Street Car Wreck! A Camera Bought 99 Years Ago Is Today's Time Machine

Bruce Perry examines his dad's camera

Cameras are time machines, especially the camera bought 99 years ago by Bruce Perry's dad.

Talk about a window to the past. And, miracle of miracles, we have the actual negatives that camera produced.

Wow.

Bruce Perry, Roy, grabbed me at the recent opening of the Black and White show at the Eccles Community Art Center and said he had a pile of negatives taken by his dad he was unsure what to do with.  Could I advise him?

Happy to, I said. Bring them down.

He did, repeatedly saying "I don't know if these are any good."

Are they any good? Bruce Perry is my new best friend forever. That's how good they are.

His dad, Lester Perry, ran the Harrisville brickyard in 1915. Yes, the same one that finally closed last year. Business must have been good in 1915, because Lester felt flush enough to buy himself a Folding Pocket 3A Kodak Autographic, a camera that only fits in your pocket if you are a kangaroo. It uses film about 4 inches wide and produces post card-size negatives and prints.

The camera itself is about 10 inches long and two inches thick, but had a good lens and shutter. One unique thing is that "autographic" stuff. The camera let you write through an opening in the back so your notes of what you were taking a picture of showed up right on the negative. This was Kodak's early version of the metadata digital pictures have now, and it means we know precisely what day Lester took some of his shots.

Lester was a good photographer. He paid attention to exposure, focus and composition.This is really good because he carried his camera with him when he went all over Ogden selling bricks.

The wreck of the 25th Street street car. Photo by Lester Perry

So, we know that on the afternoon of Nov. 14, 1918, four days after Armistice Day, Lester was in downtown Ogden, probably hoping to cash in on any post-war optimism by selling bricks, when the street car  crashed into the Broom Hotel.

The street car had been going east, up past Adams Avenue, and stopped when its crew got out to help another street car in front of them. The car's brake let go and back down the hill it went, careening towards the busy intersection of then-Washington Avenue and 25th Street.

It flew through the intersection, jumped the tracks and bashed into a hat shop on the south side ground floor of the Broom Hotel. The newspaper said it was a miracle hundreds were not injured. As a matter of fact nobody was injured, but its more fun to say a miracle occurred.

And there was Lester, off to the side, taking pictures.

I think his are as good as the one the paper ran.

Nov. 15, 1918 Ogden Standard

I love Lester's pictures. Because I have the negatives, I can make good prints, dodging and burning, working the contrast to bring out details.

Why is this important? Almost nobody saved the negatives back then, which means every image we have from years ago is a copy. Copies from prints always lose some of the original data, and copies of copies lose more.

Detail from street car photo

To put it in digital terms, think of saving an image as a jpg, then expanding it, then saving it again, over and over. Every time you save it, you compress it digitally, meaning your computer is taking out pixels. Every time you open it, your computer expands it again, replacing those pixels with what it thinks goes there, but it is just guessing and after a while things degrade.

Same with copies of photographs. Every iteration gets worse.

So when someone has the original negative, that's treasure. The actual light from the actual subject came through a lens and nudged a few silver atoms on the negative.  Ninety nine years later you can still see the mark that light left: The US Liberty Bell, a row of army barracks at Fort Douglas, a street car wreck in Ogden, farms in fields long gone but the mountains behind, still familiar.

Look at the buildings in the street car photos, the store fronts, the details of life.  I love the hats everyone is wearing, and notice all the men have on white collars and are dressed well? Nobody wore jeans and t-shirts back then.

Check out the bicycles. And $3 hats!

Liberty Bell in Ogden. Photo by Lester Perry

In 1915 the Liberty Bell made a national tour on its way to an international exposition in San Francisco. Of course it had to go through Ogden, and talk about excitement. The paper ran dozens of stories, people from all over the state came to see, an estimated 30,000.  This at a time when the population of Ogden was about 30,000.

And there was Lester. He got the bell, the crowd, and an amazing shot of the train leaving Union Station. I love the women wearing their bloomers.

And on and on. He shot the new army camp in Salt Lake City up at Fort Douglas. He took the camera along when he and some other guys went rabbit hunting, killing hundreds of the critters.

Liberty Bell train. Note the
Autographic notes

Yes hundreds. Back then rabbits were a major scourge. Parties would  shoot thousands of them. During The Depression those rabbits fed a lot of Utah's poor.

We're still sorting and scanning negatives. Bruce brought his dad's pocket diary down, so we also have some details of daily life, and I recorded an interview of Bruce talking about his dad's later life. The brick yard had to lay off all its workers when The Depression hit in 1929, and his dad traded bricks for a few years to buy food.

In the 1940s Lester set up a flower shop on Grant Avenue between 24th and 25th Street. Bruce said his dad always wanted to be an artist, and in flowers he found an outlet that paid the rent.

