The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-25
MONSTER OF THE DARK ROOM.
THE TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE OF
AN AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER.
Craft TO Inspect Their Quarters
before Beginning Work.

the learned writer of INSTRUCTIONS to Am
ateur Photographers land II is asrule that
has saved many negatives.
OF course. it never occurred to the in
structor of amateurs to add: And always
take a good look about you before shut
ing the door and sitting down in front of
your ruby light" That admonitlon would
be looked upon as outside the book, and no
amateur would see in it sense or relevancy.
Yet never go into my dark room now
without letting in a flood OF light that
searches out every corner.
When / bought my camera and began
to turn out foggy negatives, from which
sickly, spectral prints came off, l had no
decently appointed dark room, using a
small closet in my house for the purpose.
Now, not being a socialist or a shoemaker.
/ like good air, and to sit in that stuffy
hole in the wall for the better part of an
hour at a time had the result of eating up
some OF my enthusiasm for dabbling in So
lutions of eikonogen, carbonate of soda
and sinking ether. My il-smelling lamp
seemed to exhaust as much oxygen as my
good pair of lungs, and / sometimes bore
my negative out of the closet with such
a pale face that in spite of my triumphant
air in exhibiting it to my wife, she de-
clared l was surely i'll, and that she hao
always heard that photographers were
short-lived. She did not like the smell of
my chemicals, either, and declared they
were nuisance of the first order.
That was why l had my new and care
fully ventilated dark room built for me-
1t was a house all by itself and stood down
in a little hollow, good stones throw
from our dwelling. We were living in the
country then, in a very pretty bit of wood
land that had wilderness of brown plain
all about 1t.
My new dark room was quite a spacious
affair. and gloried in its completeness of
detail and the hardness of the appoint
ments. / used to spend good deal OF
time in there, and, as l learned how
much bromide to use and hit upon the
happy moment for taking plate out Of
the developing bath, my progress was swift
and sweet.
1t so happened in the autumn that we
went to the city for a month to live, leav-
ing our country place shut up. 1 took my
camera to town and exposed dozen or so
dry plates on a lot of marble statuary.
Whenever, at odd times, / thought of
these became feverish to know whether
Ariadne had been overturned or whether
Venus had been light-struck.
My wife smiled when I told her / in
tended to run down to "the ranch" to look
after things a bit
1t was too diphanous. When she saw
me packing my plates she laughed. But
she was indulgent, and said BODILY with
her own little pleasantly about my not
being so very deep after all
Walking up to the house from the sta
ton, l saw that the autumn winds had
been making very free with the trees while
we had been away, and the brown leaves
strewed the gravel walk and were scuIry-
ing along on their thin edges like little
hoops driven by children. A smoky haze
lay over the wood and along the plain,
and the hills beyond were deep in 1t. The
low-lying sun was blood red, and sent a
sickly yellow glow over the place Driving
rather keenly, the wind set me a-shivering.
1 had never known 1.-The ranch" when it
showed so bleak and forbidding a face.
Not caring to enter the vacant house
strobe quickly down the path into the hol-
low, which lay darby in the shadow, and
hurrying on to my little studio, 1 pulled
out my keys before the door. Not finding
the right key, it came to me of a sudden
that 1 had left it in the lock inside on go
ing to town, and turning the handle
of the door / saw it had not been locked
at all. This was really of little consequence
as 1.-The ranch" was not near the road, and
l had often boasted that a lock meant
nothing there anyway, though in the dark
II HdQ Probably SdftQ a. negative
two on occasion.
went in, and, from pure force of habit,
turned the key, leaving 1t in the lock.
Then / struck a match, found my lamp,
lighted it and poured my chemicals out into
my graduate and tray. Then with the lamp
covered and only the thin stream of red
light coming DULY forth, l opened a dou-
ble-back and pulled out plate. 1t was
Ariadne and the Panther, for which hop
ed great things. AS / put the plate into
the developing tray and picked up my
graduate to pour forth the developer,
was startled by rustling that seemed to
come from the corner where l kept my
printing stuff. 1t sounded like a movement
of the stiff curtain that hung there, but II
occurred to me that the strange sound
could have come from a wind pun, among
the leaves outside. So poured the develop
er upon the light yellow plate and began
to rock the tray gently
Nowhere except probably on your we'd
ding morning or on getting wrapped
copy of your first book, does the charm of
expectancy get such a hold upon you as 1t
does on watching the image of an exposed
object to appear upon Photographic
plate.
out of the yellow blank before me now
came. softly and silently, the figure of the
smooth-lmbed Aradne, sitting her pam
Their with the majesty / had seen in the
marble. But she was coming on rather
too quickly because of overtiming, and
rapidly reached back for the bottle Of bro
mide. AS / measured off four crystal
drops that fell splashing into the devel-
oper 1 heard a slight grating sound. as of
a key being taken from lock. Surely
the charm of Ariadne must have been
strong upon me, for the incident did not
excite so much alarm as 1t did mere an
noyance.
Must have been in rather loose and
lust dropped out" was my Illogical
thought, but who can be logical concern
ing things external when snug in his own
tight little world of photography?
Ariadne came on beautifully, and laid
her in the water near my right hand to
gain detail before fixing Then took out
Venus and began to develop her. She
came on we'll enough and dipped her in
10 the water. too. Everything was going
well. and | should have a fine set II this
kept on. Being my first trial with such
hard lot of subjects, was rather proud
OF myself
Then my fingers CROPPED for Ariadne,
who was now ready for the fixing bath,
But though I felt all about in the water,
nv finger-tips never touched the glass.
II was a hard situation to sense, but