Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-01-15
CHIP AND HIS CAMERA.

about as hard to get. By all eortS OF
bard work and many kinds OF self-de-
pial Chip had succeeded BY the dme
be had reached his 18th year IN saw
ing about SIS, which made him seem
Icapitalist to all the other boys ana also
10 a great many men, and as everyone
knew that Chip was q wideawake TEL
low who was anxious to get Into steaoy
business for himself. 50 that ne couio
make life easier for his widowed MOTH
Or and his little sisters, there was no
and of acuuaintances who tried to get
into partnership with him and help him
spend his money. -,
But Chips father had always SAID
that partnership was hard snip 10 san
In; he had tried 1t, and he knew 30 'he
boy looked persistently for some busi-
ness In which he could make his own
way, and one day he found 1t by pur-
chasing a small secondhand camera
and becoming a tramp photagrapher.
Chips customers had to pay for his
education, for some of the pictures
which he took during his first rev
weeks were about as dreadful as couid
be imagined by a man with q uignt-
mare, but the customers were NOT ART
critics; besides. Chips pieces were
cheap. and he was the only man In the
business, SO he made little money
from the very start. which is more tnah
some of the worlds greatest artis's
have done.
The young photographer had gooo
head for business, too; he did not set UP
q studio and smoke bad tobacco anu
grumble about the dullness OF busi-
ness He took his whole Kit In Ills
hands and roamed about the country
In search of people who he thought
would be the most likely customer'-
farmers with horses which they
thought would sell well In the city II
dealers could know how they looked:
women who thought their babies were
the prettiest that ever lived. and young
people who were In love with each
other. and who, therefore. wapfed TO
exchange pictures.
Anyone who has tried amateur pho
Biography knows that there are many
slips tween the cup and the lip, or.
10 speak more to the point, between the
plate and the finished picture. There
are about as many ways OF spolllng
characters. and Chip, without meaning
TO do anything of the kind, tried them
all
Practice makes perfect. so, In the
course of time. Chip found hiInseir
clearing about 81 IA day, which was
lot of money for anyone TO earn III th'il
part of the country.
Little by little he learned that por
traits of young people We're the most
profta ble part of the business, ana Ii.
began To he smart enough 10 tihe the
pictures of pretty girls on credit or iof
nothing. trusting to luck TO ma out
which young man was first or most
"gone" on each girl. Then he would
offer the young man. in strict conn
dence. to get him the girls portrait at
the customary price.
Chip tried the system in reverse
that is. by taking" some OF the more
popular young men, trusting to WORK
them off upon susceptible girls. but
somehow this plan did not amount TO
much.
Either the girls hadn't any money,
which is quite likely, or, still more -
ly. they didn't want young mems faces
Datly enough " pay ioi lieh'' ~ O--f
gave II up as a bad job and left his lat
est plates of young men to be devel-
oped when he had nothing else to do.
one of these undeveloped plates was
of Frank Wilsey. the best-looking and
the most popular store clerk In the vii
lage. Almost any girl would pay
cent a ward extra for material for a
calico dress for the pleasure OF pur-
chasing from Frank Wilsey, and she
would wait an hour to be served by
Frank rather than buy Of the proprie-
tor himself.
Frank was great catch" In the es-
t,mation Of all the girls and their moth
ers. and he became all the more SO be-
cause he declined TO be caught.
Suddenly. however in the way that the
unexpected has of turning up In even
the least promising places, something
occurred which set all the village girls
to become Jealous and envfous. Some
people who seemed TO be rich, for they
were travelling by carriage, with two
servants in a buggy following, were
obliged TO stop in the village and call
physician for one of their party, an Old
lady.
The physician said the invalid must
rest for several days, so there was lot
of scurrying to find proper accommoda-
tions for the party, there being no hotel
in the place They were finally accom-
modated by old Mrs. Trewley, whose
husband had built the biggest house in
the town and died just as the house
was completed.
Old Mrs. Trewley quickly became the
most popular woman in the village;
neighbors who had almost forgotten
her soon found excuses to borrow some
thing. or to ask + question which they
had long wanted TO ask-anything, for
an excuse to find out about people
whom they had never seen, but who
seemed to be rich.
The village interest in the strangers
Increased when one of the newcomers,
a handsome young woman who seemed
10 wear her Sunday clothes all the time,
appeared on the main street of the vii
Iage and dropped into the two or three
stores. apparently because she could
not amuse herself unless she was buy.
ing something.
OF course Frank Wilsey did his best
10 sell her something, and sell her as
much of 1t as possible; people who paid
cash, instead Of having things charged,
and who did not try to beat down"
the prices asked, were as scarce in that
village as saints in rum shops.
1t did not take the village girls and
other gossips long to learn that the
young woman, whose name was Eu- :
nice Trait. did most of her purchasing
at the store in which Frank Wilsey
was clerk. and that anyone else who
went into that store while Miss Trait
was there was obliged to wait until
the stranger had made her purchases.