which he would like to sell, as he wishes
to purchase a larger size.
SIR KNIGHT ARTHUR LAZARUS asks how to enlarge and diminish the size
of pictures. To enlarge see directions given in No. 801. Will Sir
Arthur state whether he means to reduce from the negative or from
the print? Our competition is now open.
ROBERT HUNTER, 122 Buena Vista Ave., Newark, O.; LOE OLDS, Spring
Alley, Minn.; EDWARD CLARKSON SEWARD, JUN., 43 North Fullerton
Ave., Montclair, N. J.; WALTER S. RAUDENBUSH, 130 South 6th St.,
Lebanon, Pa.; LESTER SCHUTTE, 29 East 93d St., New York city;
GRENVILLE N. WILLIS, Maplehurst, Becket, Mass.; WILLIS H. KERR,
Bellevue, Neb., wish to be enrolled as members of the Camera Club.
SIR KNIGHT J. R. SIXX sends two blue prints, and asks if they are
good. He has had his camera but two months and is anxious to do
good work. The picture of the poultry-yard is very good, but in
making pictures of figures would suggest that the full length be
included. If the camera had been moved a little farther away from
the subject it would have brought the whole figure within the angle
of the lens. The picture is sharp and detail good. The picture of
the steamer is a good one, but trimming would improve the general
appearance. Try cutting off half an inch in the foreground, at the
same time making the edge of the picture parallel with the bottom
of the boat, and then squaring the rest of the picture to
correspond. A part of an umbrella out of focus shows at one side of
the picture. This can be removed in the printing if a thin mixture
of Gihon's opaque or lamp-black (water-color) be painted on the
glass side of the negative over the outlines of the umbrella. Make
it as near the color of the film of the sky as possible, and it
will look like a part of it. Try and win a prize in our coming
competition.
SIR KNIGHT WALTER RAUDENBUSH and several other correspondents who
wish to become members of the Camera Club ask if there is any
initiation fee required for admission into the Camera Club. There
is no fee, and any Knight or Lady of the Round Table may become a
member of the Camera Club by sending name and address to the editor
and asking to be enrolled as a member. One is not required to be a
subscriber to the magazine in order to belong to the Camera Club or
to enter the competitions; but it is a great advantage to have the
magazine, as the Camera Club column always contains matter which is
of value to the amateur.
AN ENGLISH VIEW OF THE AMERICAN CLIMATE.
We learn a great many interesting things about America from the London
newspapers. Here is the latest bit of information that has come to hand:
"Mr. Willie Park, Jun., the well-known golfer, who recently returned
from a visit to America, tells of a match he played there with Willie
Dunn under exceptional circumstances. It was the time of the great heat
wave in New York, and on the day on which the match was decided, the
heat Mr. Park describes as being 'somewhat terrible.' The thermometer
registered 101 degrees in the shade. Notwithstanding this, there was a
large following, many of whom sought to overcome the effects of the heat
by bathing their heads under running-water taps on different parts of
the course. It was almost impossible to keep the balls in a playable
condition, as the heat softened the gutta-percha. To prevent them
melting they were placed on ice and carried along by a caddie, who
deposited a changed ball at each tee, while the old ones were replaced
on the ice for preservation!"
* * * * *
THE SECOND SUMMER,
many mothers believe, is the most precarious in a child's life;
generally it may be true, but you will find that mothers and physicians
familiar with the value of the Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk do
not so regard it.--[_Adv._]
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Arnold
Constable & Co
Cloakings
For Ladies and Children.
_Costume Cloths,_
_Fancy Colored Faced Cloths,_
Street and Evening Shades.
_Cheviots, Serges, Zibelines, Venetians,_
_Zibeline Tweeds, Mixed Meltons._
_Irish and Scotch Tweeds and Homespuns for_
Bicycle and Golf Wear.
Broadway & 19th st.
NEW YORK.
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.
Any Stamp Collector
who is not familiar with our weekly stamp journal may secure it on trial
for 3 months for 10c. and a packet of 100 varieties of foreign-stamps,
_free_. The packet contains only genuine stamps, including Victoria, New
South Wales, Newfoundland, Ceylon, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Austria, Chili,
and many other countries.
Price-lists FREE. Approval sheets sent on application.
C. H. Mekeel Stamp & Pub. Co., St. Louis, Mo.
[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.
