Roche's Herbal Embrocation.
The celebrated and effectual English Cure without internal medicine. Proprietors, W. Edward & Son, London, England.
E. Fougera & Co., 30 North William St., N.Y.
The Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps ind tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.
So many inquiries have been received of late asking information regarding bicycling in Europe, that it will prove more satisfactory to answer these in a general way in this Department than to attempt to give specific replies to each writer. The usual question which presents itself is the one of expense. How cheaply can a person make a trip from New York to England by steamer, ride through England for a month, and return? Many a boy and girl has the time in school or college vacation to take this trip if it could be done at a reasonable figure. Crossing the ocean is now a much cheaper, quicker, and easier matter than it used to be. There are very comfortable cattle-steamers leaving New York for London which make the trip in ten or twelve days, and which carry perhaps twenty-five passengers. The accommodations are very good, and it is a perfectly feasible method of crossing the ocean. The fare on these steamers, first-class, ranges from $40 up. On the regular passenger steamers it is quite proper, and does not involve a loss of dignity, for school-boys or college men to cross second-class, which ranges from $35 up. You can see, then, that so far as going from America to England is concerned not much expense is involved; $60 to $70 will procure the round-trip passage, which will occupy about sixteen to twenty days. On the other side the travelling expenses with a wheel may be made almost anything the individual chooses to make them. One wheelman will ride from city to city, stopping at large hotels in each city, spending several days there, and going to theatres and places of amusement. Another will stop at the inns through the midland counties of England, ride through the cities, and stop at hotels in Scotland. A third will invariably try some farmer or shepherd's cottage, there ask to be taken in overnight, and will only enter public-houses when he comes to some such famous hostelry as the Swan Inn near Therlmere. These are only three grades of travellers, and where the first will average from $10 to $20 a day, the third will probably do it on the average of not more than $1 a day.
Let us take up the question of English wheeling this week, and the French side of bicycling next week. To bicycle through England certain simple facts should be borne in mind. In the first place, do not take a steamer for Liverpool. Sail from New York or Boston by a steamer that stops at Southampton, and begin your trip through England from Southampton itself. If you go to Liverpool, there will be some difficulty in getting out of Liverpool itself, and the country immediately around Liverpool is not so attractive as that around Southampton. Starting from Southampton, then, cross to Isle of Wight and ride through Newport and Ryde, going even so far as St. Catharine's Point. Returning to the mainland, it may be said that any route you may lay out will lead you through beautiful country of fine roads, and suitable places for stopping at every mile. One good ride is through Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall to Land's End. But the chief route, and the best one probably if it is your first in England, is to run from Southampton through Winchester, Aldershot, and thence across a corner of Surrey to London. From London, following the Thames, out through Windsor, Henley, Abingdon, to Oxford; thence to Cheltenham, and from this point passing up through Warwickshire, circling around Birmingham instead of going into the city, and making for Leicester. From Leicester run straight to Derby, and then there are many routes to Chester. From Chester the object should be to reach Windermere without passing through too many of the great manufacturing towns. This route each man must pick out according to his map and his own judgment.
On reaching Windermere, on the edge of Lake Windermere, move on to Ambleside, Keswick; thence through Newmarket to Carlisle. Leaving Carlisle, make for the Solway Firth railway bridge, cross on the railroad train, and run up through Dumfries. From this point to Ayr there is a very good road, and at the end of it any one who is an admirer of Burns may study him in his home. From Ayr proceed to Glasgow through Kilmarnock, and from Glasgow the prettiest run is through Dumbarton up the western shore of Loch Lomond; then, following the valley at the north end of the Loch, you will come in time to Tyndrum, and from here it is not a long run to Oban. Here the trip may be further extended up the Caledonian Canal, or the return trip may be made through Stirling to Edinburgh, and thence back to London along the east coast. Such a trip may be completed, including the journey over and back, in from six to eight weeks, and if the method of going to private houses wherever feasible is followed, the expense need not exceed $250.
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.
PREPARATION OF TESTED SENSITIVE PAPERS.