Flowers wilt, but a good photograph lasts forever. When Lester died he left his camera and his negatives. His children, being wise, didn't throw either out, but saved them, a window to his time.

Thanks Lester, for your good work. And thank you, Bruce, for bringing it to us in the Union Station archive so it can be preserved and admired in the future.

Detail, Liberty Bell train leaves Ogden. Note the original station's tower and the ladies' bloomers.

Ogden's Past Still Lives At the Two-Bit Cafe

I just put up some Facebook pics/ads from the Bon Ton Cafe on 25th St in Ogden back in 1927, and was reminded that darn few restaurants ever come close, these days, to the dining experience our grandfathers took for granted --- good food, friendly proprietors who were right there waiting on you in a restaurant with vintage atmosphere, with real tables, real linen, real silverware.

Who does that any more? Lamb's in Salt Lake, Idle Isle in Brigham, the Bluebird in Logan, come closest.

One in Ogden offers a similar experience, and the guys who ran the Bon Ton would recognize it, because Two Bit Street Cafe, at 126 25th, is a block down from the Bon Ton and its interior has changed but little.

They serve anyone!

When I came to town in 1978 it was "The Club," a beer bar where railroaders cashed their checks, prostitutes plied their wares and drunks did what drunks do. The bar closed, but the back bar that was there in the 50s and before is still there, the wood work and fixtures are still there. The clock with the bullet hole is still there.

James Dayley snaps a pic for customers

Co-owners Penny Allred and James Dayley have been operating the place for 10 years now. Penny is an amazing cook, James is an amazing magician, and 10 years is a lot of amazing food and bent spoons.

A good meal there costs a bit more than 35 cents, but the food is excellent, prepared for you while you wait, not nuked. It is the only restaurant in town where vegetarian and vegan are happily prepared, but carnivores eat well there too.

More important, their restaurant is locally owned, operated, and part of what makes my town unique. James and Penny live, work and shop here, just like owners of old. Can McDonalds say that? Nope.

You can sit in a booth and, very easily, imagine yourself back in time as the owners bustle, friends drop by the chat while you eat, and the past oozes out of the woodwork.

Man if only those walls could talk.

Happy 10th, guys. And thanks.

HURRY! Darnel Haney in Statewide Art Exhibit

Darnel Haney's work

I was wandering in Salt Lake City today and ran into an old and dear friend, Darnel Haney.

Not in person. I ran into his art, which is cooler, in a way. Darnel puts his soul into his art, so I ran into much more than his body, I ran into his beliefs and feelings.

Darnel's amazing art work is on display -- gad, only another two days? Sadly, yes -- at the Rio Grande Railroad Station in Salt Lake City, now home of the Utah Historical Society and various arts groups. The display is of art that has "a dialogue with historical and contemporary civil and human rights issue," because those were the centerpiece of Dr. Martin Luther King's work.

Darnel, who is black, has a long life history of fighting racial prejudice, not the least of which when he fell in love with, and married, a white woman in Logan, Utah, back in the 60s. They had to go to movie dates separately, couldn't even sit next to each other, if you can imagine, and she was shunned.

They're still married, of course.

Darnel's long career led him to Washington Terrace where he and Marie moved in and watched the neighbors take one look and move out. That's OK, a finer class of folks moved in again.

Darnel took up painting, with African and slave themes, which obviously fits in with this show. There are seven pieces by him showing.

A DREAM kid

There is other works from others who have struggled -- Hispanics and other immigrant populations.

I found most touching the one about DREAM kids, the children of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US by their parents, built lives and then faced deportation. Recent changes have allowed those kids to get legal residency, which is letting them lead normal lives, more or less.

Three years ago pictures of the kids were taken, not showing their faces clearly so they wouldn't get into trouble. This year new pictures were taken, showing them now bright and smiling, the typical American kids that they are, ready to build themselves new futures.

That's nice. Darnel looks at the past, the pictures of the kids look at the future.

The show is in the main lobby through the 14th. I'd have written about it sooner if I'd known about it sooner, but I miss a lot. Get down and see it if you can, the Rio Grand Station is an easy one block walk east of the FrontRunner Salt Lake Central stop.

Dear Utah Lawmaker: Listen to me too, ok?

My wife got a constituent survey in the mail from our local representative, Dixon Pitcher.  She filled it out, but I wanted to play too so I sent him an email with my answers to his questions.

They're good questions and I have to go on the assumption he's honestly wants my answers. 

Lawmakers have tough jobs, and so I tried to make my answers clear. The screamers in Eagle Forum and others are making a lot of racket down there, it is up to us to give lawmakers the ammunition to answer their screams, or at least the comfort that intelligent people have different answers than Gayle Ruzika.

