E By EDGAR A. COHEN. VERYONE has heard of Yosemite-hopes to get there some time-and having been once would willingly go again. First a crater: next a lake and now a walled valley, containing the greatest number of wonders within a limited space. I have hunted and fished through the canyons of the King's River; have carried my camera through the grand canyons of the various forks of the Kaweah and Kern Rivers; but have always waited for a chance to devote sufficient time to photograph Yosemite properly, and am still waiting. In the summer of 1905, some of our local capitalists, having become convinced that a railroad up the Merced River would be a money maker, for the double reason that it would be the scenic short line of the Continent and would reduce the travelling time more than half, organized the Yosemite Valley Railroad Co., and started building from the city of Merced, which is on the main lines of both the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe systems. By rushing work, the road was opened for business in the middle of May, 907; and shortly thereafter the management asked me to photograph it for them. I inquired whether the water were not too high for trout, and on being assured to the contrary, accepted their proposal. My experience photographing in the Sierras has taught me, that owing to the great height of the cliffs, medium and short focus lenses are required; also that the less weight you carry, the more pictures you get. I want a contact picture of sufficient size to show the subject without necessity of enlarging; so I took a 5 x 7 box with a long bellows, and my Goerz and Zeiss lenses. Photographers will understand that the length of bellows is necessary in order to use single combinations of a lens. I loaded up twenty-one plate holders, mostly with Seed 26 though I also used some non-halations. In the mountains non-halations are of use to hold your distance, without getting it flat from overtime. The distance will be dense, but can be brought out to the required strength by special printing. For contrasty landscapes without distance a single coated plate is best, as a non-halation will simply increase the contrast. I also loaded my film pack adapter. I like plates better; but with an adapter in my camera case, I have a large increase of ammuni tion. The name Yosemite Valley Railroad Co., does not mean that the road enters the Valley, for while it would gladly do so, the United States government refused permission, so it extends only seventy-eight miles to the line of the Yosemite Park Reservation. The terminus is a city of tents at present, named El Portal, so called because of its being just below the gateway of the gorge of the Merced River. By permission of the United States Government, the railroad as part of its system has built into the Valley a stage road, which for varying beautiful and grand scenery surpasses any road of equal length I know of. The distance from El Portal to the Valley is twelve miles. Leaving Merced on the railroad, the trip for a few miles is through a farming country, becoming prettier as you advance, until at Merced Falls, twenty miles away, you come into the Merced River Canyon which you follow all the way to Yosemite. Of course it was all new and pleasing, but I had the extra incentive of locating pictures. At Merced Falls my picture instinct was aroused, and for the rest of the trip, I hung off the platform on the river side, all eyes and interest. In the early gold days of California, the Merced River was one of the richest and most productive streams, and millions of dollars were taken out by hydraulic mining. This was prohibited by law a number of years ago, owing to its shoaling navigable streams with debris. The Merced for some fifty miles runs through the "Mother Lode," and there are mines scattered along the track for that distance. Many of them have not been much worked of late, owing to the ore being of too low grade to warrant the expense of getting it to the smelters; but now with railroad facilities afforded, there is renewed activity in both mining and prospecting. I saw lots of picture possibilities. There were old shafts and miners' cabins, and occasionally men were seen working cradle and rocker, or sitting on their heels panning the sands for gold. A few miles further along we came to Box Canyon, with the River running swift and deep between palisaded walls. At the upper end workmen were building a dam to furnish power for the Exchequer Mine. Over the chasm, some seventy-five feet above the water, hung a suspension bridge; and above that a wire cable for carrying freight across the river. Further up are a number of similar dams and bridges. By degrees the hills become larger, until behold they are mountains, and in the same ratio the beauty of the scenery in creases. You come finally to Bagby, boasting the double distinction of being the only town and having the only wagon bridge between Merced Falls and Yosemite. It is not in truth much of a town, consisting as it does of store, hotel, stable, saloon, electric |