Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-01-15
MERMA DS.
THE MAN WHO MAKES THEM, ARD HOW
He DOES IT.
How Some Strange Monsters Were Pro-
duced-serpents 100 Feet Long and
Gorillas Is Feet Eigh.

brought to the light OF day manufacture
in line not generally known to the com
mercial world. We reproduce his stor.
for the edifcation of the RECORD UNION
readers, and as rare good example of tn,
skill of the New York reporter:
When Roome, the taxidermist, was liv
ing, his sign, " Mermaids made and re
pared" hung upon an old-fashioned house
in Carmine street. Another sign in win
dow, fanked by dissipated looking peli
can and wide mouthed alligator, informed
the public that the dweller therein was {
consulting naturalist, a scientific expert,
and dealer in curiosities of all kinds. Mr.
Roome was little man with glass eye
and a wonderful nose that seemed to be IL
mortal terror Of the eye, and was doing it;
best to keep out of sight. =" 1t was jammed
away over to starboard, " was the subse.
quent explanation. Animals of all kinds
and quantities were inside. On a series OF
shelves were piled birds from all chimes,
sandwiched in with cats with hair on end,
rattlesnakes coiled ready to strike, mon.
keys grasping at imaginary limbs, and nu,
merous other creatures. A small bookcase
containing several works on natural his.
| tory a work table, on which was laid out
in much state defunct monkey, and sew.
eral chairs completed the furniture. He
was an old sailor, had lost an eye in the
| East, several fingers in Mobile bay, and
nearly parted with his head in Cuba. Final
ly, after wandering all over the world, he
opened a curiosity shop, and being himself
part and parcel of his stock, he succeeded
well. To a reporter who called one day
he said
Yes, this is queer sort of business.
You might think, now, that a man would
get gloomy working over these bodies, but
it never seems to me as if they are dead.
soon have them alive again, leastwise as
regards looks. Some of them old monkeys
| wouldn't part with for love or money
they're just like old friends.
"Who buys such things ?"
"Well, | have my regular customers.
Ladies have good deal doue in the way
of stufiing canaries and pet dogs and cats,
and they come in here weepin' so you'd
think it was child. Bat it pays, as |
make it rule to charge accordin' to the
grief, not to take advantage of EN-.
When the grief is great they always bring
photographs and want me to give the dog
the very look he had when alive, so you see
taxidermist has to be a sort of sculptor
Ii | hits it exactly they very often insist
on maxim me a present Another class of
customers is a few gentlemen who collect
birds, and they don't want anything ex-
cept it's new and rare. | have a good
trade in birds nests. a good many boys
90 in for that; but the best of the busi-
ness, that is, the most money, comes in
the show business All they want is some.
thing startling, and they always pay for
it; but trade amt what it was twenty
years ago. Here's an old order [
had from man in California,
sea serpent, to be one hun
bred feet long, four feet in diameter at
largest part, and to be in sections and have
an authentic history. That was for big
side-show man, and, as the mans dead, L
suppose he won't object to my giving it
away. He didn't put no limit on me, So
as it was my first order, 1 thought I'd
make my own reputation and his fortune
at the same time, and l came pretty near
doing it. At that time there was big
shark fishery on the Tybee river. SO l
sent down piece of shark skin about a
foot square, and offered cent apiece for
all | could get OF the same size, and as they
threw the skins away | soon got all
wanted | made the frame out of wood,
and covered it with canvass, and then
softened the sharks skins and put them on,
overlapping each other ike scales the
jaws was modelled after an alligator's, only
ten times as big, and in them put whales
teeth. The inside of the mouth was lined
with Fl sl-i1, ouI y,a-,%aJ ,,,J
1t was done you couldn't find place that
wasn't natural The man gave me 500
more than l asked, and shipped it west. 1
made the jaws so they would lift, and he
used to show it with young girl standing
in its mouth. He fooled everybody and
made lots ofsmoney. Ionce made whale.
1t was on the balloon principle. Every night
they filed it with gas, and after the show
drew it off /; but one night, when the shouter
was explaining 1t, the people commenced to
smell gas, and some one yelled there she
blows, and sure enough the great mass was
settling, and III five minutes it was fiat on
the floor. a rival circus man in the town
had hired some one TO cut it. [ made
gorillas fifteen feet high for South Caro-
lima Snowman. 1t took six black-bear
skins TO make each one, and they had ALI
gator teeth and real man.skin faces, taken
from bodies by a young student friend of
mine. He put me up to the dodge. When
the gorillas were exhibited a scientific pro-
lessor said one night before crowd that he
didn't believe they were gorillas, and that
the faces showed that they were nothing
bnt leather. The Snowman offered to bet
him 500 that they were, and asked him if
he could tell the difference between com
mon leather and the skin of an animal next
to man. He said he could, and the show
man offered to let three doctors examine it.
They went to work with microscopes, and
found that the pores were almost exactly
hke those OF man, and that settled it in
the minds of the people. OF course the
showmen knew what they were aud l cot
good many orders on them at $500 a
piece but there amt any demand for them
now. You can't fool the people with old
things"
~ see you have a sign outside relating
to mermaids ?"
Yes [ sell one once in while, and
have two or three orders for South America
now, ;" he said, as he pulled aside a curtain
and showed in glass cases seme mummified
sirens. g Twenty years ago 1 sold one
ike TINS, fondllng one IN his hands, = Tor
81, 500, and they we're cheap at that. 1t
takes almost lifetime to make one and
have it so as to stand examination, and
then the pedigree costs nearly half.
People then were more particular to have
hes well braeed up. Now here's one, tax
ing up a specimen about six feet long,
that was made in 1857, and had a pedi-
gree signed by the Captain and crew Of the
bark r. NJ, Lawson. That will give you
an idea how much trouble and expense
people went to. made this myself, on an
order, for 81 600, but it was never taken,
because the man died before it was done.
He wanted 1t perfect so that people and
scientific professors and that kind could
look it all over as much as they wanted to.
One of the stipulations was that it should
have pedigree showing the sworn state
ments of the finders, also their names and
addresses, so that they could refer to
them.
Was this all complied with ~
Every bit; and I'll tell you how it
was. I got the oldest female monkey l
could get, and a fish called the grouper
that would skin well. The old monkey
was killed and divided below the waist and