NO. 4.—HOW TO MAKE GREEN TONES.
Green prints may be made by first making a red print, and then, by the use of nitrate of cobalt, changing the red tone to a brilliant green. The process for making red prints is fully described in No. 850 of the Round Table, but we repeat the formula, referring the amateur to the paper on red prints for fuller details.
Sensitize photographic paper by floating it on a solution made of 96 grs. of nitrate of uranium dissolved in 8 oz. of distilled water. Dry by a gentle heat, and print. This is not a printing-out paper, but the picture is brought out by development. A strong negative requires ten minutes in bright sunlight and two hours in the shade. Remove the print from the frame, and place at once in a dish of hot water for 30 seconds (120° Fahr.). Drain off the water, and lay the print face up in a toning-tray, and flood with a solution made of 40 grs. of red prussiate of potash and 4 oz. of distilled water. Keep the tray in motion so that all parts of the print may be equally affected by the developer. In a few minutes the picture will begin to appear, and will develop up a beautiful red color. Wash this print in several changes of water till no more color runs from it and the washing water is clear.
Have ready a ten-per-cent. solution of nitrate of cobalt. Place the red print in this without drying, leave it in for one minute, remove, and, without washing, dry by a fire. The red print will turn to a beautiful green; the more intense the heat used in drying the more brilliant will be the green color. This print is not permanent, but must be made so by immersing in a fixing solution prepared as follows:
| Distilled Water | 4 | oz. |
| Sulphate of Iron | 80 | grs. |
| Sulphuric Acid | 4 | scruples. |
Have this solution made up at the dealer in photographic supplies, as the sulphuric acid is a dangerous acid to handle. The small quantity in the solution will do no harm, though it is best to use rubber fingertips when handling all known poisonous chemicals. Place the print in this fixing solution for 30 seconds, pass it through three or four changes of water, and dry by the fire. Landscapes printed on green tinted paper make a pleasing change from the brown and black tones generally used.
Sir Knight W. F. Blatchley asks what kind of sensitized paper to use for pictures which are to be reproduced in periodicals. Any printing paper, with the exception of blue prints, may be used; but the black and white tones are preferred to the reddish browns.
Sir Knight Le Roy Thompson asks what other color beside red and violet may be produced with nitrate of uranium. Green, blue-black, chestnut-brown, copper color, and several other tints may be made by different toning solutions or treatments of the print. The processes will be described in early numbers of the Round Table.
Sir Knight Thomas S. Winston, Box 65, Albertville, La., says that he has some curios, consisting of turtle shells, water moss, water celery, wild boar's tusks, etc., and a collection of about one thousand stamps, which he would like to exchange for a Pocket Kodak or a Kombi Camera.
Sir Knight Lawrence Fraley sends the following formula for developing bromide paper: Water (filtered), 20 oz.; carbonate of soda, 300 grs.; sulphite of soda, 500 grs.; hydrochinon, 30 grs.; metol, 30 grs. Sir Knight Lawrence says that he has used this developer, and finds that one can make a much shorter exposure and obtain clear whites and fine detail in shadows. This developer works equally well with dry plates. Sir Lawrence has the thanks of the club for his formula.
Lesley Ashburner asks what makes prints gray; the sizes and prices of transferrotype and bromide paper; a formula for toning solution; and in what number it gives directions for enlargements. The reason prints assume a gray color is because they are left too long in the toning solution, or the toning solution is not fresh. Bromide and transferrotype paper may be bought in any size desired; 4 by 5 costs 50 cents per dozen, and 5 by 7 costs 65 cents per dozen for both papers. A formula for toning solution may be found in No. 825. A formula for toning solution comes with every package of sensitive paper, and may always be relied on to produce good results. Several toning solutions will be given in an early number of the Camera Club. The number giving directions for enlarging is No. 801 of the Round Table, and the article is entitled "Bromide Enlargements."
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 second type of the 5c. Baton Rouge has been seen by Mr. Deats with the error McCcrmick.
