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.
HOW TO FINISH LANTERN SLIDES.
For the benefit of those of our club who have never made lantern slides, we give the cost with the list of materials required. Lantern-slide plates, 55c. per box; mats, twenty-five for 25c.; wafers for marking corners, 10c. per box; cover glass, 60c. per box (two dozen in box); gummed binding strips, 20c. per hundred; printed labels for name and number, 20c. per hundred.
The mats usually come with the opening already cut, but one style of mat has the shape of different openings stamped on it in gilt lines, and may be cut along the lines of the opening best suited to the subject. Having the mat ready, place it over the slide on the film side, gumming it slightly at the corners to hold it in place, then in the lower left-hand corner of the slide as it lies film side up gum one of the round wafers. This wafer is always placed at the lower left-hand side of the lantern slide, and is a guide to the operator in putting the slide into the lantern. Dust the film with a fine camel's-hair brush or a piece of clean dry chamois, and place over it one of the cover glasses which has been previously cleaned and polished. These glasses are very thin and the edges sharp, and care must be taken in handling, or one is liable to get a severe cut. Some lantern-slide makers, in preparing a quantity of slides, finish each slide separately, while others mat the slides, then apply the wafers, then the cover glasses, and so on through the several operations necessary to the finishing of a slide. In the latter case it is better to gum the cover glasses at the corners just enough to hold them in place.
The next step is to bind the slide and cover glass together. Take one of the gummed strips—which are cut the exact length required for the slide—moisten it with a sponge, take the slide and cover in the right hand, lay the end of the strip on the table (keeping hold of it with the left hand), and put one of the corners of the slide near the end of the strip. Press down firmly on the strip so as to hold it in place, and bring the strip along the edge of the glass; then, without lifting the slide from the table, lower the side on which has been placed the strip, and carry the binder on to the next corner, and so round the plate. Turn the edges of the strip down on the plate, cutting away the extra thickness at the corners. If the strip becomes dry before the operation is finished, it can be moistened again. The gum on the strips is so very sticky that it will bear much rough usage and still hold the slide and cover glass together.
The last process is to apply the labels. These are pasted on the right-hand side of the slide, opposite the side on which is the wafer. The slide is now ready for name and number, which is written or printed on the label.
Many skilful amateurs make slides from their finest plates, thinking it one of the best ways of preserving their pictures, for if the original negative is broken, another can be made from the slide. Mr. E. L. Wilson has invented an apparatus for viewing lantern slides without the aid of a lantern. It consists of a large condensing lens fitted to a tube in one end of which is a frame for the slides. This apparatus has been given the name of touroscope.
Harry McLachlin asks for a treatment for over-exposed plates. As soon as the image flashes up, showing that the plate has been over-exposed, take it from the developer and place it in a tray of clean water to stop development. Turn the developer from the tray and rinse the tray. Mix up a weak solution of developer, or dilute this same developer with one-third water. Add to it a few drops of a solution of bromide of potassium prepared with ¼ oz. of bromide to 5 oz. of water. This solution should be mixed ready for use and marked "Restrainer." The bromide is called a restrainer because it makes the development proceed more slowly. Put the plate back in the tray and turn over the weak developer. Rock the tray gently, and if the image still comes out too fast, add a few more drops of the bromide. Unless the plate has been very much over-exposed, one can get a good negative by this process.
Harry McLachlin, Whitehall, N.H.; H. A. Kretschmar, West Nyack, N. Y.; Louis Earl Sherwood, North Ontario, Cal.; Joseph M. Kimball, 16 Montague St., Providence, R. I.—wish to become members of the Camera Club.
Sir Knight Harry Chase, 175 Sumner St., Malden, Mass., wishes to get one or two pictures that have taken prizes in the Round Table contest. Will any member who has won a prize write to Sir Harry? He will pay for the pictures or exchange prints.
M. R. asks if the Comet Camera is a good one for beginners. The Comet is a nice little camera which takes very small pictures. It would be more satisfactory to buy a larger camera, and use glass plates.