U.S.
25 diff U.S. stamps 10c., 100 diff. foreign 10c. Agts w'td @ 50%. List
free! L. S. Dover & Co. 5958 Theodosia, St. Louis, Mo.
STAMPS. 25 var. 10c. Sheets 50% commission.
R. W. De HAVEN, Box 4023, Sta. B. Phila., Pa.
Old
and
New.
Franklin
Square
Song
Collection.
The "Franklin Square Library" has given many valuable numbers, but none
so universally attractive as this. Nowhere do we know of an equally
useful collection of School, Home, Nursery, and Fireside Songs and Hymns
which everybody ought to be able to preserve, and which everybody will
be able to enjoy.--_Springfield Journal._
Eight Numbers. Price, 50 cents each; Cloth, $1.00. Full contents of
the Eight Numbers, with Specimen Pages of favorite Songs and Hymns,
sent by Harper & Brothers, New York, to any address.
A Glimpse of Long Island Life.
HARPER'S ROUND TABLE has always been the greatest source of
pleasure to us, and has followed us around in our various
wanderings, both here and abroad; always awaited with impatience
and devoured with avidity. I have just finished that most
delightful serial "For King or Country," and think it one of the
finest stories I have ever read. I began it one evening after
supper, and became so much excited over it that I could not lay it
aside until I had reached the last page. My other favorite serials
were "Dorymates," "The Red Mustang," and "The Flamingo Feather."
Roslyn is a quiet little town on the north shore, nestled at the
foot of Harbor Hill, the highest elevation on the island. It is on
Hempstead Harbor, and looking out across the Sound one can see the
hills of Connecticut ten miles away. It is a resort much frequented
by tourists in the summer-time, and its scenery is most
picturesque. With its rolling meadows, deep glens and recesses, and
ridges of hills, one might almost imagine Switzerland on a small
scale. We are devotedly fond of the place, having lived here the
greater part of our lives, and were quite heart-broken at leaving
it to go to Europe in early 1889. My sister and I go to a classical
school here, and take the regular college preparatory dose of
Latin, Greek, and mathematics, which we enjoy immensely.
We are both ardent disciples of photography, and also struggling
young acrobats on the treacherous fiddle-string. During our leisure
hours we ride, drive, skate, play tennis, or swim--according to
season.
HILDA WARD, L.R.T.
ROSLYN, N. Y.
* * * * *
Queer Signs of Coming Events.
There is old sign that if the housewife drops her dishcloth, "company"
is coming. Did you ever hear of it? Then there are signs about the
weather, about luck, and about many similar things. We want to know the
signs common with you. Do you live in the South, in Canada, or in the
West? Tell the Table briefly a few of the signs you oftenest hear. Those
that strike us as the oddest and the funniest we will print, giving
credit to the senders of them. Cannot our readers abroad help us on the
collection? We hope so.
* * * * *
Kinks.
No. 50.--A DIAGONAL ACROSTIC.
Here is as pretty a puzzle as one could wish to see. Its answer is
simple, and yet fewer things are harder to construct than this double
acrostic. It looks easy--but! You remember the story of the fresh
Freshman at college who thought proverbs simple. His professor told him
to make a few! In the following the primal diagonal reads downwards, the
final one upwards. The five short couplet lines throw light on the
cross-words:
Two brothers we are said to be,
And children of the year;
We come each spring, and always bring
Some proof that spring is here.
The elder fumes and shakes his plumes
That spring should be so coy;
But, much more mild, the younger child
Sheds copious tears of joy.
1.
In every work-shop, every trade,
For imitation chiefly made.
2.
When weary on the desert plain,
Rest and refreshment here obtain.
3.
In this the low comedian plays,
And seeks to catch the vulgar praise.
4.
Some great event doth indicate
The time from which I take my date.
5.
Musician I--when David sung,
His lyre to me ofttimes he strung.
* * * * *
No. 51.--DOUBLE PROGRESSIVE MAGIC SQUARE.
Figures 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256. These numbers have been
doubled from one upwards, and the puzzle is to place them in a square of
three lines, so that the first multiplied by the second, and the product
multiplied by the third each way, horizontally, perpendicularly, and
diagonally, will produce the same amount. There are eight answers, all
alike.
* * * * *
No. 52.--A SENTENCE HUNT.
