Show SNAP SHOTT SHOW AND SHUTT SHUTTER ER E by y wilfrid Klich klickmann mann Co copyright wright 1906 by joseph B bowles snap shott shutter makers of cameras were advel eibing for a gen tieman to fill the position of chief op aerator there m was as nothing suspicious about the advertisement and its almont i leading tone prepossessed me required A calabre cai able photographic operator to undertake sole charge of dark room and develop ng branch of our business liberal salary apply to snap shott shutter etc the liberal salary seemed to promise well As regarded my own suitability for the post I 1 had no mis givings photography held no unsolved mysteries tor for me while in algebraic formulae connected with diaphragms angles and foci of lenses I 1 was quite at home further snap shott t L shutter were an eminent firm and their particular make of apparatus was probably the most terrible with which the amateur 1 hotl 1 l aphia fiend could arm himself it was called a hand camera tin plying that it could be carried in the hand and to distinguish it from that variety which entails the attendance ot of a strong porter tor for locomotion you surely know thema thousands of persons who are absolutely eol sol ignorant of tle tt e chein chemic tell il transformation required to produce a photograph are now able through the instrumentality of snap shott shut ter to write themselves amateur pho tog raphers the firm do the developing and print as many copies as are ordered by the photographers the latter then have the delight ot of exhibiting to their friends with an assumed care the choicest of their efforts these are a few little things I 1 snapped the other day lay on one will re mark park with a modest deprecating air mr brown the merchant t prince arguing with a man and here s miss green the poetess eating a sand I 1 in told its tt s quite unique in its way my friends rave about it I 1 dropped snap shott S shutter butter a line and begged to be fa bored with the name and address of bored the he operator lately holding the post by return the following reached me dear sir in tn answer anser to your cour leous note we regret to inform iou ou that the gentleman iou ou alluded to Is dead yours truly snap shott shutter P S we trust to receive shortly your application for the position it was disconcerting to be unable to ascertain how he had liked the work I 1 tried again and asked d tor for the ad dress of his predo predecessor cessor in office to my surprise I 1 learned tl at this gen tieman was at present in charge ot of his medical attendant at a private asylum A postscript informed me that S S b would await my aepli cation before coming to a decision As the firm were A ere meeting me more than half way ovay I 1 did lid not wish to ap pear too exacting and accordingly ac so cepter the post my arrival created so somewhat of a sensation the interest I 1 excited wa was distinctly flattering to a modest man some of the clerks seemed to regard me in a strange manner and I 1 could have vowed there was a look almost akin to pity pitr in the eyes of the lady typist I 1 began with a batch of a dozen dolen plates which the sender by his letter declared to be of exceptional interest the first six plates were negatives but not in the generally acael ted sense of the word by no stretch of imag could the eye of faith detect the slightest trace of any picture and mopping my brov brow I 1 wondered whether the photographer had dispatched me a box of unexposed plates number seven was like its predecessors and so was the next and the next the mistake was obvious the man had sent me a dozen new plates in error A few minutes would suffice to finish oft off the remainder A shock awaited me with the last of all gazing darkly into the developing dish signs of great distress were quickly manifest in the film I 1 dashed it into clean water proceeding cau piously with a weak solution a taint faint image of a church became apparent considerably obscured by the masts of ships beads of perspiration kept my forehead cool as further Incon grui grul ties became evident A phantom auto mobile and an indescribable jumble of the art museum and brooklyn bridge darkened the whole it was indeed an interesting set of pictures marred by the fact that all had been taken on one and the same negative the operator had diligently pulled the trigger a dozen times but had not thought it necessary to change the plate it seemed unfortunate that I 1 should have begun on so many failures but I 1 looked tor for better I 1 ick on the mor row alas I 1 it was a forlorn hope and the second day closed in gloom during the third and fourth day I 1 tackled the task grimly determined to bear up and earn my liberal sal ary the instructions from the re selective ive senders of the plates I 1 rel with avidity each fresh letter waa was like the arrival in the prison cell ol 01 a warder welcome even if accod panted by a task saturday dawned and catching sight of my face in the mirror while ing I 1 started at my haggard look how I 1 had aged an indomitable spirit however urged me to go to the studio and I 1 ignored the anxious faces of the staff I 1 felt ready to for felt a week weeks salary it if only one of the plates showed signs of developing into something the tension was not relieved when I 1 found a note a month old left by my arede predecessor cessor in office intimating his intention of committing suicide the cheery manager shook my hand each day surreptitiously feeling my pulse the while the hope that springs eternally in the human breast received a slight encouragement a few days later slowly developing before my eyes and distinctly visible was a scene of a busy quay a steamer gangways and people hurrying on board it waa was a beautiful little negative and while I 1 laid it aside to soak I 1 acknowledged humbly to myself a small thing may perchance preserve the balance of an intellect other pictures followed all good in their way my excitement knew no bounds for the relief was great iu istead of filling up one of snap shott shutters usual forma forms we regret to inform you that thele have been failures in the parcel ot of plates forwarded to us for development I 1 wrote a special note condrat elating the photographer two days dayl afterwards the prints were returned with a letter worded in stronger terms than the circumstance circumstances seemed to mariant wan ant it was f from rom an irate gentleman to whom I 1 bad had in fix error sent the wrong proofs he demanded bis his proper prope r negatives negatives what ever they were th they ey were re failures and insisted that I 1 had sent him the other pictures to annoy him and with malice mallee aforethought it lt was merely a slip on my part and one quite ex when my excitable feelings were taken into account but fate was evidently against me A gentleman named robinson had obtained an excellent snapshot of a prize porker at a county fair and an other amateur photographer of the a C I 1 started at my hailward Ha ilgard look same name had also benr plates to be developed will it be believed a SIMI lar mistake occurred again and the picture of the quadruped with the rotundity of a balloon came into the pos session of mr robinson the well known vegetarian advocate eT the lat ter when pointing out my mistake took the opportunity of enclosing a couple of tracts on the viciousness of carnivorous diet versus the spiritual ity of bean feasts the manager must have noticed my altered appearance tor for he would look the other way it I 1 approached him he assured me I 1 need not be alarmed at the whiteness of my hair it was mer merely ely the effect of the darkroom dark room he ile add added ed that it would go off after a time it did ln in fact it dropped off there Is no need to linger over the remaining brief period during which I 1 stayed in the employ of snap shott S shutter in three months the tension had undermined my cons titu tion I 1 am no i 1 taking the rest cure at a seaside danl arlum and hope inside of a year or two to be able to take an other posit position lon not with snap shott shutter |