So, find your lawmaker's email address if he/she hasn't sent you a survey yet. You can find them all at 

http://www.le.utah.gov/house2/representatives.jsp.

Don't copy my answers, write your own.

Be polite, be clear, and be large in number.

Here's mine:

Dear Rep. Pitcher,

My wife got a legislative survey from you in the mail and has filled it out. Since you didn't send me one, here's my answers, and I thank you for your consideration:

1. On the gay marriage amendment -- as I recall, I voted against it in 2004.  I would do so again, if for no other reason than the US Constitution is pretty clear on the issue of equal rights, recent Supreme Court decisions are pretty clear on gay rights being equal, and I don't feel that anyone's constitution gives voters the ability to take away the rights of anyone else, however small their minority.

Considering the history of the minority Mormon Church's rights to religious freedom being ignored by majorities in Illinois and Missouri in recent history, I was astonished the amendment was approved. I feel strongly Utah shouldn't spend a dime defending it.

I'm especially offended that Utah has seen fit to hire outside counsel that has clear conflict of interest with the Sutherland Institute. Utah is not a subsidiary of the Sutherland Institute and anything even hinting at such a linkage should be shunned. 

The Sutherland Institute advocates for the LDS Church, and I hope you are aware that not all of your constituents are members of that church. Our voices count too, you know.

2. No, individual states should not be in the business of defining marriage. Doing so violates the equal rights provisions of the US Constitution (see recent Supreme Court decisions). 

Government is supposed to do what people want, not the other way around, and since a majority of the people cannot get together and deny rights to minorities, this is one area that states don't have power. States issue marriage licenses to help keep the legalities of couples taxes, inheritance, finances and other things straight, but it stops there.

3. Raise tobacco age to 21?  If they're old enough to vote, join the army and fight and die in Afghanistan, they're old enough to buy tobacco. I don't think they should, but that's their decision as adults, not mine.

4. Wood burning stoves?  Not only should they not be used on no-burn days, but I'd like to see much stronger efforts to keep the air clean on what I reluctantly call "burn" or "green" days. Why wait until it's bad to keep it from getting worse? 

But this should not be left only to wood burning stoves. Strict enforcement of cars idling, stronger emphasis on mass transit and stricter regulation on industry are also called for. Our children are paying a horrible price, and pharmaceutical companies are getting rich selling asthma medications to us.

5. The AG should stay elected.

6. The gasoline tax needs to be adjusted for inflation AND to reflect the rising price of gasoline and increased mileage of cars. A car that gets 25 mpg and weighs a ton causes just as much damage to the roads as one that gets 12 mpg. 

7. I support the full Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. A study of this by the state showed it would actually make Utah money. To refuse the expansion and lose that money, not to mention denying medical care to 110,000 Utahns, simply because Utah's Tea Party and others don't like President Obama, isn't just silly, it's mean.

Utahns are not mean. We take care of people, and expanding Medicaid is a good way to do it.

8. Budget "surplus": Any increase in revenue should go to the areas that have been so brutally cut in recent years: Education and human services.  

Under no circumstances should any taxes be cut. Yes, there are always cries for relief, but a cut of $100 million in tax revenue only gives each Utahn $33.33 -- yes, 33 dollars -- which isn't enough to buy dinner for two, let alone help out anyone's annual budget.

That same $100 million can make a huge difference if it's used to buy school supplies, or boost pay for folks who haven't had a raise in years.

9. Liquor laws -- I'd love to see Utah get out of the liquor business entirely. OK, that's not going to happen, but at least get rid of those silly "Zion Curtains."  Who do you think you're kidding? Certainly not children.

10. Other items:  

-- Approve the non-discrimination in housing ordinance now being proposed. Scare stories from the Eagle Forum are just that: Scare stories, completely untrue. Saying non-discrimination laws against gays mean their religious beliefs are being violated is tantamount to asking for state-supported bigotry. 

Jesus said to treat others the way we want to be treated, and I don't want to be discriminated against because of my sexual orientation. Do you?

-- Much more work on air pollution, especially including more mass transit. It should be clear that more highways don't improve transportation as a whole, they just encourage suburban sprawl and subdivisions that make it worse. The gains in capacity made by all the construction before the Olympic games, for example, were gone before the games were over.

Thanks for your consideration, Rep. Pitcher. Have a good session, and try to stay sane.

Charles Trentelman

Bill Salerno: Union Station and Ogden lose a friend

William J. "Bill" Salerno

Bill Salerno, Ogden architect and patron of the arts, died Monday, and we at Union Station will particularly miss him.

Bill only served a year on the Union Station Foundation's board of directors, but Foundation Executive Director Roberta Beverly said he was a long-time advocate, supporter and donor to the station.

"He was just committed to the station and the arts," she told me Thursday morning. "He went out and spoke for the station and advocated for the station and for the arts."

