The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-03-14

museum, and it was explained to him
that
She wants to be wonder
And in the museum stand,
A picture gallery on back,
Another on her hand.
.And Pm not going to be any such
trifling show as that" she said scorn-
fully, elevating her nose in the direction
of the first woman who appeared in
public in costume of India ink, who
was proudly displaying her greatly
adorned charms in close proximity to a
Punch and judy show.
but why is She trifiing show?"
objected the reporter. at may be a
matter of taste as to tattooing at all,
but she seems to have been thorough
enough in her work.
That's where you make mistake"
said the new aspirant for fame; cher
tattooing is all scroll work Her pictures
are all outline sketches, and mine are
solid blocks of color as big as your hand
Anybody could be tattooed like her; but
it takes nerve to have solid picture
pricked in"
|'And are You really illustrated with
cuts?'' asked the reporter.
Not yet was the reply. But I'm
getting to be-
An engagement was speedily made
for the reporter to be present when the
next operation was performed. Come
up this afternoon" said the lady land
YOU can sect at two
Accordingly the reporter was startled.
not to say shocked, by the promtness
with which she displayed various p0r-
tons of her anatomical structure when
he called at her room. 1t seemed a
trifle immodest of her to show in private
what she proposed to exhibit in public
for living, but after brief struggle
with his sense of propriety he looked
with great interest Mt certainly the most
remarkable collection of pictures ever
exhibited. The gentleman who devotes
his days to puncturing his wife's cpl
dermis is a sailor, or has been one, and
has imbibed TO castle notions of art, to-
gether with his knowledge of tattoolng
Accordingly his wife arms, legs and
body look as if she had violent erup-
ton of flags, tombstones, allegorical
figures and moral and patriotic mot
toes. God bless our home.' ''Procras-
ton is the thief of time" and The un-
ion forever" fill mp the interstices be-
tween MelpOmcne. Calypso, and the
grave of Thomas Jefferson, while n
large tricolor adorns the right thigh
is pricked into the left. Scores of de
signs, no two of which are a like. have
been engraved $50 to speak in the flesh,
and the vacant spaces are being shed in
day by day with others.
''Can l see you put On a n"w pict-
ureP" asked the reporter.
The tattooer carefully wettea a small
camefs hair brush in some India ink
commonly called, but which heaxplain-
ed was really Chinese ink aB,t began
to examine his subject to see where he
should begin. After turning hes around
two ar three times he selected a small
white spot on her left shoulder blade
and rapidly sketched a heart punctured
by Cupid arrow. Then he chose one
of several lunches of needles aud began
to prick the ink in.
Il go just deep enough to draw the
blood" said he. ny nca titat comes, I
stop. Then it Immediately sweIls up like
this" And he put his finger on raw
sore on her arm. after three or four
days the scab comes of, and il looks
like this" and he put his finger on her
left knee, where was an angry-looking
blotch of the shape of a bird. 'sThen the
skin peeis off twice and in about a week
more it is Ill done.
And the picture is there. forever"
said the reporter.
'4ez, unless il is taken out. / can
take it out the same way put it in" +
This assertion, by the way. is an ex-
ceedingly doubtful one.
There is one curious thing about it,
continued the artist. rs he calmly prod
ded away at the woman's back IF
put picture on the knee can't pun
Al.
Is all gone, but | can put one on below
1t the next day If l want to- The inflam-
nation always runs up, not down, and
you can't put picture on an inliamed
part
The outlines of the heart and arrow
were now completed and he began to
cover the whole space inside with ink.
"Are YOU going to make that solid
piece of color? asked the reporter.
Yes, indeed" said the mans wife
Don't you see there's no scroll
work in any of them? They are ali solid
This was true. In some places the
color was picked into the entire surface
of block three inches square or more
IF it was only the outlines wouldr'.
care anything about it, she continued.
''Then it does hurt good deal?" she
was asked
Hurt Well, you just try it, . said she
with smile, though her lips twitched
little with the effort. But the reporter
declined the offer and fell to examining
the tattooer's few and simple tools.
These We're only the brush mentioned
and few punches or rather rows of
needles. The smallest of these consisted |
Of i've needles and the largest about |
forty. They We're ordinary fine sewing |
nesnIes, Iashed on 10 pieces OF Done IN |
such a way that they lay in rows. with |
their points forming an edge like
knife blade. These edges, the artist ex- |
planned and showed, we're sharpened on
. milestone as knife is sharpened. in |
rider To secure an exact line of points |
1t further appeared in concentration
hat fHf. ,ynrlan UNDERGOING the tattoo