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P1CLNON IMIOTOtiKAPHY. T*How r.-wrir!*' »r*- Takon amd ^5Plf-MPWiI at J 4h+t— \ l.rnt A**l inKivcapturini; K«pap«H I'rnunrn*. ,Ir» the ch nter of the. great prison yurt it* writes ;i Joint oorr^pondfnt of im Sl wa Loiri-* lt;//I * r tf. *tnttdlt;* a t^mdiar- the fv-^hafnxl frame building with a white tin ra*f. r»n object r.*t mu h curiosity to I halt; primm visitor- who n*k to know what I rhv the placets iiHml for. I iui hi** bnUdm?contains two room?. the »t 1 Iront on«* being used o» a loafing place [or oxu-ft while u(f doty. ItswalU arc com pi *udy covered with a modify or iUotitrdiiuin, thousands of litem* that have tjucrn cnl from Huoh papers and periodicals ** /v.cfc //«: fudge* harper's m tex/ie^* end other j*hii'uu!4. 1 i.ft clipping? are n» ally cutanil to tile wail* by an ingeniouslist:.* iHfgro whjvhA who has charge ot tlio p'acxr in —tnsaty. *’ A door in one corner lead* to another room on the north—Ihh room has barn, whitewttLU, execpejlig r.n imm-nsc sky light, wu c i covers one-half of the ecil.ng.lias ri the prison photographicstudio, wherein arc registered the form to and feature* of every prisoner tiiat if* be sent to tiiu Joliet prison, no matter | In* whal be his dotrree of crime. In this room he must take his place before theasInthiinpuorqugn«talSit*lit!ft?|MItby n gun-i t in the dark*room— the print novelh‘lbed«twth.mmisi ItrtmiJK/ot!Tlan11beaiifexat*Ihni:i IinnnbemI*ofa).IlllimdstofoIkhiqiliightiiing (-iiium of the prison artisL The room i- lifted up with screen* and curtains for roll cling the light down upon a chair, which is fastened solidly tii tile thjor directly beneath theskylight Tin-rays »f light are so strongtlftt, should a prisoner prove unruly during tin- lt;•!* ration of having hi* picture taken, tiic artist, at a favorable moment, can catch the truthful expression of tl»e nmiTs features in the hundredth part of a second by simply pressing a button :»UtteUed to the camera, whhh loosen* th- drop-shutter. causing it io flash acrwa th«* lens. The result inan iii5umtan«!ous portrait. S. W. W«*t-inotv, assi-tant clerk of the prison, is the photographer who takes the convict pictures, uml -o far as can be aseert.xin-cd he enjoy* the distinction of being the only cx duaive prisou photographer in the world. Thu authorities ot severalother prisons *m this country have recently coautienc*.! photographing their prisoner^, but call in an ouuide photographer to take the picture*. On Jan. i. l’H. Warden Met uiugliry commenced having the picture* ot all new arri-v«;i taken, in order to make the prison records more coiupleta. and t». furnish k r liable m* : iiod lot the future ivlcnti-ticut ion of professional criminals andescaped couvicu.i in- prow?* in u*? at the prison ift the beat thni science has yet invented in modem photography. The Wet-plate prticess is t*»o slow nnd a thing of tlm po*i. nnd Kv iuo dry-platcs. mo far na prison photfigrstphy is concerned. The J;aniin:in paper negative and roller-holder pHX'cv* is used excUisi vel v at theprison. Tins roll lt;f paper is prepared in the saniu manner ns n glass dry-plnto —s. the gelatine silver emulsion isuprimd on tin* psijw.*r. J’lie roll in tlicn phased in :v holder with a winding key at one end and an empty spool to receive the exposed paper nt the otlicr end ot ihe holder, the piijnjr lirst passing behind the lens. und. as each picture is tie taken, is woumi on the empty spool, in , re tliis way out* roll of Kota man's paper i of answers the purpose of ninety-eight glass dry-plates, l\.» inches in size, for making cabinet picture*—or, in other words, the artist can make the negatives of ninety-eight people in siuxa«-^ion without oncas leaving the side of kia cumoro- The paper ia then cut into bo rignt ieiigdm. developed, listed, and printed from, just (ho same as a dry plate, but the p.ijsjr is oily«l after dcvei-opnitmt. »o render it transparent.Tin’ photographic dark r *om at this prison i MituacU in the warden's holis m wlwixi the convict negJttivca are carclul-Jv tiled away, and indexed. Ikdnro liiing two prints urn iondu from each negative. One ttopv is given t » the re-cnivmg and disunorging oili -er of the prison, for the purpose ot ideimfi ation. und the other w placet! in the photograph cabinet