The widespread collecting of imprints of the current issue of U.S. stamps has led an enterprising publisher in New York to place on the market an album for the use of collectors. Each Plate No. has a page with spaces for all four positions of the imprint, and separate pages are prepared for the watermarked and unwatermarked varieties.
The newspapers report the arrest, in Chicago, of a gang of counterfeiters who have been printing counterfeit U.S. 2c. stamps by lithographic process, in sheets containing twenty-five stamps. It is said that large quantities of the stamps have been used. No copies have been seen in New York as yet. Should any of the Round Table readers have any copies of these stamps, I should be glad to see one. They are described as bearing a smudged look.
The influence of fashion in fixing the price of stamps has been curiously illustrated at the last large auction held in New York city. The gems of the sale were the 1878 reprints of the U.S. stamps from 1847 to 1870, and of the periodical stamps from 2c. to 60c. These reprint periodicals are the only copies known, and yet the price obtained for them was an average of only $6 each. The original 9c. stamp, of which hundreds of copies are in existence, sells for $15. The unique reprint of the same stamp brought $10 only. The purchaser secured a great bargain.
An old story has been going the rounds of the press lately of how a small boy wrote to Field-Marshal Yamagata for some Japanese stamps, and received in reply a complete set of all the Japanese stamps unused. The story is probably true, but the sequel is not given. The success of this boy's request was published, and as a result the Marshal was overwhelmed by thousands of similar requests from collectors all over the world. Of course they got nothing.
Belgium has caught the speculation fever. Designs have been invited for stamps to be used in commemoration of the International Exhibition to be held in 1897. Germany has filed an official protest against such stamps by proposing the following resolution, which will be considered at the International Postal Union Congress at Washington in May, 1897: "Resolved, That the International Postal Union will exclude all stamps which are not necessary for actual postal requirements, especially the so-called Jubilee and Celebration stamps."
Sir Robert Hart, Commissioner of the Chinese Customs, has been asked by the Emperor of China to organize a national postal system. If the project is carried out, the many Chinese Locals will be made valueless in the eyes of every one.
R. Craig.—The current 50c. U.S. cancelled is worth 10c. The old bank bill has no value.
E. C. Wood, Germantown, Pa., K. C. Gibson, Morrisburg, Ont., wish to exchange U. S. and Canada stamps.
W. C. A.—The rarest U.S. cents are 1793, Liberty Cap, $7.50; 1799 over 98, $7.50; 1799, perfect date, $10.
C. F. Philip.—Values of sets of U.S. Departments in unused "mint" condition, are, State, $287; Executive, $49; Navy, $40; Agriculture, $27.65; Treasury, $12; War, $4.50; Post-office, $4.50; Justice, $110; Interior, $4.50. Used sets are not worth as much, and damaged sets are materially less in value. The loss of a single perforation, or uneven centering, will affect some of the stamps from ten per cent. to thirty per cent. in value.
J. H. Brown.—There are two varieties of the 1860 silver 5c. piece. The one bearing the figure of Liberty with "United States of America" around it is common. The one with Liberty surrounded by stars in place of "United States of America" is rare. Dealers charge $5 for a good copy of the rare stamp, 10c. for the common one.
J. S. Popper.—I do not know what album you have, nor can I say whether your stamp is genuine or counterfeit, as I have not seen it. The New York 5c. black, Washington's portrait, has a space in all the standard albums, at the beginning of the U.S. issues. The Saxony 10 gr. blue is worth $4. The Roman stamps are catalogued at 5c. each.
J. Hall.—The 24c. U.S. 1851, unperforated, is a very rare stamp. An unsevered pair would be worth from $250 to $500. A single stamp is worth $100. Unprincipled parties have taken copies of the 1856 perforated stamp with wide margins, and trimmed off the perforations, then offering the same as unperforated.
N. C. Wilbur.—Your coin is a Columbian quarter made by the U.S. government, and is a legal tender for face value. It is getting a little scarce, and dealers now ask $1.25 for it.
Philatus.