Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-18
A DARK DEED.

was very geulal fellow anu "A ulOsI Coth
paniOnable, patient companion, he had
one defect He looked on me rs photo
graphic crank. ! use his own words and
don't attempt to defend them. | generally
got Sam to stand in some sort Of attitude
in the immediate foreground while set
my tripod and took the view Of the snow
covered mountains or green valleys OF
Switzerland In looking over these piCt-
ures now. | tind sam depicted in each Of
them with very prn>lNe C"untenance.
He is a sad looking young man in the
phOtugrs phs lie seems to have thought
il necessary 10 assume IA crushed, martyr
I like attitude and his woe hcgUnc look re
calls to my mind the various protests he
entered against the wasting Of valuable
time with such Nonsense rs photograph
ing
We had had long day Of it in the dill
gence from Geneva to ChamOuniX We
bad started at : O'Clock in the morning
EhiCh meant getting up at the untimely
hour of Il. and We had been all day on the
road. When We came to within two miles
Of ChamouniN | proposed To sam that We
would get off and climb the mountain to
. the Glacier de BLOSSOMS, which CLEANED
white and pure in the evening sun, n sort
/ of immaculate shirt front bosom of the
mountain.
So We stopped the diligence and climbed
/ down Ia the ground, took two photo
| graphs of the glacier, one with sam lying
( on the grass, and the other with him lean
ing against a fence gazing in rapt admira-
ton at the glacier We climbed up "A mar
row patch which wound its way through
| the close picket of small trees, and after a
/ hard tramp came to the foot of the ice
/ river. \ farther tramp brought us to "A
| grOttO in the ice with wooden shanty at
the entrance Of it and a legend on the
door centre ! franc" The door was locked
and the grOttO was closed for the night !
photographed the distant town of Cham
OuniX, and the great valley i'll which the
setting shune, and Sam was in the
foreground leaning tiredly ON his alren
. stock
This is the last picture we can take to
day | said, and no sooner had | said ii
than Sam slid down OH his alpenstock and
! lying prone on the ground murmured,
Thank heaven
| just mention this incident tO show
what an enthusiastic man has to contend
with when he travels with an lllitcrate
fellow who has no soul fur the photo
graphic art. Ii was evening when we got
to the Hotel des Alps, in the ChamUunlX,
! where our baggage had been safely de
| posted. We were very tired. don't re
/ member ever feeling SO exhausted, and
after a wearisOme table de hOte we went
to our rooms, sam to take his calm night :
| rest and TO put another roll of sensitive
paper in the holder preparatory To a day >
! photographiug on and around the Mer de
| Glace When entered the room | saw it
| was too light to admit OF changing the
roll had always waited until darkness
came on and then lit my little red lamp.
taken out the used roll and put in an un-
used one Each roll WAS good for twenty
| five photographs and thus every day while
| in Switzerland | took that number of neg
atives
flung myself down on the bed and re
| solved TO rest until the light which fingers
! long III the Swiss valleys had disappeared
! When | awOke it was broad daylight. Ac-
Coutered as | was, had slept sOuudly all
night. The first appalling thought that
struck me WAS that would have TO spend
an entire day in the most interesting part
of Switzerland without being able 1, take
a single picture. | heard in anticipation
SANS tiendish laugh when the state of
| things broke on him Then il struck me
| that in "A place the size of ChamOuniX
! there must be a photographer who had
| dark room and hal no doubt but that he
| would let me use it for the occasion. In
| vestigation proved, however. that al
| though there were plenty Of photographs
! for sale there was not a photographer, or
phutographiug gallery i'll the town Of
! ChamuunIN. | went to Sans room and
| routed him out. SAN | said To him I'm
afraid were dished on phutographing to
! day. | didn't change the roll last night
and there is no dark room in the town"
| shall pass over as briefly as possible
Sans insulting conduct on this occasion
| His wild and unrestratned glee WAS yer ,
much out of place, as | didn't hesitate
! TO tell him this but instead of checking
his outburst it seemed only To increase
his hilarity.
Now" said to him, "as soon
rs you are through making lun-
attic asylum of this room wish you
| would put something on you and
come TO room twenty seven, where think
with your help, | may be able to exclude
the light and make a successful change
This calmed him down with very great
suddennesss.
"Do YOU" ne said huskily: do you really
expect such "A sacrifice ON my part;7
Il not only expect it, said, but | in
sist on il"
No p looks out on the main street OF
ChamouniX. drew down the curtains of
the windows, and standing OF a chair
held up all the bedclotnes against il; but
everybody knows the transparent nature
of hotel coverings all the world over, and
need hardly say that the light filtered
through in way that made all the photo
graphic work Ri imposslbility. | lit the
little red lamp and sam came in.
locked the door and threw the bedclothes
at the bottom of il, 50 as to shut out
the light from near the floor, and said 10
sam:
The only way out Of this thing seems to
be that you will have TO hold this mat
tresS up against the window 50 as To keep
out the light while | change the roll OF
paper
| ran the curtain up again, took the
mattress of the bed while Sam stood on
the chair, hoisted it up TO him, and then,
by stretching out an arm to each corner
and leaning against it, ne effectually shut
out the light from the room had just
opened the roll holder when sam cried in
a voice of exhaustion:
Great CAESARS ghost; can't stand this
attitude ten seconds longer
Hang on, sam said; hang on"
Its impossible" he said family. Get
those things under cover quick; I've got tc
let 60"
jumped for my valise, tore it open,
thrust the roll holder into it, and jammed
it shut
"Now," said |, you can take a rest"
Instantly sam let the mattress drop in a
heap on the floor.
"Oh, heavens!' he cried: what have |
done to deserve this? The rack is a pleas
ant pastime compared with holding up
that mattress"
What a fuss" said, "you make of lit
thing like that"
Fuss Fuss'" Well, you just try it for
a minute, will yOu;'
got up on the chair and tried it My
Ums were stretched upwards 10 their ut
most length, my hands grI'ped the two
corners of the mattress. For the first five
seconds NEuS .lI ri h.. nov, -o,