Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-15
Some Things You Want to Know
Popular Photography.

Photography Is playing a part in the
mechanical reformation Of the habits Of
civilized man only less important than that
Of the steam engine, the telegraph and the
telephone. The steam engine. applied to
steamships ana railway locomotives,
brought the people Of different parts Of
the world into one community, The tele-
graph and telephone made f possible for
the whole world to know in one moment
the local event Of the moment before.
Photography has visualized the current his
tory Of the hour and has brought before
every eye the wonders of the universe.
Photography has taken an important po-
sition In journalism, and II is becoming
more and more to be used as a vehicle
for transmitting ordinary intelligence.
first the illustrated magazines and news
papers, by the use OF haif-tone photo
graphs on metal plates, were able to give
their readers a truthful reproduction Of the
features of great men and women con-
cerned with important events. So common
is this use OF photography that the aver
age American child is aDle to recognize
at a glance the portrait Of any notable
person or the picture OF the scene Of any
great event.
S-upplementing this journalistic feat Of
spreading visual information broadcast. has
come the moving picture machine. Now
the ordinary man in the streets not only
recognizes the portrait Of the English King
or the German Emperor at a glance, but
he also knows just now Edward VII lifts
his hat to a lady and just how William
ii acknowledges the salute OF an officer.
The people OF Vinton. Ia, the court ladies
Of Picking, the bazaar hangers-on Of Cal
cutta, and the residents Of Melbourne all
have seen Wilbur Wright flying through
the air in his aeroplane. Within a few
" weeks after the news came that the North
Pole had at last been found the world saw
the stars and stripes at the top OF the
world. Photography plays It's part in every
event Of the time.
No other habit has grown so rapidly
in America as that OF amateur photo
g aphy. Commercial photography has kept
pace and the business of manufacturing
and distributing Photographic supplies has
come to be one of the most important
In the country. The people Of the United
States in 1900 spent $50, 100000 for photo
graphs and Photographic apparatus and
materials. Conservative men in the trade
estimate that the expenditure for 1909 will
be at least $75,0 900. OO0. One firm has made
over 1900 600 lenses since 1882, and In the
few years hat the high priced, anastig-
matte lenses have been on the market, this
same concern has turned out over a mill
lion of them. These lenses sell for more
money than the best cameras fitted with
ordinary lenses, and 1t is evident that many
amateurs, as well as professionals, demand
them. One corporation devoted to the
Photographic supply business in its last
annual statement reported property worth
S22, coo, 0OO. The profits for the year, after
allowing a heavy percentage for depreci-
alton, were more than S7.OOO,oO0 As 100000
was devoted to improvements, the stock
holders were paid a handsome d idend
and $2,0OO, 600 was retained as surplus.
The city now has a Photographic supply
business which ranks high in the list of
retail money-earners. Inquiry at any one
Of these retail stores will discover the
fact that the amateur photographer Is a.
veritable slave to his machine. While
there are a great many persons who pur-
chase cameras, only to throw them away
after the new" is worn off, the average
kodak fiend, once in the clutches Of the
habit, never RECEIVERS. He snapshots on to
his grave,
Perhaps no other single invention has
q 10 AlAally NluCAg dllAN lhB "a ROoO@
as has the Photographic camera. 1t has
been of incelculable aid to science. TIL
astronomer has captured on Photographic
plates thousands Of the secrets Of the
stars which would ave been forever
hidden from the human eye, The bacter-
has used the photograph in the
study and Identification OF germs and
thereby has helped onward the progress
Of modern medical sciense. The nature
student has used the camera to interpret.
and explain his discoveries and observa-
tions to the world. The soldier has applied
the Photographic camera to the science of
war, and by using the telephoto tense
camera in connection with airshlps 1t will
be practically impossible for an enemy to
mask a daylight movement. The printer
has welcomed the photograph as the most
substantial enhancement to the range and
value Of printing since Gutenberg first
discovered the art preservative of all
arts"
The most interesting phase of the art OF
photography is the moving picture, The
cinemetograph machine is in use in every
civilized country in the world, and in many
which are not considered to be civilized.
1t is the most ubiquitous form Of amuss~