Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-31

eminent So impor-
Government tant has 1t become.
ph.4., in fact, that some Of
tho government de-
partments arc finding it worth while to
give their employees. engaged in all
manner OF special fields, instruction in
the manipulation Of Photographic ap-
paratus and knowledge of the Sc
lection Of light and other conditions
and the treatment of subjects-
! With the rapid growth Of photog-
raphy in tho last dozen or so years tho
+ government has found an increasing
number Of uses to put the science to.
both for the keeping Of scientific REQ
ords and for the clearer and more
forceful presentation of Information
meant to reach the general public. d.
visions of photography and photo
graphic Laboratories have sprung up in
practically every branch Of the federal
government, and stats Of specialists
have been put in charge.
| The growth of the use of photography
has been especially rapid in the De-
| partment OF Agriculture, where records
plants can best be made in this way.
A large proportion of the bulletins Is
sued by the department are now illus
trated, many of them profusely; and
most OF the field men Of the departing
who are carrying on or inspecting work
| go forth armed with cameras. One OF
the results of this general use of pho
| Biography Is that the departmental pho
tographic laboratory Is practically
sWamped with photographs most of the
mixture of good and bad. the poor
and unimportant films requiring about
| as much care and the expenditure Of
time in their preparation as the good
and important ones. The situation Is
| such that the Agricultural Departm ent
/ has found 1t advisable to take steps to
| raise the standard Of its amateur work,
| and 1t has. therefore, through Its pho
tographic specialists, issued lengthy
| Instructions and suggestions in the
hope Of bringing all of its employees
who make use of cameras In their work
| more nearly into the class of photo
graphic experts.
| One of the fundamental troubles. the
| department finds. Is the lack OF SIM
plicity in the apparatus used. It re-
quires a considerable technical knowl-
edge. 1t Is pointed out, to set properly
| the numerous devices found on the
more expensive and complicated cam
eras, and the average amateur will
waste much time and more film master
ing their intricacies. Best and most
consistent results have been obtained
by men in the field, according to the
photographic experts of the depart
ment, by the use of cameras Of the
| simple type az by Az inches in size.
In support Of this statement the pho
Geographic specialists point out that
| many Of the films turned into the lab
oratory are underexposed. The higher
priced the camera and the more rapid
the lens and shutter. they say. the
greater are the chances for underex-
posture. Another great fault in the
I'M n In = fH tr o1r 81
sharpness. Amateurs can best secure
this desired quality in their photo
graphs. it is asserted, by use of small
camera and by exercising care as to
backgrounds.
The Photographic experts of the Ag-
rfcultural Department are also bent on
reducing the number of unnecessary
photographs. whether well or poorly
taken. that reach their laboratory. One
OF the few undesirable results that
have followed the cheapening and pop
ularization of Photographic methods, in
their opinion. Is the fact that the TAX
ing OF pictures under modern condi-
tons means to some operators merely
| the pressing of a button and the turn
| ing Of the film wheel
Among the practical suggestions Of
fered to the governments amateur
| photographers are means for avoiding
| nature taking" It is suggested, for
| instance, that whenever the height of
plants is to be shown there should
be In cluded in the setting some familiar
object for comparison or contrast.
or walking cane. In a similar way
well known coin or an egg should APP
pear In photographs meant to show the
size of berries. nuts or small fruits.
In driving home their suggestions
for improving amateur Photographic
work the Agricultural Departments
expert photographers are making use
, Of the familiar and effective list Of
A. 70 10
snapshot II conditions permit a time
exposure. don't experiment indiscrim-
| inately with complicated attachments,
don't take photographs from a moving
| size photographs In the field unless
you are experienced. and don't expect
good results on hazy day.
In the tumble of varying laws and
governmental methods that has result
ed in the United
Municipal States from the divi-
Bookkeeping. Of sion an sna rsd vision
| states. counties. townships and cities
| the confusion has nowhere been great
er. officials Of the census bureau have
| found. than in the matter of city book
keeping. Every municipality, seeming
ly, had worked out a classification sys-
tenn for fiscal data all it's own, and
when the attempt was made to compare
and combine tho resulting records the
| task was almost hopeless.
Now, as a result of dozen years of
| work by the census bureau, which in
1908 was commissioned by Congress to
gather annually the fiscal statistics of
all cities Of more than 10000 inhabit-
| ants, long strides have been made
| toward uniformity through the adop
ton by >>any Of the cities of classifi-
| cations of receipts and expenditures
| worked out by the federal statistical
experts. The latest addition to this
group of cities that are willing to
| abandon old and familiar forms in or
der to make their local statistics of
more benefit to the whole nation is
Baltimore, the seventh city in size in
the country.
| All progress by the cities toward uni
| formity has been. SO far as the fed
| eral government is concerned, volun-
tary, for Congress has direct power
| over only one municipality-the Dis
| trict Of Columbia. With the growing
recognition of the real value of sta
tistics. however, many of the states
have passed laws requiring all the cit
les within their borders to conform to
the census bureaus scheme. Among
such states are Massachusetts,, which
| led the way; Ohio and California. Many
| of the cities in New York and Pennsyl-
vania also conform to the federal plan.
tbero ore pumeroua individual mlI-