If you are the salesman in your own studio, you should be a profound student of human nature. And if you do not sell your own work but make the rules for the guidance of your saleswoman, you should have those rules so elastic that they may be stretched more than a point when necessity demands it.

There is no greater stumbling block than an arbitrary rule placed before a dissatisfied customer. And a dissatisfied customer will do your business more damage than all the expense that may be incurred in sending that customer away from your studio more than pleased with the treatment he or she has received.

Of course, you may be right and the customer wrong, but what does that matter? If you would rather be right than successful- stick to your rule. But if you would rather be successful- would rather have everyone go out singing your praises, you will have to concede a point now and then.

And always do it gracefully. If there is absolutely nothing wrong with the negatives you have made, but your sitter decides the gown she has worn is not becoming to her, don't haggle over another sitting. The chances are you will get a larger order if you seem anxious to please, while if you raise objections to giving a second sitting and only give in under protest, you have lost your point by giving the impression you are conceding that point unwillingly.

Always leave the impression that your one object is to please everyone who enters your place of business. You could not think of allowing Mrs. Brown to order portraits with which she was not perfectly satisfied. You value her patronage and could not afford to have her friends receive a wrong impression of your ability to satisfy your patrons.

Mrs. Brown is pleased with your generous methods, accepts the compliment you pay her - for any woman is glad to know her influence is considered of value - and is more likely to find less fault with her next sitting. If the proofs are satisfactory, Mrs. Brown will give you a good order and will be a good booster for your studio.

Send her away with pictures she doesn't like and has only ordered under protest, and you have no way of judging the extent of the damage done. But you can be sure you have lost one customer at least.

It is always better to lose the entire profit on an order than to let it go out with the knowledge that a bad word for your studio will be attached to every remark your customer makes regarding that portrait.

It is only natural for a woman to think, or at least say she doesn't like her proofs. But if you are diplomatic, you can send her away with a better impression of what the finished portrait will be and the feeling that you are going to work until she is perfectly satisfied with the result.

If you have delivered a good set of proofs, you can rest assured that those who see them will tell her how good they are, and she will soon be back with an order.

No - you couldn't have convinced her yourself.She knows you would have a motive in doing so. Leave that to her family and friends. But always show a willingness to make things right and you will not often have anything to make right.

It's human nature to want a thing you can't have, but when you know you are more than welcome to it, you don't care so much about it. And this applies to a second sitting for portraits. Make several good negatives with the understanding that your customer is perfectly welcome to another sitting, and that customer will usually be satisfied to order without the additional bother. It's just human nature.

CONTRAST P. M. C. BROMIDE PAPER

A new degree of contrast has been added to the line of P. M. C. Bromide papers and will be furnished in the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 8 grades. This new contrast will produce the best possible results from either extremely thin or dense, flat negatives, and is known by the term "Hard." For example: P. M. C. Bromide No. 2 "Hard", P. M. C. Bromide No. 3 "Hard", and P. M. C. Bromide No. 8 "Hard." Beautiful sepia tones may be secured, if prints are re-developed or Hypo Alum toned.

The list prices are the same as all grades of P. M. C. Bromide.

SEED 30 NEGATIVE, ANGELO PLATINUM PRINT

By The Hoover Art Co. Los Angeles, Calif.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW SULPHITE OF SODA

Sulphite of soda plays a very important part in developers for plates and papers and in fixing baths. The developing (or reducing) agent used in most developers oxidizes very rapidly when the solution is exposed to the air, as is necessary in tray development.

As sulphite of soda is an absorbent of oxygen, it is added to developers to prevent such oxidation, with its resulting stain, and to preserve the solution when it is not in use.

However, a certain amount of color in a negative is desirable for the best printing quality, and this color may be readily controlled by increasing or reducing the amount of sulphite in the developer.

Sulphite of soda is produced by passing sulphurous acid gas over damp carbonate of soda. The crystals so formed are made anhydrous by heating to 212° F. This is the form of sulphite recommended and most generally used. It will deteriorate if exposed to air and moisture, but not so readily as the crystals which are changed to sulphate as they dry out. Sulphate forms as a white coating on the crystal and eventually the entire crystal changes to sulphate. Sulphite of soda should be kept in bottles or tins, practically air-tight, and stored in a dry place.