J. V. D.--Priest"s Paid Despatch stamp is worth from $5 to $20, according to variety and condition. The 1818 half-dollar is sold by dealers for 75c.
F. M. L.--Dealers quote the 1859 1c. at 5 to 10c.
INTERESTED READER.--Your coin is either Austrian or Russian, probably the first. The value is about 10c.
N. P. P.--There are four varieties of the 1807 and five varieties of the 1802 1c. worth from 20 to 75c. The "Army and Navy" is not a coin, but simply a medal or token. There are tens of thousands of varieties of these tokens issued from 1861 to 1865 during our civil war.
PHILATUS.
ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nTS.
Highest of all in Leavening Power.--Latest U.S. Gov"t Report.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Royal Baking Powder]
[Ill.u.s.tration: If afflicted with SORE EYES USE Dr. ISAAC THOMPSON"S EYE WATER]
HARPERS NEW CATALOGUE
Thoroughly revised, cla.s.sified and indexed, will be sent by mail to any address on receipt of ten cents.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BICYCLING]
This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain much valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen.
Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L. A. W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.]
This week we have divided the trip from Philadelphia to Atlantic City into two parts, of thirty-one and thirty-five miles each. It is perfectly possible for a good rider to go from Philadelphia to Atlantic City in one day, but if he can take two days to it, the ride will be pleasanter, he will see more of the country, and he can then take the train back to Philadelphia instead of riding the return.
Leaving Philadelphia by Market Street, go east, across the ferry to Camden, and thence proceeding by Federal Street turn into Haddon Avenue.
Upon reaching Line Street, keep to the left until the city line is reached; then take the right fork. The rider pa.s.ses through Collingswood, Haddonfield, Greenland, to Kirkwood, a distance of ten miles or more over a reasonably good road, though not of the best nor in the best condition. Keep to the left in going out of Kirkwood, and be careful of the railroad crossing, which is a bad one. After pa.s.sing over this crossing, turn to the right at the paint works, pa.s.sing by Lakeside Park to Gibbsboro, a distance of two miles. Here the grade is very good, but the road is in a pretty bad condition, and the rider had better keep to the side paths when outside of the town. From Gibbsboro to Berlin is four miles over a gravel road not in any too good condition, and side paths will again be a boon. The road is direct. It is also direct through Wilton to Blue Anchor, a distance of eight miles. There will be no difficulty in recognizing the road, it being very straight, and in most cases showing by its size, as compared with branch roads, which is the main road.
Running out of Blue Anchor, the rider takes the middle road of three forks, and shortly after pa.s.sing this main fork he arrives at another, where, keeping to the left, he runs two miles into Winslow Junction.
Crossing the track, he will find the road to Rosedale, a distance of a mile and a half, still gravel and not in the best of condition, but it is perfectly easy to tell which is the correct road. At Rosedale the tracks are crossed again at the station, and the run into and through Hammonton is made, the road being pretty good if you keep to the side paths. This makes in all about thirty or thirty-one miles, and the rider can stop at Hammonton for the night, though there are very few good accommodations, or even pa.s.sable ones, to be found anywhere on the route from Philadelphia to Atlantic City; but the lack of good accommodations is really the one objection to making a two-days-trip of the Atlantic City route.
A word should be said here as to riding long distances. Any one who practises on a bicycle, _i. e._, any one who rides a certain number of miles a day for a certain number of days, depending on the particular make-up of the individual, will get himself into such a condition that he can ride any reasonable distance; _i. e._, up to one hundred miles in a day. It is not, therefore, a particularly desirable or difficult-to-be-attained facility to ride long distances in a day. Some men like to ride long distances fast; others like to ride a short distance fast, and then stop and walk or make a detour; while still others like to do a certain amount, say thirty or forty miles, taking a whole day for it, at a slow gait.
NOTE.--Map of New York city asphalted streets in No. 809. Map of route from New York to Tarrytown in No. 810. New York to Stamford, Connecticut, in No. 811. New York to Staten Island in No. 812. New Jersey from Hoboken to Pine Brook in No. 813. Brooklyn in No. 814.
