The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-02-20
PICTURES OF ROYALTY.
THE GRAND OLD MAN" AMONG EN-
GllSH PHOTOGRAPHERS.

| &cArAy Forty AcAts bctore tne Day q
Snap shots-Hs "Took" the Queer
When She smiled-The Empress o
Austria's Negative.
You'll get on in hfe,n said John Bright
one day to shrewd, energetic Tynesider
after the said TyneSider had done some
thing for the said John Bright whici
pleased him very much. That young mar
was William Downey, photographer. Ev
cry profession has its grand old man. Mr.
| Downey IS the grand old man Of photogra
! ply. He began 10 pract zee his profession
nearly forty years ago, and during that
long period be has photographed emperors
and expresses, kings and queens, sultsns
princes OF the blood. peers OF the realm
! peeresses Of the realm, soldiers and states
men, men of letters and women of letters
| queens Of beauty, private beauties and
/ beauties OF the boards
! Just now, when, like all the rest Of US
Mr.. Downey looks down the long perspec
tive of years past, he can summon 20 the
session Of sweet, silent thought a series OF
| triumphs which must be very gratifying
No order glitters on the homely coat of this
/ famous court photogra pher There are nc
I "a tA1GOlA1ASO IL bEc WI ia u puOlOkid III
degrees, no honors-Only honoraria. but
Mr.. Downey is well satitied TO rest his fame
Oh the work he has done in his forty years
Of active life, and he still hopes TO see his
craft reckoned among the professions. The
following are notes of aconversation which
representative had recently with Mr.
Downey IN his house in Nevern square:
BROWN SHOOK SHARP.
One of his great successes was the "smil-
ing photograph" of the queen. Mr. Downey
says this is his chef doeuvre. for her mai
esty on most occasions assumes a grave
and even solemn mien, as If the lens was a
dangerous weapon instead of a harm less
scientific instrument, and it is, therefore.
the grave and solemn mien with which we
always endow the queen. Every lover of a
dog will be pleased to hear that it was dog
Sharp, the collie on the chair, that raised
that smile to the queens face. Sharp alto
gether declined to sit still, but John Brown
would stand no nonsense, and, despite the
presence of his mistress, he gave the dog
good shaking. He won't sit. Brown ="
said the queen. "He won't, your maiestyf
He maun obey ye and be cOmplaisant, like
the rest of us. He maun sit" And after
another shaking Sharp sat, and the queen
laughed TO see such sport, and Mr. Downey
made great hit, all because of Brown and
Sharp. THE queen" continued the vet
eran, has done more to promote photog
raphy than any one, for she has always
been a great collector of photographs,
though she does complain Of their fading"
One of Mr.. Downey's treasures is pho
tograph Of the queen and the late Empress
Artrvtn Df( sI.-
press was the guest of the queen at Frog
more. Mr.. Downey bad been summoned
TO the court, and found the queens ut
breakfast. The empress, who, Of course,
was queen of Prussia then, declined at first
to submit to the operation, but at length
she succumbed to the persuasion of the
queen, and the result is the only photo
graph in existence of her majesty, our own
queen, wearing an old fashioned poke bon
net and mantle, aud the other queen
wearing much the same sort Of costume
When the empress of Germany died many
were the demands for the photOgrapb. but
she had insisted that no prints should be
sold or given away Some men might have
interpreted this agreement literally, sav
ing their conscielces with the quibble that
the empress stipulation was only made for
her lifetime. But Mr. Downey declined
every oder, though he had one order from
Germany for million prints, and another
from Paris for many thousands One day
the Emperor Frederick happened TO look
into the Windsor studio when Mr. Downcv
was at work there. Mr. Downey showed
him the photograph, and ultimately al
lowed the emperor 10 carry away a copy
of the photograph of his mother "And
you couldn't well refuse to give the son
of his mother, could your"
asked Mr.. Downey pathetically.
SELLS ON PRIMROSE DAY.
Some men have the greatest objection
to having their portraits taken" >" said Mr.
Downey. ut is a species of vanity" Mr.
Disraei was one of these peculiar people.
and we owe IL to her majesty that Mr.
Downey's well known photograph Of the
famous statesman is in existence. One day
ne happened TO be in attendance at Bal
moral, and after much persuasion by the
queen, consented to face the lens, which
vas on the lawn. Mr.. Disraeli was always
/ dandy, and on this occasion he wore g.
light coat aud pair of light blue trousers,
which was not the sort Of costume that a
should make his bow 70 the
world in. The negatives were not q sue
,ess.
Dizzy consented TO sit again next day.
Che rain was coming down a little when
Dizzy stepped out into the grounds wear
ng q beautiful black velvet coat. The
ain annoyed him dreadfully, for he was In
,reat fear about the welfare Of this beSuti-
al black velvet coat, and insisted upon an
umbrella being held over him. The um-
'rella was held over him, and the second .
ct of negatives were failures. On the third
lay he consented 20 try again, but for five
minutes only. In those five minutes Mr..
)owney took four successful negatives.
rom which innumerable prints were taken.
from these hundreds Of thousands OF prints
ave been sold, and 70 this day. especially
q Primrose Day, the demand Is still greAr.
DR.. Downey considers this the most pOpu-
RI photograph of a statesman that was
yer taken i few years ago he had an a..
licatIon from an academician for photo
raph from which 70 paint a portrait, aud
fter that Mr.. Downey believes THAI Mr.
Iisraeli only sa; once for his photograph.
Pail Mall Gazette.
A Comforting Reflection.
Pat wanted position under the govern
: -.