Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1904-11-11

8 Caught by the Camera &
aSS5S5553155535
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On lne way nome, Lester ana drew
up a compact whereby l was to have
the use of his dark room and chemi-
Gals until l felt that l was fairly on
my Photographic legs. Then | was
to fix up a room Of my own.
The camera had been sold loaded
with plates, ready for use, and l lost
no time in swapping several views here
and there as the fancy seized me.
Lester taught me to develop them,
and when the most of them came up
under the chemicals clear and sharp,
my delight was great
And when | made prints from them,
and the familiar home scenes and my
playmates' faces were there plainly
before me, it seemed to me that the
universe could hold nothing more en-
trancing than amateur photography. OF
course, | had failures, but they were
few compared with the successes.
One morning in May, after l had
become thoroughly versed in the art
of using the camera and had fitted up
dark room Of my own in the attic,
Lester and l sailed out with our cam
ems to secure snapshots whenever
desirable ones might present them
selves.
1t was an ideal day for picture TAX
ing. Rain had fallen the night before
and had left the atmosphere clear and
brilliant, with none of that dim haze
which is the camerist's Nemesis so
often.
We had strolled along the road, per-
haps two miles out of the village, and
had caught three or four very pretty
views.
None other had presented them
selves, however, for some time, when,
| by turn Of the road, we came upon
man drinking from a spring at the
side Of the road. He was but a few
feet away, and was STOPPING down
with his back toward US.
Lets get him." said in low tone.
"All right" replied Lester; "you do
it, though. I've only got one plate
left"
had several unexposed plates re-
naming in my camera so pointed the
box toward the man and pressed the
button. Just at the instant when the
shutter must have operated the man
heard us and turned his head. facing
US squarely-
He evidently understood what we
were about, for he scOwled deeply and
walked rapidly away through the
woods, without, however, Offering to
molest us. He carried a small, black
grip with him.
AS the mans retreating figure dis.
appeared through the. trees, Lester and
l drew long breath of relief, for we
felt like criminals detected in a crime.
and we were trile afraid of the man
| besides.
We wandered a little further. snap-
ping few more wayside pictures, and
then turned towards home and re-
traced our steps.
That afternoon Lester came over to
my fathers house to witness the devel-
opment of the mornings pictures.
AS, one by one, we put the plates
through the developer, majority came
out well. One or two were a trifie
under exposed, and there were minor
defects in others; but, on the whole.
they were very good.
The star negative Of the lot. how.
ever, was that of the stranger whom I
had photographed drinking, and who
had turned his head and caught me in
the act. That was perfect. Every.
thing was brilliantly sharp, and the
shutter had caught the mans full face.
In the negative even so small an object
as his eyes stood out beautifully.
We made blueprint of this mega.
tive, and both Lester and myself rec
ognized the faithfulness Of the likeness
Notwithstanding the fact that we had
seen the man but q moment.
About the middle of the afternoon.
my father returned from the neighbor.
ing town, ten miles away, in one of the
banks of which he was clerk. He seem.
ed to be much excited and perturbed
about something. My mother noticed