The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 24, 1902, Page 7

s his own * So reads 1d ever a rancher or of b n what he obviou of a velvety lawn s ands I de of the v white osest friendship with the at opens just off a wide ve- ra Woodwork bang the picty m i one somt color, e a light, dainty t and rather y frescoed with Just ex osite one’s eyes Is La which reveais the n ts . ster. beamed in the that e stairway is but plainly this reception In the mid- e literally immense green plant, » finfshing touch reception-room. e of the few that roam st as you feel you e right and find your- bu sitting-room, turn draw- apartment is just plain fng fancy mor del- e the son of the fam- full length on the nd not fear the old “keep Bookcases line one side and from their thumbed y to see that they are not In one corner, rather hangs an immense oil turdy, chubby child of st plece of work in this house Mr. Smith, as he eyes the life-gized picture, “and it is the one most prized.” 5 Scattered over the room at intervals nest the the cription in the reception which comes pictures of the varlous members of the family taken in the costumes of oth- A gramophone and a m nd side by side, and a cabinet gen- filled with music testifies that re not scorned. A tea table laden h fragile cu a o'clock tea and dainty plates stand in a corner out of the way of ruthless feet. In hing denotes the room of and not of the guests. stronghold is just across the —the bright, cheerful white and yel- w drawing-room. Just to enter it would drive the blue devils of care away, no matter how persistently they had been following one. walls are a faint yellow, as is also &, but that has been more lav- y orated. Rosy Cupids spend the vs pelting each other with pink roses niling at the romances carried on under their noses. underne h has a white and ru ing here nd there weet will, but always coming starting point are many ome of the furnishings are old- oned but exceedingly beautiful and A mirror which would take three our men to lift covers rt of the wall. The solid and massive but looks as though it might have come over in the Mayflower so odd are the de- signs upon it. Several little tables holding lamps and marble figures are of solid brass, and in. themselves lend an air of rich- to the surroundin One particu- pretty idea is a mantel lined with to be exact, just one dozen. Rare cut glass, a gem of Venetian, a nty vase of Se 8 and of royal rcester—all that goes to make those like creations t are so purse of the man and the heart of the woman If the tone is faithfully carried out a vellow and white room ghould be hand- ; but when every article chosen not only blends to a nicety, but shows the hand of wealth, it is a perfect dream. The dining-room is what might be called a red room. The furnishings are of red- wood and the carpet is on that tone. It's an immense place, almost large enough for the world and his family. The breakfa room is quite as large as the dining-room in a fiat, but it is dubbed “we down there; but as the family straggle in whenever they please it 1s lenty big enough. use a house chances to be in the of apricot and peach trees and a full mile from nowhere, do not fancy 1t is without resources. The billiard-room is green, with its huge table right in the center of it. A nearby table suggests a quiet game of whist, or, maybe, solitaire, while games on the mantel tell of other amusements. Throughout the entire house the same careful hand is plainly seen. The sleeping apartments are spacious and all finished in some decided color. For instance, Miss Smith's rooms are in gold and blue, her brother's in oak and red, while her father’s are in walnut and brown. Upon the very tip of the house is a regular “Romeo and Juliet” balcony. There one may see the valley for miles and miles. On a clear day Mount Hamil- ton is plainly visible, and San Jose seems but a step. ame is THE i R 27 Mr. Smith, orchardman, can point over acres and acres and say, “All mine.” In the season he had apricots—sixteen tons drying and at least 100 tons on the trees. Mr. Smith, farmer, raises enough to sup- ply the needs of his household, which are not small by any means. In summer hs has people employed in picking, cutting, stoning and drying fruit, besides what farm bands he needs. All these people added to his own household with a raft of friends call upon his larder heavily. The pets are numerous and varied. One room is completely filled with exquisite voiced canary birds. Any morning one may hear them singing their praises just about sunrise. That is the signal for the laughing-jackass, an Australian bird, to commence his hearty but unearthly laugh- ter. Then, also, the baby pugs commence barking, the chickens crowing and the cows lowing, and last but by no means SUNDAY CALL. least, the parrots and cockatoos jabber and jibber. Near.the house is an im- mense wire cage fllled with parrots, the best that Australla can boast of, while the other side is crowded with America’s pride—the quail. Every animal or bird on the place has its own name and is always called by it. The most expensive parrot, but the most crabbed and the snappiest in the cage, is “Collis P. Huntington.” He is worth his weight in gold, but woe be unto the per- son who infringes upon his rights or do- matn. Snap! And the end of one’s finger is missing or a piece of the hand has paid the penalty. He brooks no interference or familiarity. The garden is filled with flowers, and beautiful ones at that, but the conserva- tory yields the ferns that greet one at every turn. Ferns of all descriptions and tropical plants flourish side by side, while