Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-01-09

W mere Edttootu ASSEkS hA ~ Az
seunls Come from.
Is ston GIobn.l
Turn around. Jim, and let them see
che Crucitixion."
Two men, seated on chairs, sat facing
each other in a room on North street.
One of them was dressed in a navy uni
form. His name WAS klmer X.
Getchell. The othar wa Foston citi-
zen named James Burke, AMI he was
dressed in o light ard airy costume
of a pair o. trunks. There was
nothing more upon HIM IN the
way Of clio hing, but he had
more decoration on his body than any
man in the state. He wa tattooed
from his neck down to his ~toe-nails, with
all kinds of figures of men, beasts,
flowers, ships AMI shapes Of every kind.
His thighs were covered with idols,
etc, placed there when he was in Bur-
nah, eight years ago. Ill the rest of
the work was new and has been put N
within a few wee IS BY Mr.. Get.hell.
The figures were blue and red, a. d the
various figures we're drawn in a shllful
and artistic style. S the tattooed man
turned around, his bark showed the
commencement of q picture of the Cru
ciixion, copied after the large steel
engraving by Hilton.
Il have a COOL deal to do OF this
mar yet. That picture will cover all
OF tile lack and extend around to the
sid s. You see only the three figures
On the crosses now, but [ will work in
ail the other figures that are in the
pictur.', and show the City of Jerusa-
lem in the distance"
How long does it take to tattoo 8
man. and what does it costa"
Il did Frank Hadley in eight weeks.
but the length OF time depends on the
length of the sittings each day. The
cost depends a good deal on the size
of the man. 1t is less work to cover a
little man than n who tips the beam
at 300 pounds. [ have been at this
business for the last i've years, and
have ia tooed thou ,ands Of people. |
charge all tie way from % cents up
to $500. accord ng to the quantity and
nature of the work"
as the operation a painful one?'
mot at all. This pencil has nine fine
needles in it. I stretch the skin tight
and prick it-this way. 1t makes only
q slight itch ng. ] never draw blood.
Just see h W it feels"
He pricked the reporters hand. The
sensation was not painful. Then he
resumed his ", rk on the man before
him, and remarked:
Il use the Lest of Chinese ink. 1t
verm lion. | frequently cover up Old
l...~-z al -,o,;- T1,a,.o IL, ~
danger of taking cold or OF any bad eff
fects at any season of the year. Some
men almost faint when | go to work on
them, but that is all Imagination. There
is no pain. This man is being tattooed
for exhibition in a dime museum.
Hadley has done well snce | finished
him, and gets $50 a week in Cincin-
natl, besides what he makes from the
sale Of his pictures.
Children, too, are tattooed. They
are brought by their parents to have
initials and other marks put on them,
so that they may be ident fed if lost.
Ladies bring pet dogs to have marks
put on the inside Of their ears for the
same purpose. The oldest work [ ever
did was the tattooinr of the noses of
two bull dogs. The + noses we're black
with the exception of one o. two spots,
and as these would bar them from
prizes at a show they were b. fought to
me to have the spots colored. I did q
good Job, and they bore it like Chris
tians. It's a queer busine S, isn't it?
but it pays well, and l have all I can do
the year round. There is a good deal
of art in gett ng the figures correctly
drawn in the skin, but nee it is done,
the figure never Changes. Ii [ draw a
picture on a child and he grows to be a
large man, the picture grows with him
and the lines remain as true as at first
There are o good many who make bad
tattoo work because they are bae
artistS.n