Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-07-20

cited many experimenters to seek inn
provements upon them. Mr.. Burgess, Of
Peckham. II. Kennett and Charles Ben
nett--the latter ms late rs -S0-made
the chief Improvements in the direction
of increasing the scnsitiveness of the dry
plates, In which such success has been
eventually attained that now an expos
ure for the inflnitesimal part Of q Sec
ond is as effective as that Of half a min
ute was less than decade ago. Now
dry plates are universally used for por-
traiture, landscapes. " instantaneous"
views, etc.
When the sensitiveness of the dry
plates had been perfected In 1880, they
were still defective in the very import
ant particular that they would not stand
the heat of our climate. At a tempera-
ture OF S5 degs. their gelatne was liable
TO "frill," "blister" and even melt quite
off the plate, SO that 1t was necessary in
summer TO keep them cool with ice. 7.
c. Roche. after long and disheartening
series of experiments, finally by sheer
accident hit upon gelatine coating that
could not be melted off with boiling
water or even by the heat of Bunsen
burner. and his discovery is in general
use today, without any more benefit to
him than any other of his many inven-
tions from which others have reaped
great fortunes and he nothing. About
the same time that he made this import
ant discovery, or perhaps little before,
Mr.. Roche conceived the idea of apply
ing TO paper for contact printing or ex-
posing IN the solar camera gelatine
emulsion similar to that employed in
coating the dry plates. This was for en-
largoments for crayon work. He was so
successful that he produced n paper SO
sensitive that IL could not be used in the
solar camera. and had to be worked by
artificial light to keep ii under control
Before large number Of photographers
assembled in the Cooper Institute he
made pictures upon it by the flash Of a
pinch az gun cotton. The English "pla-
linotype" paper, invented by Mr. Willis,
was already in existence, and was ac-
knowlcdged as giving very fine results,
but IL was slow, required the use Of the
solar camera Ga very costly instrument)
and could not he used on dull days. Mr.
Roche's discovery did away with the
solar camera altogether, and with his
paper tho work of enlargement could be
done in cellar 10y candle light. The
importance of it may easily be imagined
But that invention, like all the rest, was
clutched from the old man, who is tho
typical inventor par excellence in his
inability TO look out for his own interests.
T. G. Roche has had more valuable
patents in photography taken out in his
name than any other man in the United
States, and has freely given away more
discoveries than any other. Indeed, it
would be correct TO say that he has given
away all that his rare genius and ability
have attained, and others have become
wealthy on them while he has grown
old and poor in all but the regard in
which he i3 held by the Photographic
world.
IL IL worthy of mention as a remarka-
bic fact that in all tho United States and
Great Britain not an inch of paper is
made fit for photographs uses. The
worlds supply comes altogether from
France and Germany and commands a
high price. This is something for our
many American paper makers to chew
upon and reproach themselves for.
1t is not apparent why they should not
make quite as good paper of any spe-
ciiic kind as Gun bo produced IN Europe.
And another fact that goes with it is that
only the finest French and Swiss gcla.
| tine can be used Not an ounce that is
suitable for the uses of the manufacturer
of Photographic material is produced in
the United States. Cannot some of the
big barons of Slaughter, out in Chicago,
take this hint for the utilization in most
profitable fashion of material that they
have in excess and so start another "in.
FAINT industry" that will very promptly
stand upon its own feet?
II is hardly worth while TO more than
recall the horde of various types" that
were brought out in the early days of
photography. Pretty much every able
photographer got up some novelty of his
own under peculiar name, for which
he, of course, claimed superiority over
all others, and very often the same pro-
cess had different names in different
cities.
Thus "ambrotypes." "ivorytypes, "
"hallotypes," ''melaniotypes, "ferro-
types" etc., came into popular know
ledge They were generally returns
from photography in the direction of tho
daguerreotype, in that they were singly
produced and not Photographic printa
from negatives, and while the processes
for their production differed in details.
the general principle was the same, of
under developed negatives converted
into postives 10y opaque backing,
There are now not less than 1000 pro-
fessional photographers in tho United
States engaged In and dependent mainly
upon portrait taking as n business. This
| is, indeed, deemed a low estimate by
some of the dealers in supplies, who pre-
sumahly have right to a somewhat au-
thoritative opinion. Then there are about
$500 cagaged in the various processes Of
! photo-mechanical printing, or the prep
aration of plates and blocks, by photo
| graphic aid, for printing, and it is rather
singular that so distinct are now those
| two branches of photography that it is
rare to find person expert in one who
/ is of the slightest service in the other
! In closing this review of the art of sun
| picture making, merely by the salient
| points in its history, which is all that
| space will permit, and bringing it down
/ To the present time, it seems well to pre-
sent condensed table of the great steps
| in progress, showing the advance that
has been made in reduction of time of
/ exposure:
1877 Ileliography Cooper plate
and aSphalD, Niepce .... 10 hours
! 1889 -DaguerTcotype cooper sill
yer palud), Daguerro 900. 80 minutes
! lSil-Calotype OOdiEcd silver In
paper, Fox Talbot 3 to minutes
/ lsSl-Collodiou process CCullodinn
brumoodized, with nitrate
Of silver on glass; used