The following sentence, standing alone, is in one of the most familiar
of books,
"Neither give place to the devil."
Where is it?
* * * * *
No. 53.--PHONETIC CHARADE.
I am the first half you all are to guess,
I, a poor insect, quite tiny or less.
After me comes the two-syllabled verb
Lovers may do and their parents disturb.
Join us, we make the fleet-footed beast
Lovers should copy and rival; at least,
Would those rash lovers reach safely their goal,
They ought to make use of the speed of my whole.
* * * * *
No. 54.--A GEOGRAPHY LESSON.
1. What town in Norway would you prefer not to drive a shying horse
past?
2. What city in Trans-Caucasia runs on wheels?
3. What is the most aristocratic river of Europe?
4. What suburb has Bombay that, if you had it, you would try to get rid
of?
5. What city of Afghanistan can one person talk in every part at once?
6. What large river of Bosnia can you not drown in?
7. What town in Sweden could you use on your front-yard fence?
* * * * *
Answers to Kinks.
No. 46.--CHARADE.
Sun-down-(h)er.--Sundowner; a squatter on government land.
* * * * *
No. 47.--FOR MATHEMATICIANS.
He receives all his book debts except $2 in $5 of $15,000, and all
except $1.25 in $5 of $6000. His loss corresponds to 2-5 of $15,000 plus
1-4 of $6000 or $7500 in all. Had he received all his book debts he
could have paid $5.25 on every $5 he owed. As it is, he can only pay $4
on every $5. Therefore the loss of each $1.25 on each $5 he owes
corresponds to the total loss of $7500, and so
As $1.25:$7500::$5:$30,000. Amount he owes, $30,000. This is
propounder's solution.
* * * * *
No. 48.--WORD SQUARE.
T A F F Y
A W A R E
F A T A L
F R A N K
Y E L K S
* * * * *
No. 49.--EASY RIDDLE IN PROSE.
Valuable as a curiosity to any museum. The five pebbles. The one pebble
with which David killed Goliath.
* * * * *
A Sailing Trip and a War-Ship.
Last April a friend of my father's told me that a party from
Bluffton were going to "Paris Island" to see the man-of-war
_Indiana_, and asked me if I would like to go. I went. We had to
ride five miles in wagons, and then we got into a large sail-boat.
It was a cold and rough day, and some of the girls got seasick. But
other boys and girls and myself had a delightful time. We arrived
at our journey's end in four hours, and proceeded to a friend's
house.
The dry dock in which the ship lay is a hole thirty-five feet deep,
four hundred feet long, and about seventy feet broad, and has steps
going down three sides of it. The other end is the gate, which is
very large and oblong. It has rigging inside of it, which opens or
closes it at will. A pump working all the time keeps the dock dry.
We went on board the _Indiana_, and a marine explained everything
to us. The small cannons fire twenty-five times in a minute, and
some others sixty or sixty-five times in a minute. The large
cannons are in turrets, which can be turned around on a pivot,
enabling them to be fired in any direction. We saw some torpedoes
which, the marine said, cost twenty-five hundred dollars apiece.
The ship's kitchen is large and cool. There were some sailors
cooking, and some were washing clothes. Others were sewing,
reading, writing, and talking. Then we went through the petty
officers' quarter, which was a kind of long hall, on each side of
which were small rooms, and all along this hall sailors were asleep
in all kinds of positions. We went to a lower deck in the boat, and
our guide showed us where they telegraph to all parts of the ship.
There were two rows of boxlike instruments, and in the middle of
each was a button. The sailors wore navy-blue blouses and
pantaloons and Tam o' Shanters that were trimmed with white braid.
The marines' suits were trimmed with gold braid. Instead of Tam o'
Shanters they had caps. We went also to see Fort Charles. The moats
are three feet deep and five feet broad. They are very thickly
overgrown with scrub-oak. We picked up a few shells on the beach as
mementos of our trip to the _Indiana_. I would like a few
correspondents.
EMILY MITTELL.
BLUFFTON, S. C.
* * * * *
Books for a Girls' Chapter.
I have organized a little club of five girls, three
thirteen-year-olds, one ten, and one eleven years. We call it the
Iris Club, in honor of Juno's hand-maiden between the earth and
sky; and also in honor of her, our colors are purple and white. Our
dues for the first month are ten cents, and after that five cents.