In addition to supporting the many artistic events that take place at the station, his own handiwork is all over the station. He did the architectural drawing for several projects at the station, including the Eccles Rail Center Plaza which houses our outdoor display of vintage rail engines. Roberta can't remember him every charging for that. When Warren's Model Train shop moved into new digs in the station, again he did the designs.

Bob Geier, former director of Union Station, said Bill was deeply involved in his community and saw his work as a way to build it up.

"Bill was always caring about the Ogden Community," Bob wrote.  "He was active in the Red Cross, Weber County Heritage Foundation, Ogden Union Station Foundation and the  Imagine Ballet as well as others. He was always available to help a good cause!  

Eccles Rail Center Plans

"Bill's office perched on the corner of Grant and 25th St. gave him some insight into  our community and he loved to share some of the stories at lunch usually at  Roosters or La Ferrovia about the humanity that flowed by."

Bob said Bill was especially devoted to his daughter, Marissa, and his wife.

"He loved his wife Tammy and spoke about her caring for the children in the classes  that she taught.  Tammy taught special education and that takes a very special  educator to handle some of those challenges.

"Tammy and Bill worked together to make a great home for Marissa and affording her every opportunity they could. They have succeeded in raising a lovely young lady  together.  

"Bill has his fingerprints all over the town, whether it was the Ogden City Public Works building or something as simple as a small home remodel.    He loved Ogden  and enjoyed the people.  I will miss seeing his light on in his office late at night as  he worked.  Bill had many friends in Ogden and he will be missed deeply both  professionally and as a friend."

You can read his obituary here (click).  Several prominent families and officials have already left tributes to him, and I'm sure more will follow.

We at Union Station are very grateful for his many gifts and services to the station and the community over the years. We will miss him.


Ogden needs more folks like him.    

Nothing Simple About Tuning Up A '26 Lincoln

Back in the day I had a 1975 VW Rabbit.

Real lemon. Among it's many, many problems was a worn shaft in the distributor that made the rotor wobble as it spun. It would have cost a grundle of money to replace the shaft, money I didn't have.

So the thing wobbled, which meant the ignition points didn't stay gapped properly, which meant they tended to wear out often.

I got very good at replacing ingnition points. Fortunately they only cost a couple dollars a set. Popping the top off the distributor, taking the old points out and putting new ones in, got to be automatic. Points that should have lasted 15,000 miles, easy, rarely went more than 2,000 or 3,000, but who cared?

Distributor of the '26 Lincoln showing
one set of points.

I could gap them by sight. In an all mechanical engine, no computers, no electronics, there was enough play in the system that precision didn't matter, especially since the shaft's wobble meant precision was impossible in the first place.

Rotor of the '26 Lincoln

I thought of this as I came into the Browning-Kimball Car Museum at Union Station this morning and found Steve Sherwood standing by our 1926 Lincoln, spare tire off, hood flaps up, table full of wrenches and other tools nearby.

This Lincoln is a gem. Silent film actor Ernest Torrence was its original owner, the Browning family bought it in its original unrestored condition and it has stayed that way ever since. It's got fewer than 50,000 actual miles on the odometer, and Steve didn't think it had ever been tuned up since the Brownings bought it.

It was backfiring a bit the last time he started it, he said, so he figured it was time.

The 1926 Lincoln is a far cry from my old Rabbit. It's a V-8 with a dual carb and dual distributor. That means there's two sets of points, one on each side of the distributor, and two electrical contacts that the spinning distributor hits. You could say the car really has two engines, sitting side-by-side, taking turns firing their cylinders.

Steve has to polish the points, "and the manual says you can't use sandpaper, you have to use an oiled stone," he said, just like honing a knife blade. That means he had to take each set of points completely apart, polish the point faces, and reassemble them.


Turning over the engine so you can set the gap is no simple matter. On my old rabbit I just pushed the belt on the shaft around until the point was on top of the distributor shaft's cam. On the Lincoln, Steve had to turn the engine crank below the radiator, first opening up priming cups on each cylinder to reduce the compression. The cups are there to allow extra fuel to be added to the cylinders manually in cold weather, but also make turning over the engine a lot easier.

Once he gets the distributor all put back together he's got to set the timing, pulling up floorboards in the passenger area so he can see the mark on the flywheel. The whole thing has to be set precisely, with both sides of the engine coordinated exactly, or the engine won't work.

It's a real pain, to be honest, but Steve loves it because he loves the car and all it means for history. He will spend hours pondering the thing.

Me, I'm glad my current car doesn't need any of that. I was never much of a backyard mechanic. My old Rabbit made me one, but I was not sorry to see it go.

The current run of computer-run engines, which barely need a glance from me every 10,000 miles or so, suit me just fine.