Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-14
AMERICAN CARECATUEE.
The Victims Said Rather To Like It
Secrets OF the Traie-zzeads in STOCK.
From the New York Sun.

the pubic VIII continue to encourage it" re-
marked q wel-knOwn caricaturist sententiOus-
~. as he gently stroked his chin whisker and
gazed at the toes of his boots.
Yes; there are many good ca.icaturists
now
THAT has nothing on earth to DO with 1t.
he replied calmly tapping the toes of his boots
together. and pursuing up his mouth. He is
man whose pencil has made him large for
tune in this particular line. and he is, there
fore. entitled to contradict freely. There
have always been men who were capable of
turning their hands to the production OF telling
satIreS. bat ii is only OF recent wears that the
public has shown disposition To support them.
Many men remember how barren and unat-
tractiye the old-SchOOi caTicaturng was The
cartoons of the present day would have been
absolutely useless twenty wears AFRO Then the
most ambitious efforts We're made 20 look crude
In the extreme. I've or three clulnsily drawn
figures were placed without background or
prospective. and from the mouth of each fioura
was scroll or loop. looking like aa elongated
balloon In each loop was q long speech usually
taking the form OF a political haranyue The,
names OF the men the figures were intended to
represent We're printed under them. The plaincst
figures and the longest speeches produced the
best effects. Now it il all reversed and the
most artistic picture. without line of CAPTION,
gains the most atimiTat!On'
''What has led up to ths?''
The education of the people as much as any
tlt.nS- III is Only Oh recent years that the public
could he made to think in this direction. BY de-
grc"s the cartoons were imprOy Ell and elaborated
until now, as have said, We are at higher
point than ever before.
Are your caricatures the result OF happy
thought or an Inspiration usually"
''Weil." remarked the artist with erin that
took all the romance out of the subject at a
swOOp; there Is about a much inspiration about
car:caturing rs there is about cleaning streets.
Success is achieved by persistent ana untirinr
study and genuine hard work. What you wish
to know is how our pictures are produced week
after week. year after year, is it,
That is it exactly"
We'll, to b-gin with it is necessary to read
the daily papers very carefully and to keep
thoroughly abreast of the times. This is not TO
be done with any idea OF amusement. but as
necessary course Uf study Then every morn
ing the members of the staff OF the paper meet
and discuss the ACCESSIBILITY of drawing such
and such q picture Every illustration YOU
know. must he accompanied by an editorial
Sometimes the editor cannot write for car
tOCn. suggested By an artist. and often all artist
Is unable to carry out the ideas OF an editor.
In either case the subject is abandoned
AMI new one Thought up. 1t is always diff
cult to get good ideas. Great care must be
taken not TO come out too early with political
cartoon. FOR it takes the public some time to
grasp thoroughly an idea. and its presentation
before il II widely understood leads TO con-
fG~!vn- Much worse. however. is the effect Of
caitoon that comes out too late. 1t falls fiat
then. and the paper suffers papablY. 1t is
sometimes very difficult to avoid a thing of this
sort. We get caught in spite of ourselves once
III a nhile. bpt often escape by miracle The
best Instance ever heard of was in the GREAT
political contest at Chicago in 1880. when the
machine was the standing terror of the peonle
We 30 tn press on FRIDAY. and the paDer is is
sued early Wednesday morning. We found that
II was necessary to nave picture on the great
Chicago sensation. but couldn't tell what the DO
It.fal situation would be by the time the paDer
- -
about It. At last-this is a state secret-we de-
e,ptl tO produce something that might be con-
sirUed either way Late Friday went to work
At double-paGe picture representing the ma
chine "a being blown to atoms, with Grant and
the '3o6 spinning in the air. We ntendea tn
say that the picture represented the wish of the
people. but Gid not dare to hope that the ma
ciiiat really would 70 up Tuesday night how
eve. the great blast occurred. and we came out
iCw hours later with our picture which had
been printing since Friday. We took big chances
AMI won. That one success did a great deal for
uS- and we Gained great reputation for pro-
phelic wisdom | am of the opinion that a
forecast is the strongest kind of picture"
Are tht greatest successes gained with DO
Etica suhjpcts."
We'll. it is great field. bat social subjects
are almost as Important. The trouble I have
always foand is that Americans are not quite
tr"ad enough They see harm where none is
Intended or thought OF. ard | am obliged to ex-
efcl>e the greatest precautiOn TO keep the pic
lures at a certain standard. Both German and
French carlc2tur!sts exercise their imaginative
faculties IN way that would call out unQuali-
Ecu condemnation here Ii in the course Of
oT:!W inc picture they have an opportunity of
Introducing female figure they throw in one
with yOiuptUOus curves and attractive pose and
IT, revelation of a well-turHed leg detracts
rcthlDg from her attractiyeness The French
and German public see nothing censurable in
that. but it it is tried here awful hue and cry
is IgjScd"
How do You catch the portrait of public
mem"
1t is not done by intuition We have all the
photographs that we can gather Of celebrities
aii every year go to Albany and Washington
and spend several weeks in making caraful
sketches Oh public men. To a practced eve
every man suggests some animal David Davis
for Instance irrcsist bly suggests the elephant 1t
Is one of the rare old principles OF the craft that
Grant must always SMOKE and jeff Davis wear
hoop skirts Beecher is made by scattering
Come long hair over a very red face with thick
irs and beefy chin
How did you come to adopt caricaturing:"
- was landscape painter ii;st. and did some
PORTRAIT painting Later on. and then went on the
stast. as character actor. Whatever success
lHa; have gained is the result of these favorable
conditions for my perence on the stage taught
hi'' aoW 10 pose figures to give them ami
intii"n and life. Ny portrait painting gave me
Co0.l command in that direction and nv early
NuiA 1r"o'ded NE In that which makes pic
tuTe complete"
:. 10 people object to being caricatured?"
Foiiticians do not now. but they created
some Trouble years ago. They have tried to
orioe me IN TWO instances. and have received
number of threatening letters. but the ma
lority OF victims enjoy the publicity We are
very much annoyed. and have been for wears
by people who imagine that we are putting Carl
catures OF them IN our pictures WREN we have
probably never seen them before One man
Came down to the Office and protested yehe-
mentiy every time we irintetia picture with Post
master James face in it. He was Il crank. and
Imagined that he looked like the postmaster
bur there was no likeness whatever Mr. Henry
Bcreh has called twice 10 protest. and we have
had number OF either cases.
Yet they buy the paper. do they not."
No; Only bul it Ak the stalls but actually
subscribe FOR years Cur subscription book
sh""s rather remarkable names+Nrs Nellie
Grant saTtoris. The King of Siam. Marx Twain.
Mis- " l. Blaine Paris: l.. p Merton. Paris:
wayne Wac Feaeh. the Postmaster Genera! Of
tInrinany. stephen II. Tyng, jr. Paris: Don
Pedro fiE@ Marcel. Havana: the Reform Club
Ion'On. You remember how we have attackp,!
Queen Victoria. the library of thu, H0use of
Lords and OF the House of Commons Ioudon
4I.afN