The Red Cloud chief., 1886-09-10
WOODEN INDIANS.
How sayae-s In wsr-r.in, Arc Cut Oui
n. signs for Cigar Ntorcs.

How sayages In war-r.int Arc Cut Out
u. signs for Cigar stores.
Some industries bear about the same
relation 10 the generality OF trades a
tina, OF the stage and journalism TO the
professions. They are modes of gain
Ing q livelihood about which those en-
caced in the set yocations know little
or nothing. SO far as the inside work
ings are concerned. Such indusi.ie,
are unique in themselves For
full operation they seem 10 require per-
o n with 4 special aptitude for moth
ing else-,he odd sticks that viii ut in
no other hole. In many case, the prod
ucts of these industries are a familiar
10 the public eve 4, are newspapers on
the streets or ,how-bills On dead walls;
but the number of persons who follow
these peculiar pursuit, /, so small,
comparatively. and they are 50 COM
pletely outside the routine OF every
day business. that the vast army of
moncy-getters in ordinary have a. lii
tie knowledge of them - II they were
inhabi,ant, OF China or The moon. Few
objects. policemen and lamp-po-ts eS-
ceptea. are more familiar 10 the pub
lie. for instance. than the cigar-storc
wooden Indian. This austcrc but an
offending savage can be found holding
silent vigil ON the sidewalk in nearly
every block. Yet probably not l.
person in a thousand has any idea
where he comes from. In New York
there are but three places where the
only red man known TO civilization
that doesn't want whisky. 4 scalp and
an appropriation is manufactured.
4 reporter discovered this fac, and
some other interesting points aboutthc
cigar-storc aboriginal q few day, ago.
Two OF the places whore he i, created
are in Canal street. The only other
place in this city i in Gorrck street.
In one OF the Canal street places the
reporter found 4 jolly-iacrd. middle
aged man. armed with pajnt-rot and
brush, indG>tc.Ou-iy r~tjuy"uat!ng an
aged warrior. who's, face wore a deep
>cowi and a long c-ack down the mid
die Of his nose. Around the place
were o.her Savagcs OF various ages and
in different stages OF preservation. =.
..Yc>. this Is the hospital said the
man with the Jolly face. replying to the
reporters question. 'And We have 4
good many patients in the curse Of 4
veal. The lo~ng-Sutlcring cigar-Siorc
red man gets some pretty hard usage
from small boys and other idiots. I'm
at work on a sixtcen-year-old veteran.
and he's never been in the hospital be-
fore. When ! get through with him
he'll be good for another sixteen years.
Tha: old fellow'll outliye ME, if he has
good luck
With this philOsophic observation
the artist neatly plugged the crack in
the old braves nose. and put some
deep carmine war-paint on his cheeks.
Learn the trade?' continued the
artist in reply to another question.
..ics. indeed: I've been at i, since l
was thirteen al old. There are
very few in the business. A good man
can make four dollars. sometimes five
dollars. a day choppins out wooden
Indians. Sculpturing? No. we don't
call it that; just plain chopping. that's
all there is to it. We get pine logs
from Eve to seven feet long. accord
ing to the size Of the image TO be
made. You can see some of the logs
through the door in the back room.
Then the first thing is to hcw the log
roughly to the outlines Of the proposed
figure. \ man with a long chi>el and
mall.t then takes the work in hand
and rapidly cuts the block down. The
finish NJ touches are put in with finer
chisels and require a little more del
icate handling. but nothing about the
job is particularly difficult. Care must
Of course be- taken to follow the grain
of the wood. The trunk Of the figure
is all one piece. but the arms have TO
be put on with the grain. Ii is the
same with any sharply-curved posi-
ton"
In the cock-loft above two ablc-bod-
led men were making chip, and Indi-
ans a fast as they knew how. Both
brandi>hed long. thin-biaded chisel..
and were w%hacking away. apparently
without the slightest regard for conse-
qucnccs. Three savagcs ready 10 grad
uate tn the painting department were
standing in one ccTner. and showed
that IN" chopping Of the two mon was
not so reckless - it seemed. The nose
of a young buck grew out of one block
on the bench. and the graceful ankle
Of al Indian maiden out Of the block
before :he other wood sculptor while
the reporter looked ON. J.. Na.l
and EJprcSS.
A SMALL STEAK.