The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-03-25
MET0L is SCARCE
Photographers May Be Forced
to Suspend Business Soon.
Substance Necessary in DeveI-
Oping Cannot Be Bought.
SCARCITY IS DUE TO THE WAR
Supply for United States Must
Come From Germany.
That Country Is Using 1t in
Making Explosives.
SCARCITY IS DUE TO THE WAR

Like the victim of Poe's ''Pit and
the Pendulum" counting away the
blade would slice off his head. every
photographer in Topeka is tolling off
the hours until his last ounce of metol
| is exhausted.
With the disposal of the last bit of
! his present supply of the now precious
chemical every photographer in To-
peka will be compelled to decline or
ders for pictures through inability to
. prepare developers, unless the I'M
looked for miracle is performed and a
substitute for the coal tar product is
obtained
/ Metol which is one of the last by
products of coal tar and an absolute
essential in the preparation of devel-
opers has completely disappeared
from the local market. Local drug
gists declare that for six months they
! have been unable to obtain even a
grain of the product. None is to be
obtained in Kansas City, it is said.
For the first time since photog-
raphers first began to practice their
art in this city, they are safeguard
ing a chemical used in their labor
atories by putting it under lock and
Key. Several local photographers
have placed their supply of metol in
safety deposit boxes in local banks
Several others are holding their sup
ply in vaults in their studios. All of
them are going to unusual lengths to
| protect the few ounces of it that thew
| now have on hand
Immediately following the outbreak
of the war in Europe the price of me-
tol began to soar. Photographers
failed to realize the seriousness of the
situation, however until the cost of
the chemical jumped from So to $50
a pound. Then it disappeared alto
gether.
! Several months ago a ship load of
the tar product came to this country
Before photo supply houses were
aware of the cargos arrival, however,
motion picture representatives had
obtained the greater part of it.
Two Reasons for 1t.
Eastern supply men offer two reaz
sons for the scarcity of the Chemical
Metol being coal tar product which
can be used in the manufacture OF
high explosives is being utilized for
that purpose by German manufacture
ers, from whom practically all metoI
used in this country is obtained. An
other rumor has it that the present
metol famine is due to the war blocks
ade; that ship load of it has for
some time been ready to leave port but
that no effort will be made to leave
; until the blockade is raised
While every photographer in the
city admits that no satisfactory SUBJ
cred, some of them refuse to becomes
panic stricken in spite of the unpromx
Using future.
The same condition that is exist
the country" says H. C. Hodge.
or Francis and Hodge, land
don't believe that the great sun
ply houses handling a business that
annually mounts up into the millions,
of dollars are going to let this busirs
ness die. L look for the announce
ment soon that either meto1 or a SUBJ
stitute can be manufactured in this
country Consequently, I refused to
become unduly alarmed"
Made in This Country.
Soon after the war in Europe be-
gan, the first scare that was thrown
among photographers here was the
announcement that hydroquinone 4
necessity in the picture Industry.
could not be obtained. In an incred-
IDLY short time the price of hydroqui-
none which like metol is a by-product
of coal tar, went up five times. Then.
came the announcement that the.
chemical could be manufactured in
this country. The price, however, 10
still high.
Suspicion that great photo supply
houses have made war babies'.-out
of several of their products is not al
together unheard. Several photogra-
pliers have wondered what the net
profit on recent sales of metol have
been to wholesalers.
While the price. of metol has been
climbing steadily, supply houses have
been drawing on their reserve stocks
bought when they could be retailed at
IS per pound. In the event substi-
tute for the chemical is discovered,
wholesalers will make the price high
enough to leave a fair profit Metol
as a war baby" it readily be
seen, has not been an unruly infant.
Besides increases in the cost OF
chemicals, prices of paper and plates
have gone skyward. on top of series
of increases in the cost of paper, pho
tographers were notified this week OF
still another advance.
To meet the scarcity of glass used
in Photographic plates supply houses
are buying up old plates from pho
tographers. Local artists have sold
several carloads of the glass; that will
probably be recoated, recently