The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-30
DUST ANNOYs PHoTOGRAPHERs.
How 1t Affects Their Plates and
What They DO to Escape 1t.
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune.
Among the many evils which are attrib-
uted to the all-pervading, never-to-be-es-
capped city dust, there is one which consti-
tutes a grievance peculiar to photogra-
piers alone 1t is the injury which the
flying particles, sitting into the room
through every possible aperture, cause to
the delicate films and sensitive plates. All
MINIS are made of preparations of gelatine,
and large proportion of the glass plates
now used are also coated with this sub
stance which, because of its soft, sticky
nature, is particularly likely to attract
every atom of dust in the surrounding air.
The PARTICLES however small leave their
impress in the form of Opaque spots upon
the sensitive surface and seriously mar
it's perfection. To remove the dam
age, great amount of retouch-
ing is necessary. which is not
only laborious and tiresome, but which
cannot always be satisfactorily accom-
plshed if the dust is very thick. What
is known as the carbon process" in pho-
Biography is probably more easily injured
by dust than any other, because an ex-
tremely delicate film of gelatne is used.
Chiefly on account of this drawback the
carbon process is seldom employed in this
country, although Photographs are made
which resemble the real carbon pictures
bontypes." In England, where the carbon
process is more common, it has became
customary for London photographers to
send their developing work out of town to
be done, in order to escape the dust and
smoke of the city, but this practice has
not gained much ground here.
The photographers in this city, as a rule,
perform all their operations in the same
building in which their studios are situa-
ted, and, for the sake of thus keeping the
developing process at home. they are oblig
ed to be at great trouble in protecting it.
Some of the methods employed for this
purpose were mentioned to a Tribune re-
porter the other day by a wellllSnown
Broadway artist.
In the first pace" he said, I'VE not only
keep our dark room itself, but the whole
top floor in which il is situated, spotiesSly
clean The floors are oiled until there
is not a crack in their surface to harbor
dust, and they are thoroughly washed ev-
cry morning before we begin our day s
work. All the tables, trays and every
thing we use are kept equally clean. The
windows. instead of being in the side walls,
where the wind would strike them and bear
the dust in with it, are In the roof. and
very little dust can come in that way. All
cracks in the doors or around the window
frames are stopped up, and we keep the
dark room tightly closed as much of the
time as possible. With these precautions,
we manage to get along pretty we'll. but a
certain quantity of dust seems bound to
creep in, and il causes us a good many
hours of extra work in retouching."
Practically the same struggle against
dust is the experience of every photogra-
pher in the city. One remedy which has
been tried occasionally with success con-
sists in filing the room in which the plates
are kept with steam for a few moments
each morning. This usually suffices to
lay the dust for the entire day