The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1873-07-10
Photographic.
[From the Danbury News.

Having photograph taken is one Of
the great events in Il mans life. The
chief desire is to look the very best,
and on the success of picture hinges in
many cases the most important epoch
in life. To work up a proper appear
ance time enough is used which, if de-
voted to catching tleas for their phos-
phorus, would cancel the entire nation
al debt and establish u New York daily
paper. When you have completed your
toilet you go to the gallery and force
Yourself into nonchalence of express
sion that is too absurd for anything.
Then you take the chair, spread your
legs gracefully, appropriate calm and
Indifferent look, and commence to per-
spire. An attenuated man with pale
face, long hair and soiled nose now
comes out of n cavern, and adjusts the
camera. Then he gets back OF you and
tells you to sit back as far as you can
in the chair, and that it has been re-
markably back spring. After getting
you back till your spine interferes with
the chair itself, he shoves your head
into pair of ice tongs, and dashes at
the camera again. Here, with piece
of discolored velvet over his head, he
bombards you in this manner: :" Your
chin out little, please" The chin IS
protruded. "That's nicely now a little
more" The chin advances again, and
the pomade commences to melt, and
start for freedom. Then he comes back
to you and slaps one of your hands on
your leg in such position as togive you
the appearance of trying to lift it over
your head. The other is turned under
itself, and has become so sweaty that
you begin to fear that it will stick there
permanently. A new stream of pomade
finds it's way out, and starts downward.
Then he shakes your head in the tOngs
till it settles right, and says it looks
like rain, and puts your chin out again,
and punches out your chest, and says
he doesn't know what the poor are to
do next winter, unless there is a radi-
cal change in affairs, and then takes the
top of your head in one hand and your
chin in the other, and gives your neck
wrench that would earn any other
man prominent position in n new hos
pital. Then he runs his hands through
your hair and scratches your scalp, and
steps back to the camera and the injured
velvet for another look. BY this time
new sweat and pomade have started out.
The whites Of your eyes show unpleas-
antly, and your whole body feels as if
it had been visited by an enormous
cramp, and another and much bigger
one was momehtarily expected. Then
he points at something for you to look
at; tells you to look cheerful and COM
posed, and snatches away the velvet and
pulls out his watch. When he gets
tired, and you feel as if there was but
very little left in this world to live for,
he restores the velvet, says it is an un-
favorable day for picture, but he
hopes for the best, and Immediately
disappears in his den. Then you get up
and stretch yourself, slap on your hat
and Immediately sneak home, feeling
mean, humbled, and altogether too
wretched for description. The first
friend who sees the picture says he can
see enough resemblance to make GER
tain that it is you, but you have tried to
look too formal to be natural and grace
full.