Brooklyn to Babylon in No. 815. Brooklyn to Northport in No. 816.
Tarrytown to Poughkeepsie in No. 817. Poughkeepsie to Hudson in No. 818. Hudson to Albany in No. 819. Tottenville to Trenton in 820. Trenton to Philadelphia in 821. Philadelphia in No. 822.
Philadelphia-Wissahickon Route in No. 823. Philadelphia to West Chester in No. 824.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CAMERA CLUB]
Any questions in regard to photograph matters will be willingly answered by the Editor of this column, and we should be glad to hear from any of our club who can make helpful suggestions.
PAPERS FOR BEGINNERS, NO. 12.
PRINTING AND TONING.
There are so many brands of sensitive paper on the market, and they are so cheap, fresh, evenly sensitized, and easy of manipulation, that it is a waste of time and money for the amateur to attempt to prepare his own.
Even professional photographers are taking advantage of the prepared papers, and buy the paper ready sensitized.
The gelatine papers have almost entirely taken the place of the alb.u.men paper, a paper which was always hard for the amateur to handle. The gelatine paper prints quickly, tones easily, and many different tones can be obtained in the same bath by removing pictures at a longer or shorter time. The combined toning and fixing bath is very popular, but the real gold tones can be obtained much better with a toning and fixing bath prepared separately.
See that the gla.s.s side of the negative is perfectly clean. Place it in the printing-frame, the gla.s.s side out, adjust a piece of sensitive paper over the film side, fasten in the printing-frame, and expose to the light till the picture is a little darker than required for a finished print. As soon as it is dark enough, remove it from the frame, and put it in a book, and put the book in a drawer. Do this with each print till all are printed. Thin negatives must be printed in the shade, but a good negative may be printed in direct sunlight.
For beginners who wish to use the combined toning and fixing bath, it is better to buy it already prepared. A bottle of prepared developer, which costs fifty cents, will tone from one hundred to one hundred and fifty prints 4 x 5.
Place the prints one by one in the tray, taking care that no air-bubbles form on the surface of the print. If not immediately broken they will leave dark spots on the prints. As the prints tone very quickly they must be kept in motion all the while. The best way to secure uniform tones is to slip the bottom print out and place it face up on top of the others, which should be face down in the tray. As soon as the last print has been turned in this way, turn the whole batch face down and repeat the operation. By handling the prints in this manner, the toning process is seen at once, and as soon as a print has received the desired tone it can be taken from the tray and placed in a dish of running water.
The prints should wash half an hour or more. The color obtained in the bath will remain. It does not fade as does the alb.u.men print on being removed from the toning bath.
The gelatine prints should be toned at once after printing. Even if they are kept in a perfectly dark place, the half tones and high lights quickly discolor.
The separate toning baths are easily prepared. What is called the stock solution is made as follows: 15 grs. chloride gold and sodium, 7-1/2 oz.
of water.
Dissolve and keep in a tightly corked bottle, marked "Gold Solution."
Chloride of gold and sodium comes already prepared in 15 grain-quant.i.ties, and costs thirty cents a bottle.
The other stock solution is a saturated solution of bicarbonate of soda.
A saturated solution is a solution which contains a little more of the substance dissolved in it than it can hold in solution. This is shown by a deposit on the bottom of the bottle.
To make the toning bath, take 3-1/2 oz. of water in the graduating gla.s.s and add 1/2 oz. of the gold solution. Dip a piece of blue litmus paper into the solution, and if it does not turn the paper red add a little more of the gold solution until it does. Then add enough of the bicarbonate of soda solution till it turns the litmus paper back to blue. A few drops of the soda solution should be added at a time, stirring the solution with a gla.s.s rod.
Mix the bath half an hour before wanted for use. Place the prints in this bath without previous washing, and tone till the required color is obtained. Rinse and place in a fixing bath composed of 1 oz. of hyposulphite of soda and 8 oz. of water. Leave them in this fixing bath five minutes, then wash for half an hour in running water.