A Matter Of Public Interest

To the Editor: It may seem in bad taste for a man to thus publicly attack a business rival, but Mr. RandalPs local in The Eegistek, of last week, (undoubtedly written by himself and paid for as an advertisement), is so glanngly deceptive that an exposure of the falsity of some of his claims is certainly due the public. What are the facts? From the official circular of the conyention at Chicago, I quote the following relative to the classes open for competition and the prizes offered : Class A. For collection of portrait photography of any siie (cabinet picture not competing tor class C, may be included in exhibits in this class) : 1 grand prize, diamond badge, for the best exhibit. 4 gold medals for superiority. 4 silver medals for excellence. Class B. For collection of large photographi ; contact prints not less than 22 inches long ; print not to be Tignetted : 1 gold medal for superiority. 1 silver medal for excellence. Class. C. For collection of 24 cabinets : 10 bronze medals for merit. Parties competing for this class cannot compete in any other class. Class D. Composltion for genre pictures of any size: 1 gold medal for superiority. 1 silver medal for excellence. Other classes not in portrait work are also enumera ted. Mr. Randall probably did compete, as he says, in Class A. and also in classes B. and D. But did he receive the " silver medal for excellence " in class A. as hewouia have the public believe? The following letter from the Secretary of the Photographers' Association of America completely Iets the cat out of the bag : Rochester, N. Y., Aug. 20, '87. Me. J. J. Gibson, Ann Arbor, Mich. : Dear Sir:- In reply to your letter of inquiry regarding the relative merit or honor attached to medals awarded at our recent convention, I have to say that your medal was one of ten offered in class " C " for cabinet photographs, (and were the only prizea offered for cabinet photos). The medals in class "C " were all of equal value and intended to confer equal recognition of merit. Mr. Randall's medal was awarded for work competing in class " D," therefore not in competition with your work, being in a different class. Fraternally yours, H. S. Bellsmith, Sec. P. A. of A. From this we see that Mr. Randall's silver medal for excellence was not in class A but in class D, the least important of all the portrait classes, and was not the highest prize in that class. In the other and more important classes he failed to receive any award or mention by the judges. Besides Mr. Randall further says he was honored with "the" silver medal for excellence, (which is true in class D), and a card in his store window makes the same assertion. Supposing that it had been awarded in class A 'as he would have the public believe, which one of the four offered was " the " silver medal over which he exults in his self-complimentary local ? Since he has so blundered in making a few simple statements, may we not reasonably discredit others which he makes; especially in regard to the complimentary notices of the Chicago press ? Mr. Randall is not himself a practical photographer, but depends upon his employés for whatever excellence his work may have. But he makes up for this lack by business skill. I consider it but just to myself, as an exhibitor at the convention, that this statement of the facts in the case, and the inferences therefrom, should be published. Any doubts in regard to the situation will be removed by a careful perusal of the above letter from Mr. Bellsmith.