The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-09
MILLIONS on LEO'S PICTURES.
QUICK WORK DONE BY TWO nv
Germs IN NEWARK.
sixteen Million Buttons Bearing the 7 ~.
Pope's Face Turned Outflow Ts.r,,-
fiye Thousand Photographs Were w,,,
I'm Less Than Thirty Days by One P,,n,

POpe's Face Turned Outflow Tusr,,
fiye Thousand Pilot oEraphs Were w,n.
I'm Less Than Thirty Days by One P,,n
Pictures of the late Pope Leo XIII 49,.
now scattered throughout the civil;,oa
world in unnumbered millions. A ,.u
share OF them started on their iournev;nr,
from Newark
One firm turned out no less than 49, OOom
buttons bearing the face of Leo XIII
with narrow mourning band around !,
They were bought up by the dealers in lo,s
varying from thousand to million and
more. and were shipped with all possihle
haste in every direction.
Work on these buttons was begin n,
least month before the Pope died Bar.
rels Of them were ready for shipment beYor.
he had bIeathed his last and were even q,
their way to the delivery points
Another concern. which in ordinary times
devotes itself to making nickel and penny
in-the-slot photographs and has a larue
plant, threw all this business aside when the
Popes last illness drew to a critical stage
and worked upon nothing but pictures Of
Leo XIII. 1t made, in less than thirty
days, rs 600 pictures
All these photographs started from ono
oil painting. Every means that could be
thought of was used to facilitate the various
stages of the Photographic process and the
concern believes that, for the equipment,
it came near making record.
Once the camera was focused on the oil
painting it was easy TO make "a many mega
tves "a were wanted 1t consumed not
more than five minutes to get the proper
focus. Four by five inch negatives were
taken.
A second and half exposure was made
and a. fast al plate was exposed the plate
holder was pulled out by the photographer
and handed TO an assistant. who, with the
other hand, gave him fresh plate holder.
hundred negatives were made in this
way in less than four hours
The drying Of the plates consumed Ave
or six hours. but at the end OF the first day
the hundred negatives were ready for the
toning. On the second day the plates
were toned in patches of twenty-five at a
time, in very large trays. 1t was tioklish
work, and as it happened to be very hot
Just then the greatest care had to be taken
with the plates TO see that the films wers
not damaged.
No printing was done until the hundred
plates were ready. Then two expert photo
graphic printers were put on the work,
They had great pile Of plate holders
and after loading 100 they placed then
In two great rows on slanting bench in
the sun. Each man handled fifty and had
a helper at his elbow.
OF course. the time OF exposure varied
with the intensity Of the light, the position
OF the sun, &c, but on the average hundred
prints were made In six or seven minutes.
The printer stood at one end OF his row of
printing frames and continually examined
two or three Of the frames nearest him to
see how the printing was going on.
When one was printed sufficiently he
descended on the long row OF frames with
a rush, swapping them open with purring
clatter, and throwing out the prints, which
were gathered up rapidly by the helper
Once he finished emptying the frames
they were promptly loaded again by othe,
assistants, while the prints already madt
were put In a box and taken out OF thu
daylight.
On the first day OF printing no tcnirg
was done. At the end OF thas day about
a thousand prints were made. On the next
day the toning began and after that the
toner's were kept busy by the printers, who
had days start.
Two or three hundred prints were toned
at once. There was a great diversity IN
the prints as toned, of course, for with so
large number In a tray at onceit was not
possible to give each print much attention.
A few baths Of water over the whole mass
had to suffice. As a consequence some
were very light and others were dark,
As fast as they were dried and mounted
they were packed and shipped.
The shop was an odd sight after about
two weeks of this work. There wers
damaged pictures Of the Pope everywhere,
strewn like snowflakes in the dark room
and all around.
The Pope was still alive at thai time,
but as the daily dispatches showed he
could not recover, and that the end was
drawing very near, the photographers
redOuDleQ InelT eHOflS 70 lineLl tnc CouLIdCt.
Besides. the dealers were clamoring for
their pictures.
A dull day threw the establishment into
deep gloom. for sunlight is cheap. and if
electric printing had been resorted to the
pictures would have cost more than could
be realized on them, as the contracts were
made al a very low figure, the manufacturers
contenting themselves with a very ANAL
margin of profit on each picture. The
pictures were mounted on cardboard, and
were certainly surprisingly good. consider
ing the great haste in which they were
made.
Oddly enough there are very few Of these
pictures or of the buttons to be aeen IN and
around Newark; they have been hustled
on to distant points.