Omaha daily bee., 1883-11-02
TANIDEItMS
n Chat with n Scientific Stuffcr and
Mouutcr of Fish, Birds, and
Animals.

"That fish in the window is n black
bass. When alive it weighed a1ittle over
three pounds. Ii was caught in the Lake
Superior country by Rev. G.. +. Gordon,
who brought it here to be stuffed" j..
G.. Spranges, the taXidcrmist, stopped in
his work of stutiing a duck to return the
foregoing reply to a question put to him
by u foregoing reply to a question put to
him by a curious Milwaukee Wisconsin
reporter.
us it a very frequent thing for sports
men to seek your assistance i'll preserving
the victims of their prowessl' the report
OF asked.
ooh, yes, a very large part of my work
consists in setting up the trophies of the
chase. l receive for birds, tish, and ami
mails of all sorts from sportsmcn in all
parts of Wisconsin and Iowa Sometimes
| get work from rs far of as Now York.
Often q hunter who shoots n large ami
nal, like a deer, wants only the head pre-
served. | get u great many deer heads
to stuff. Collectors are another class of
men who give q great deal of employment
to the MISUNDERSTANDING collectors,
l mean, who desre specimens to place in
their cabinet. l get q great deal of work,
too, from people whose pets have died.
Pet birds of all sorts are brought to me
to be stuffed. There are more canaries
than anything else, but sometimes even
chickens are brought
/ get a great many orders to stuff black
and-tan dogs. When | have nc ordrrs
on hand l often stuff birds or animals
which i keep in my store to sell to people
who want them. A great many people
like to have n little case of humming-
birds for a rarlor ornament. Milliners
buy a great many small, bright plumaged
birds. There is a milliner on Milwaukee
street who has a large stuffed owl in her
show-window. A great many stuffed ami
mails are used as ornaments in saloons.
There are saloons in this city where you
may see dogs and foxes and birds that l
stuffed thirty years ago"
"Why how long you have been in Mil
waukee2' asked the reporter.
"%Thirty-one years" replied MIR. Sprau-
ger; II came here from Saxony thirty-one
years ago. | learned the art of taXidor-
my in the old country. 1t cost me $500.
l am a musician, too, and have been n
member of Severance ~ Williams band
for twenty years. =,
Mr.. Spranger is a pleasant, little old
gentleman, and speaks English with an
accent which the reporter has not at
tempted to reproduce. The art of taxi
denny which he practices is one of sim
pie processes. Anyone can preserve the
skin Of a bird or II beast. But to set up
an animal in q natural, life-like attitude
requires patience, knowledge and dexteri.
ty. The first process, when a bird is tc
: be stuffed, is to remove the skin ano
feathers entire, detaching every particle
of flesh and fat. The skin is preserved
by the use an arsenical preparation. TIC
mount a bird, the taxidermist makes q
body Of tow wrapped abnut with Irvine,
which he inserts / the skin. Next he
places wires in the head and legs, inserts
glrss eyes in their proper places, carefully
restores the natural contour of the difler
ent parts with tow, skillfully sews up the
skin, bends the subject into q natural at
titude, and fixes it upon n standard His
work is then done.
Mr.. Spranger says that n good deal OF
cheap taxidermy is done in this country
nowadays which can not be depended up.
on to last. When the work if well done,
at a fair price, and warranted, he says it
may be depended upon to last an indeti'
mite length of time-certainly longer than
the average duration of human life. He
says that the case of birds which he has
on exhibition at the exposition contains
many which were stuffed by him over
thirty years ago, and appear to-day to be
in as good n state of preservation as ever.