The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-06-13
DAMS PHOTOGRAPH.

The qucerest fellow, without exception,
in all Wexford, was Daniel Battles.
He was sixteen years Of age, yet be had
the reputation of possessing as much
knowledge about odd and out-of- the.way
things as any ten average lads. He was
believed to have an intimate acquaintance
with every trout In the streams. and every
bird in the woods, and every rabbit in the
burrows. He had the largest collection
of BIRDS eggs to be found IN the country !;
and it was reported, and solemnly be-
lieved by all the small boys in the neigh
borhood, that he had secret understand
ing with the king fishers and orioles, by
which they agreed to surrender one egg
of each litter to him, in consideration Of
his promise to let all others alone.
He was always taking up some new
idea to work out, and if he did not know
all about many things, he really seemed
to know little about everything. He
knew how to print, hewq to bleed a
horse, how to run the telegraph instru-
ment, how to cultivate silk worms, how to
make the most outrageous noises with his
hands, how to graft pears, how to write
backwards, how to play checkers with
his eyes shut, and in short, he knew how
to do nearly everything that came in his
way to learn. ,,,y,,s.,.
One day the neighbors opened their
eyes and pricked up their ears at the news
that Dan had taken up photography; not
that they were astonished at anything
that Dan did, but they were interested in
his enterprise, though regarding it simply
as another freak of curious genius.
swell, well, "said they, Struggling their
shoulders, "Dan is an old stick. It's
about time he went into omething useful.
Photography, eh?" -
The report was true. Dam had obtained
a camera of good size, and was expert
menting with it up III his ''den," in one
end of his mothers garnet.
1t would be hard to imagine more I'M
tidy, haotic-looking place than Dams
"den." 1t was full of Bottles, old clothes,
musical instruments. carpenters tools, old
maps, torn pictures, pots Of paint and
chemicals, fragments of old machines,
stuffed birds, etc; and it smelled so fear
fully that no one but Dan could ever stay
in it long enough to make an inventory
of the contents. a'-as--
Dan was as odd-looking character as
one would be likely to see in years
travel. He was thin and lank in the
body and legs. His head was large, and
he had light blue eyes, and long whitish
hair, which he rarely coined, and which
struggled about all over his head, as if
the rats had made nests in it the last
time he slept. p g. ~~
He was not much of talker. He gen
orally kept silent and stared. Nobody
knew what an amount of thinking he did
meanwhile, and in fact, many who
laughed at his greenness had to confess
afterwards that he not only saw all
things that we're going on, but knew
more about what he saw than the smart
est of them.
Dan went on with his ,photographing
for several weeks. He learned to take
very good pictures, but he was far from
satisfied. He grew thoughtful and almost
melancholy. His fingers were always
stained black and brown with acids that
he could not wash, off, and his clothing
always gave out the peculiar scent Of
collodion.'
Dams mother began really to be anx-
ious. The boy was growing up a loose
Jack of-all-trades, but without any par
ticular turn for one profitable calling
1t was necessary that he should begin to
earn money pretty soon, and she was
anxious that he should choose some sim
gle business and stick to it. She took
the boy in hand and expostulated with
him. Dan looked distressed.
"1'm trying to do something, mother.
I'm just getting hold of it now, guess.
l only want little more time"
This was about as long a speech as
Dan was in the habit of making at one
time. His mother was pacitied, and for
the present, let him alone.
Two or three more weeks slipped by.
Dan made pictures of everybody he could
get before his camera. He photographed
the cat and her kittens. He photo
graphed his eden" and all his miscella-
| neous trumpery. He photographed the
boys in the street; and he photographed
buildings, fences and trees. ......, ,....
Still he did not succeed to his mind.
His pictures lacked the peculiar shading
of tstone" that he wanted. His dream
was to achieve this, which he believed
would not only make them very beauti-
full, but give him large profitable Gus
tom. 80"
He labored necessarily, now trying this
plan, now trying that, but without any
perfect result.
In the course Of his experiments out OF
his garnet window, Dan made street pic
lures of people both near and remote, in
diverse attitudes, and at nearly all hours
of the day. Dan took them in single fig
ures and in groups; he took them in look
ing up and looking down; making ges-