Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-10-30

DCIo udNC a SpVSlti 1clltihh NkCfoeCo 10
American jokes, in which you will see
weekly some of the wittiest sayings of
all our American humorists. IF he could
Judge from the papers of the country he
would say that, SO far from being a
serious, we were the most jocular people
under the sun. We are getting to be as
bad as the Greeks, who ridiculed the
gods themselves. The wit and humor
of the newspaper itemizers is great adj
dition to the newspapers. They are
among the most useful and important of
all our citizens. They protect the insti-
tutions of the country better than armies
could. We are running entirely to jokes
as cucumber runs to seed. Any person
travelling for day in the western cars
and looking into the papers would get a
new idea of jokes. There deaths were
announced in a jocular way. Our funny
men take the greatest liberty with the
gravest subjects. Here he mentioned
the late attack made on C9sarism by the
journals last summer, when in want of
topic. The newspaper writers could
kill off in thirty days the best Caesar i'm
aginable. Even he himself, he said,
claimed the honor of having used his
art in demolishing one Caesar, Tenne-
seean, one Andrew the First, and to IL
lustrate this worthy he drew carica-
ture of Andrew Johnson with a long
blue robe, a scowling face, and wearing
on his head crown, and facing him the
Caesar of to-day, which was an ass's head,
with no body, but perched on a long
pair of legs. The head of the beast was
crowned with laurels, and being a no.
body, such Caesar he said need not be
feared. He then referred to his peculiar
branch of art, caricaturing, which he
said is the Oldest style of drawing.
The ancient warriors used to draw
caricatures of their adversaries, grossly
charging their peculiarities He drew a
picture of Dane, which he imagined
might have been drawn by an ancient
Briton. 1t was about such a sketch as
a schoolboy in his first attempt might
produce on his slate. Sculpture shows
that the earliest events of history were
caricatured. During the middle ages
the church and priests were made the
incessant objects of caricature, which
would seem to go to prove that the peo-
pie of those days held both in the pro-
foundest contempt. In Luther's day he
was caricatured on one occasion, having
been represented as a bagpipe, on which
the devil was playing, In the time of
Charles the First, caricaturing was first
used in the politics of Great Britain. In
the time of Charles the Second, it was
largely used, and since then caricaturing
has overturned ministries and changed
the politics of England frequently.
America has been slow to adopt this
branch of the art. Every political cam
paign, it is true, has called forth many
attempts at caricature, and some have
been very successful and effective, but
until recently the vast extent of the
country put an obstacle in the way of
getting the picture before the people 1t
has been but a short time since picture
published in New York would convulse
the whole nation The immense cost,
too, has been an obstacle, and the paper
that would employ such branch of art
must have an immense capital, for often
a single picture in HG2per's Weekly cost
and occupied sixteen men three days to
execute it, and the pictures in one num-
Der often cost from two to three thou
sand dollars. The pursuit of caricatur-
ing as profession has been impossible
until within few years, and Mr. Mast
sold he was the first man in the United
States who accepted caricaturing as
profession 1t was foreign to his orig
al aspirations Like the comic actors
who attempt tragedy, he had hoped to
be a renowned historic painter, but when
a mere boy he attended Burtons repre-
sensations of TOodles. His drunken at
titudes and expressions he used to de-
light in copying the day after the per-
Torrance, and this gave him an incen-
tive to caracturism He, as he grew
older, delighted in earicaturing Shaks-
peare's comic Observation-Disclosures,
Falstaff, Malvolio and the rest. He &C
knowledged his Indebtedness to the stage
for his imp rovement S in the technicali-
ties of his profession.
At fourteen years of age, he applied
for situation on an Illustrated newspa-
per, and the surprise and contempt de-
picted on the countenance of the editor
as he was saluted with: 81 want to draw
for your paper" and replied "You want
to draw for my paper, do you ?" was hui
morously illustrated by the artist. He
was sent to the Hoboken Ferry to draw
a boat leaving the dock, and was SO
successful as to obtain employment for
five dollars a week. 1t was long before
he attempted caricaturing. AT the time
of the war he had attained considerable
dexterity in the art. The war began and
created an interest which he had not the
power to express in words, and endeav-
ored to express by his pencil in Horper's
Weekly. The situation was to grave for
caricature, however. He still INDUCED in
his hope of delineating grand historical
scenes. General Buffers decision that
the slave was a contraband of war, and
must not be sent back to his master, was
the first opportunity he had for political
earicature. General Buffers face, he
said, is one of the best to caricature. 1t
is fine face, but it has one or two very
obvious faults which are easily exaggerat-
ed. He then drew the familiar carica-
ture of General Butler, giving his
face the appearance of a full moon, and
yet making an unmistakable likeness of
Ben, much to the amusement of his au-
dience.
Not until the war was over and Andy
Johnson began to "cut up," was there a