Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-16
Second of the Series of Papers Upon
Amateur Photography.
MYSTERIES OF THE DARK ROOM
Solutions Used in Drawing Out the Picture
Upon the Glass.
THE PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.l

But let him once overcome this impression
and get fair idea of the attractive nature
of developing and he will forget that the
of fact, it is so simple that young folks can
take it up and be fully as successful as their
parents. The only quality necessary is q
fair degree of patience, it being taken for
granted that the intending operator has yet
to attain the Judgment which only expert
ence can bring out.
After the plate has been properly ex-
posed In the camera it must not. under any
circumstances, be taken out of the plate
holder except in the dark room and under
the influences of ruby or orange light. 1t is
well. perhaps, to explain right here that the
plate is extremely sensitive to the least ray
of white light until after it has been fully
developed and submersed IN the fixing
BATH" as described below. Therefore ut
most care should be taken that the slide of
the plate holder Is not permitted to slip
even little bit when being handled in
white light. The effect of white light on
the undeveloped plate is to "fog" it-that is
to say, to destroy the very purpose it was
made for. Ii logged before or after the
exposure is made the result is the same-a
dirty-looking blank surface, when the de-
veloping fluid begins to act on it.
THE DARK ROOM.
1t is by no means necessary to fit up a
dark room on the exact plan in use with pro-
fessional photographers, although it is we'll
to have such a room. You can use a large
closet, your bathroom, or even your bed
room, provided you can so curtain your win
dows and doors as to exclude every particle
of white light. At night this is simple
enough, but during the day the light will
find its way through clinks and keyholes in
a most provoking manner. But the writer
has yet to find house, or even "fat," in
which some room or closet cannot be found
from which the light of heaven may be en-
tireiy shut out. A small window can be
turned to account by fitting into it light
of ruby glass to serve in place of the dark
room lamp if the operator wishes to work in
the daytime.
The ruby light should not be too strong,
where ''quick" plates are being manipulated.
A screen made of orange paper, such as is
used in postoffices, will serve to soften the
light sufficiently. The light-tightness of the
room being assured, the next thing to look
after are your tools" A table or fair-sized
shelf is the best thing to work on. Have it
large enough to mold your lamp, your vari-
Gus trays and the bottles containing your
solutions. If you have running water in the
room or closet selected so much the better; if
not, its substitute can be found in a good
sized basin or foot tub filled with water, or
in one of the regulation water coolers with a
basin. Plenty Of clean water is a desidera-
tum in developing.
THE PROPER LIGHTS.
Dark room lamps are now made in dozens
of different styles, and at prices ranging
from 81 to $5 and Sc. If you have gas in
the room specially prepared burner and
cylinder is now to be had at a cost of about
S., which is the best for the purpose. A
good kerosene lamp will cost about 81.
These lamps are all arranged so that no
white light can leak out. Their manipula-
tion in all cases is very simple. When
working at night it is an easy matter to
darken even the larger rooms of house.
Close your shutters, pull down the shades
and see to it that no light creeps in from ad-
joining rooms. In this way the operator
can secure plenty of elbow room, and need
not confne himself to cramped quarters.
Better ventilation is another advantage of
working by night.
1t is now necessary to Law in your stock OF
chemicals and trays. Any dealer in photo
graphic supplies can furnish them all.
There are many different kinds of develop
ing fluids to select from, but for all practical
purposes the writer advises that either
"Hydrokinone" or "Eikonigen" be used.
Up to year or so ago the old "Pyro and
Potash" developer was the standard among
amateurs as well as professionals, but since
the two new ones have been introduced they
have the call, and deservediy so. They are
much simpler, keep fresh longer and get
better results out of Indifferent plates.
THE BEST SOLUTION.
These two developers are made up either
in one or two solutions. For the beginner it
is better to use the single solution, but il
that is not attainable the simple and explicit
directions on the bottles will inform him
how to proceed. The writer has used the
single solution Hydrokinone developer for
almost two years, and has yet to find it
wanting.
In addition to the developer two other
baths are wanted. The first, fixing bath,
is absolutely necessary, a1d the second, an
alum, both advisable. Buy couple of
pounds of hypo-sulphite or soda and one
pound of alum to begin with. Then get a
four-ounce glass graduate to measure water
and cheap letter scales to weigh your
solids. Three trays are necessary. Get
them of size proportionate to the dimen-
sions OF the plates used. Glass is best for
the developer and hard rubber for the "fx-
ing" and alum baths. A word OF caution
here: Never use your hypo or fixing tray
for anything elsel
The fixing bath is prepared in few hours.
Weigh out say four ounces OF hypo-sulphite
OF soda and dissolve in 16 ounces of water.
A quart fruit jar is the best thing for the
purpose. The solution can thus be kept Tor
a long time. Pour out enough into the tray
to completely submerse plate. This solu-
tion should be thrown away after using for
one batch of plates. The formula to re-
member is: "Hypo-sulphite soda, one ounce;
water, four ounces"
TO HARDEN THE PLATE.
The alum bath is simply a saturated solu-
tion. Take another quart fruit jar aud dis
solve in it as much alum as the water will
take up. The alum dissolves slowly and
should be allowed "a hours. The object of
this bath is to harden the gelatine film of the
plate so as to avoid scratches and tears.
Enough of this bath should be poured into
the third tray and it, too, thrown away after
using.
When everything else is ready, pour a
sufficient quantity of the developer into the
first, or glass tray, to completely cover the
plate, shut your door, light the ruby lamp
and begin work. All these instructions
seem complicated, but trial will prove how
simple the process really is.
Now take an exposed plate out of its
holder and lay it, face up, In the developer.
Rock it gently until every particle of the
face is covered and no air bubbles remain.
1t is we'll to continue the rocking from time
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