Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-09-17
nTMMYINnIANS
The Manufacture OF the Au>tere SavaveS That
Stand in Front of Cigar Stores.

New oFh Times.
Some industries bear about the same
relation to the generality of trades as
that of the stage and journalism do 10
the professions. They are modes of
gaining q livelihood about which those
engaged in the set vocations know very
little or nothing, so far as the inside
workings are concerned. Such indus
tries are unique in themselves. For sue
cessful operation they seem to require
persons with Il special aptitude for moth
ing else-the odd sticks that Will fit in
no other hole. In many cases the pro-
ducts of these industries are as familiar
to the public eye as are newspapers on
the streets or show-bills on dead walls:
but the number of persons who follow
these peculiar pursuits is so small com
paratively, and they are so completely
outside the routine of everyday business,
that the vast army of money getters in
ordinary life have as little knowledge of
them as if they were inhabitants of China
or the moon. Few objects policemen
and lamp posts excepted, are more fam
liar to the public for instance, than the
cigar store wooden Indian. This austere
but unoffending savage can be found
holding silent vigil on the sidewalk in
nearly every block. Yet probably not
one person in 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. scalp and an APP
preparation is often manufactured.
\ reporter discovered this fact and
some other interesting facts about the
cigar store aboriginal few days ago.
Two of the places where he is created are
on Canal street. The only other place
i'll this city is Goerck street. In one of
the Canal street places the reporter
found jolly faced, middle aged man,
armed with paint pot and brush, indus
trlouSly reJuvenatlng an aged warrior,
whose face wore 4 deep scOwl and long
crack down the middle of his nose.
Around the place were other savages of
various ages and in different stages of
preservation.
yes, this is the hospital" said the
man with the Jolly face, replying to the
reporters question.
And we have good many patients i'll
the course of year. The long suffering
cigar store red man gets some pretty
hard usage from small boys and other
idiots. I'm at work on Is year-old
veteran, and he's never been in hospital
before. When | get through with him
he'll be good for another sixteen yeas.
That old fellowll outlive 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 car
mine war paint on his cheeks.
Learn the trader" continued the artist
in reply to another question. Yes, in
deed; I've been at it since / was Is years
old. There are very few i'll the business.
good man can make 81, sometimes 50
day, chopping out wooden Indians.
Sculpturing: No, we don't call it that;
just plain chopping, that's all there is to
l.. We get pine logs from five to seven
feet long, according 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 hew the
! log roughly to the outlines of the propos-
ed figure. A man with a long chisel and
a mallet then takes the work in hand and
rapidly cuts the block down. The finish
ing touches are put on with finer chisels
and requires little more delicate hand
ling, but nothing about the Job is partic-
ularly 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. 1t is the same with any sharpely
curved position
In the clock-loft above two able-bodied
men we're making chips and Indians as
fast as they knew how. Both brandished
long, thin bladed chisels, and were whack-
ing away, apparently without regard for
consequences.
Three savages ready to graduate to the
painting department were standing in
one corner, and showing that the chop
ping by the two men was not 50 reckless
as it seemed. The nose of a young buck
grew out of one block on the bench, and
the graceful ankles of an Indian out of
the block before the other sculptor while
the reporter looked on.