in the warden's *tlice, which already contains nearly two tboiiomd convicts1 jMniruiis. In ca* of an oacapo the negative of the fugitive i* at once hunted up. and in n few hours1 time several hundred copies of the man's photograph will he ncnt broadcast through the malls for his ri capture.A quick wav of duplicating the photographs now in use at the prison is bythe bromide of silver paper process. No MinI ght is ne«Hlcd - the prbuing is donenrethintiifonttotrivincfrioiorlifraftpm%orofUiGithil.1lyc»fttTV*IIIthUHJIMasUiCiathrwinthw;11Giinth(lt;wthSIhiai di • * hi esSitcIIk-ritinMhi-t then developed and fixed, in this man tier live furadred copies can bo fundi* from a ftiuglo negative in ouodtiv.William Pile escaiicd from prison two years ago. Ho kept in tho country, shunning towns and highways until he had been gone for wverat week*, finally h r.tig out as a farm hand way down in Central Illinois. One day, soon after his eitfpfoyer sent him to town after a load of drain tile, giving him an order on the station ngent for ihc tile. Pile wont to the station anti presented his ord-r, but the moment the station agent laid his eyes upon tho man ho thought of a photograph of an escaped convict he hua rcceivwl several weeks before. He trx»k the picture from his pick«t and it ihlelt;l Pile exactly. Tho agent had PJearrested and returned to Joliet, receiving the reward colored for his recapture- This was tho first town Pile had entered his ilight fromthe prison.It was your corronpondent's tood for-tune to visit the prison on a recent date while tho prison artist was engaged iu taking the pictures ot K.2 new arrivals,—convicts who littd arrived during July and August —and of witnessing the modus operand! of reproducing their••mugs’* mi paicr. Kvervthing was inrend moss nt 9J0 A. M. Tne artist handed a list of names to a guard and retjncMcd him to briug in a gsingol thirty or forty new convicts from thu chnir-fthop. i hc* officer s »on had the r ov recruits in line and marched ihcni ac«*• tiie yard to the gallery, where thev were scaled on a bench along the wail in the oiM» r room. CapL Luko. liu* receiving officer, then tho list ot names, and entering ti»6 operating-room —where ail was ready, tho camera and chair in position—called out the name of the tirst man on the list, and the guard picking cut that man hustled him into the roouu••.^d right dow n here. What s yor name? What's yor register number?I See that lutio roil star on the wall!I Piaco ycr eyes on that and don't move till 1 toll ver—hold op that head a lit tie.”While this volley was being tired into the cars of tho trembling convict, the c;t|tain grabUnl the man by the shoulders—squared nun ‘back m thechair, yanko*! bis head around in the direction of the star on the wall, chucked him uuvlt r the chin to elcvnlo bis uoad. and then nulling around a wood* en arm attached to Hi** hcad-rest, ami CMJitaining a place iu which to put some pasteboard hgtires to repri»enl tli€ prisou number of the convict, pushea il against the man's cbeM. so that tbf number would show in the resulting picture. All these manipulations wcx\* gone through with in a moment s lime, and then came the ominous ••click1* ol the instantaneous shutter on tins camera —tho exposure was completed. A second later and the captain yells:••XeatT1And in cornea another victim. They follow each other in rapid succession, like sheep coming to a shearing.The faces that came before the camera daring the few hours your correspondent was prcsqpt would, have been a study for ihc stndei»#of human nature, especially if he bad a penchant for physiognomy.Criminals of all ages from tho boy ot 15 to tho gray-haired old offender of 80. tho sly pickpocket, tho dangerous burglar, tho scientific safe-blowcr, tlw adroit sneak-thief. Die clever confidence bilk, the embezzling clerk, the tnnn ol ~ too many wives, and tho rod-banded f murderer, ail were there, with sentence! t ranging from one year to the life term, l They all bad to face the earner*— . though much against their will—and Wave their features recorded there.clt;OlIcubnAtis!C;iiAeUvtlutlnIs
Newspaper Details
The Clarion
Jackson, Mississippi, US
Wed, Oct 27, 1886
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 12 Jan 2021
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