We are going to give these dues to the Home for Friendless
Children. I thought it would be nice to take up some noted work
which all would enjoy--the oldest as well as the youngest. I love
Dickens, but his works are so lengthy, and the plot so long in
evolving, that the younger ones might lose interest. Can you
suggest a list of books?
ADELAIDE L. W. ERMENTROUT.
READING, PA.
Ellen Douglas Deland's _Oakleigh_, _The Wide, Wide World_, which is a
standard, but which you may have read, and Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's
books--all of them.
* * * * *
Amateur Illustrator's Outfit.
"What utensils are needed by an amateur illustrator, and where can
they be obtained? J. S."
CORNING, N. Y.
Illustrations are made in two ways--pen-drawing, and what is called
"wash." For the former get good Bristol board, a bottle of drawing-ink,
and some small steel pens. The outfit will cost half a dollar, perhaps,
and can be had from a dealer in artists' materials, or your bookseller
may have them. If he has not, he can get them for you. To draw in wash
use ivory black and Chinese white. The drawing is a water-color, and the
picture is made with the lights and shades of the background, the ink,
and the white. Use water-color paper and small sable brushes--half a
dozen assorted sizes. You can get the outfit by sending to the address
given in any advertisement. These are all the utensils you need. The
rest comes by practice and study.
* * * * *
A Query in Natural History.
Adelaide L. W. Ermentrout asks: "Can any one interested in natural
history tell me the name of the queer object which I am going to
describe? It is a worm about one inch long and one-fourth of an inch in
diameter. The body is brown, but over the back is a patch of green
bordered with white. In the centre of this patch is a brown spot. At
each end of the body are two horns covered with bristles, and around the
body are tufts of bristles like fringe on a cushion. At one end, under
the body, is a little head with which it feels its way. There are two
tiny eyes at the sides. Its under side has little holes in three
parallel rows, by which, I suppose, it clings. It is a hideous creature.
What is it, where does it come from, and what does it develop into?"
* * * * *
A Startling Experiment.
Not long ago I went to the American Institute Fair, in New York,
and went through a most mysterious performance. At one end of the
hall was the "illustrated" X rays. To see this wonder, you pay ten
cents and put your hand in front of a tube and peep through an
instrument which looks like a stereoscope. At first you see nothing
but a dark object; then, as if by magic, a faint outline of the
hand appears, and then--horrors--you see the bones--the actual
bones--of your own hand with all their ugliness!
This is a most wonderful experiment, and, if possible, I would
advise all those who can, to "see the bones of your own hand." Some
timid persons may shrink from this ghastly sight, but I firmly
believe that they would learn something by seeing this marvellous
scientific experiment.
FRED. W. PANGBORN, JUN.
HACKENSACK, N. J.
* * * * *
The Lesson of a Life.
The late George du Maurier was an example of a man who worked his way to
fame and fortune. True, when just turned sixty he had a wonderful "run
of luck," but it is to be remembered that his genius had been present
all the long up-hill years before sixty. The trouble was, the world
would not see it.
Daniel Webster, upon the conclusion of the greatest effort of his life,
that wonderful speech in the United States Senate, was congratulated on
being able to make such a speech off-hand. Asked if it really was
extempore, as it appeared, he replied, "Yes, but I have been all my life
preparing it."
It was much this way with the late novelist. Du Maurier wrote and the
world applauded. Quite simple. Quite easy. Not so. Du Maurier studied
for many, many years, and faced discouragements that would have sent
weaker men to the wall. Like Webster, his effort at last seemed almost
"extempore" in spite of the fact that his custom was to write, rewrite,
tear up, write again and change; but he had been all his life a student,
a patient toiler, piling up a capital of experience, not knowing whether
he should ever be able to realize any thing from it or not. In spite of
Du Maurier's phenomenal success near the close of his life, his personal
history is a lesson to young persons in this: That the price of success
must be paid, just as the price must be paid for land, for gold, or for
anything else of value.
* * * * *
"Chinese" by the Way of South Africa.
From distant South Africa comes the following. It is not quite new, if
it did come so far, but we print it, partly because it always
stimulates, and partly to oblige the sender, J. G. Tanté, who is a young
stamp-collector of that distant place where we have so many other Round
Table members--Somerset East, Cape Colony, South Africa. Here is the
story: