The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1907-01-31
SNAP, SHOTT
AND SHUTTER
BY wILFRID KLIcKrfANN
lCopyrignt, BY Joseph D. Bowles.)

Snap, Shott q Shutter, makers OF
cameras, were advertising for a gen
ueman to fll the position Of chief op-
orator There was nothing suspicious
about the advertisement. and its
Straightforward, almost pleading tone
prepossessed me-
Required-A capable Photographic
operator to undertake sole charge Of
dark room and developing branch Of
our business Liberal salary. Apply
to Snap, Shot & Shutter, etc.
The liberal salary" seemed to
promise well. As regarded my own
suitability for the post, | had no mis-
givings. Photography held no unsolved
mysteries for me. while in algebraic
formulate connected with diaphragms,
angles and foci of lenses | was quite
at home. Further, Messrs. Snap, Shott
& Shutter were an eminent firm. and
their particular make of apparatus
was probably the most terrible with
which the amateur Photographic fiend
could arm himself
II was called hand camera" inn
plying that it could be carried in the
hand and TO distinguish it from that
variety which entails the attendance
of strong porter for locomouon.
You surely know them?
Thousands of persons. who are alb
solutely ignorant of the chemical
transformation required to produce a
photograph. are now able through the
instrumentality of Snap, Shott & Shut
ter, to write themselves amateur pho
tographers."
The firm do the developing and
print as many copies as are ordered
by the photographers" The latter
then have the delight of exhibiting to
their friends with an assumed care
lessness) the choicest of their efforts.
These are a few little things l
snapped the other day" one will re-
mark. with a modest deprecating air.
That's Mr.. Brown, the merchant
prince, arguing with man, and here's
Miss Green, the poetess. eating sand
wich. I'm told it's quite unique in its
way; my friends rave about it,"
dropped Messrs. Snap, Shott &
Shutter a line. and begged to be ia
vored with the name and address of
the operator lately holding the post.
BY return the following reached me:
Dear Sir-In answer to your cour-
teous note, we regret to inform you
that the gentleman you alluded to is
dead. Yours truly,
Snap, Shott & Shutter
"P. S.-We trust to receive shortly
your application for the position"
1t was disconcerting to be unable to
ascertain how he had liked the work.
tried again, and asked for the ad-
dress of his predecessor in office. To
my surprise learned that this gen
tleman was at present in charge OF
- his medical attendant at a private
asylum. A postscript informed me
that s., s. & s. would await my appli-
cation before coming to decision.
AS the firm were meeting me more
than half way I did not wish to ap-
pear too exacting, and accordingly ac-
cepted the post.
My arrival created somewhat of
sensation. The interest ] excited was
distinctly fattering to a modest man.
Some of the clerks seemed to regard
me in a strange manner, and / could
have vowed there was a look almost
akin to pity in the eyes Of the lady
typist.
l began with a batch of dozen
plates, which the sender. by his letter,
declared to be of exceptional interest.
The first six plates were negatives,
but not in the generally accepted sense
of the word. BY no stretch of imag-
ination could the eye of faith detect
the slightest trace of any picture, and
mopping my brow wondered whether
the photographer had dispatched me a
box of unexposed plates. Number
seven was like it's predecessors, and
so was the next and the next The
mistake was obvious. The man had
sent me a dozen new plates In error.
A few minutes would suffice to finish
of the remainder.
shock awaited me with the last
OF all. Gazing darkly into the develop
ing dish, signs Of great distress were
quickly manifest in the film ! dashed
II into clean water. Proceeding eau
tiously with a weak solution a faint
image of a church became apparent,
considerably obscured by the masts
of ships. Beads of perspiration kept
my forehead cool as further incongrui-
ties became evident. A phantom auto
mobile and an indescribable tumble of
the art museum and Brooklyn bridge
darkened the whole. 1t was. indeed.
an interesting set of pictures, marred
by the fact that all had been taken
on one and the same negative. The
operator had diligently pulled the
trigger" a dozen times. but had not
thought 1t necessary to change the
plate.
It seemed unfortunate that should
have begun on SO many failures, but
I looked for better luck on the NOR
row. Alas! II was forlorn hope, and