just on the outside are rows and rows of old-fashioned hollyhocks, the same kind in which our grandfathers used to catch the unwary bumble bee. There is one thing about this house that is truly unusual. They have gas there and plenty of it. So much that no one need evef be afraid of the disagreeable “Don’t waste the gas’ cry. In one of the many outhouses puffs and blows an engine thoroughly disgusted with itself because it works overtime., That is where tha light for the farm is generated. From the canopied veranda at the front door straight through the house and over two blocks to the stable everything is complete. Not that anybody sits up at nights to think it all out, but as each ne- cessity or whim presents itself it.is promptly gratified. PHOTOGRAPHIC POINTERS FOR ATTATEURS. N photography of moving objects it should always be borne in mind that less apparent motion will be visible in the finished print if the object is photographed from a point some- what in front of rather than directly op- posite to the line of motion. In" other words, if a horse and carriage chance to be the subject of a picture, the camera should be placed in such a way that the horsé will be seen moving obliquely toward it, and not directly across the line of vision. The reason for this will be epparent when one remembers that the movement of a horse’s teet or the spokes of a wheel, for instance, is much more apparent from right to left than when seen in perspective, d it is only with the most expensive lénses and the quick- est working shutters that this kind of photography is possible with satisfactory results. A goodly distance should also in- tervene between the camera and the mov- ing cbject if distortion and blur are to be avoided. An annoyance from which the occasion- al worker often suffers is to' find the. la- bels which had been carefully attached to his dark room bottles dropping off or peeling up at the corners. This is espe- cially apt to occur if the bottles have been kept either in a very warm, dry glace. or in extreme dampness, and can e prevented if, after attaching the label, it i{s varnished with a thin solution of cent) made up with hot water. This var- nish may also be used for attaching the labels to the bottles and serves not only to hold them permanently in place, but also to keep them clean and legible. The labels may be wiped with a damp cloth at any time without injury if thus pro- tected. No one knows what Interest or local value may attach to his work at any time, and the careful amateur should have on hand a print from each of his or her good negatives, which may be used for reproduction and illustration of local hap- penings in case they may be wanted for publicatio Many a print made by the amateur suddenly become valuable for {llustrative purposes owing to some local aceident or occurrence connected with the view. It must be remembered, however, that only good prints from good negatives are available for reproduction, and this fact should ep a worker keyed up to a high state of perfection at all times. A record album containing & complete set of prints from all one’'s negatives is often invaluable. ‘While it is impossible to give any hard and fast rule for exposure under varying conditions of light and time of year, the following general directions will be found of no small use to the beginner in pho- tography. It has been laid down by an experienced worker that with an ordinary lens stopped down to F a brightly light- ed landscape in midsummer requires an exposure of about half a second, and on this basis he has worked out the rule that under the same condition of bright sunlight twice this time will be required in midautumn, three times in early win- ter and four tim the exposure, or two seconds, idwinter. If, instead of bright sunli the light is diffused by thin _gray clouds, double the exposure noted in either of the above cases will be required, while if clouded and over- cast, the exposure should be at least three times as long under the same con- ditions. While these rules are only general, they will serve as a guide and may be taken as applying to any ordinary out of door scbjects during the working hours of daylight say, between 10 and 3 o’clock. Small sizes of platinum paper may be and ready for use without de- n by placing the tube in which they are bought in a preserving jar or wide mouthed bottle, in which should also be placed a few small pieces of cal- clum chioride. The effect of the calclum chloride is to absorb the moisture from the air in the bottle, establishing a con- dition of dryness in which the paper will keep in good condition for a long while, In the printing of platinum paper small marks like white splashes are sometimes observable in the finished print. These are almost always caused by rubbing or scratching the surface of the paper and may result from lack of care in handling the paper either in taking from the !ub\ or during the subsequent operation printing. Great care must always be X ercised in the making of platinum prisie that the surface of the paper is not rud- bed or seratched. In: the washing of small plates comsfd- erable advantage may be had by leave ing as much room as possible in the tank beneath the plates. Thus in the use o o washing rack and tank, if the rack is placed near the top of the tank and the water allowed to run until the tank le full it will be found that the hypo ia more quickly eliminated from the plates than if the rack is placed close to the bottom of the tank. Done in this wa the washipg will be more quickly effec and more thorough than if carried on s the ordinary manner.