, 1885-05-20
STAGE C%ARICATURE.
BEFORE A MIRROR GETTING READY
TO COUNTERFEIT IRVING
A Faithful Trnvesty of the Noted Eng
Iish Aetor-MahinE Up with Putty, "a
Powder and Burnt Cork
A Funny Picture.

A gentleman who saw a certain actor
make up for Irving. thus describes the
process: M
Tho actor, " said he, possesses an oval
face, which is remarkably smooth and
free from lines Divesting himself of all
his upper clothing but his knit under
shirt, he put on an old smoking jacket,
and then seated himself before a moder-
ate sized mirror. With q towel he rub
bed all the powder of his face. aud then
he took a peculiarly prepared lump of
putty. and with 1t built a false bridge on
his nose that made Il much more promi-
nent Next he picked mp n rabbits foot
and dipping 1t in a paper Of light, brown
i~shlooking powder, he gave himself that
bilious color the Irving has When this
was well rubbed In and blended with the
skin he tool a cork, and, charring 1t in
the gaslight, rubbed a little OF It's black
n surface N the middle Of each cheek
This he spread and rubbed in with his
fingers until it gave him a very haggard
appearance Then with a brush he drew
a couple Of dark lines extending down
ward from the corners Of his mouth,
lighter ones from his ~nostrlls and below
the inside corners of his eyes, and a
couple on each side of his throat These
were spread and widened by rubbing them
downward with one finger. G%rimacIng
IL TIT blhrnI nc DD1tINcu lutil tAtlts anu
those at the mouth he intensified. Then
he put on his wig, and the effect was ex-
tremely realistic. though sat but a few
feet from him. r.
4 had this wig made by an artist who
studied lrving's head Of hair Do you
know, said he, his hair Is naturally as
straight as mine, but he has his dresser
curl Il every morning.
"A little yellowish bears grease paint
nrtisiically hid the line OF demRrcation be-
tween wig and forehead Now said
he. IN put on the finishing touch
With that he took another rabbits
foot. and with paler powder thar that
first used. he covered his face aud neck.
Very little OF the powder was used. and
that little was well rubbed in. When he
had finished he handed me a photograph
Of Irving. rs he did SO exclaiming In the
choicest %Irvingese.
Look at this picture, then on this
l did 80, and my admiration for the
art OF the burlesquer was u~nbounded.
But you have not looked at the photo
graph while making up l exclaimed.
don't need TO any more. he replied
4 have him down so line that | can SEQ
him in my minds eye all the time
He told me. too. that Irving was quite
offended for awhile because he burlesqued
him at a performance where both ap-
peared He said: He was looking at
me from a private box with President
elect Cleveland, and Grover laughed
heartily and nudged him in the ribs with
his elbow. Afterward l was introduced
TO him in the Lotos club by Whitelaw
Reid. and he asked me to give an imita.
ton Of him then and there. but / hadn't
the gall to do 1t. / thought It wouldn't
be respectful either TO him or Mr.. Reid
/ never saw him ulay hut Ave times in
all, but | was so impressed the first time
that / could initiate him then as well as
now
"Just then he dotted his jacket and put
on the rest of his Hamlet dress and then
lit Il cigar and began smoking. 1t looked
too comical to see Hamlet and such a
Hamlet, smoking a Reina Victoria "