Telegram-herald., 1888-03-09
THE CAR|CATUR|STS.
TAs pscUuAHrss or FUNNY MEN.
fhambo2fl Sketches of Mast sna KsPplsE
Taylor. oPpsr, ksaasls aud othsTs
-fbs WsFk They Have Doae
C4rssatarinx IA Amss.ea-

and sixty Of the JalhssE soals imaginable.
els was far more sprlghty sod yiyacloas
than al the rest lt might not surprise every
one 10 hear tL4sI THIS T. W. ksmhle. Of
The Century, one ot the humorous artists Of
the dxs Bal ~ one sbo knows the dumb
humorlsts of the tlmes-ths men who make
fun in silence with their penciis-.t was az
trSordlnary HumoristS Are preyerUlally
men Of pathetic face and sober uaisn, bat or
eli the almost owlish gravity / ever knew
among men these pencil humorists have the
most Take Mast and Kepplsr. the satiTists.
for instance Ii l. said that keppler is es-
teelned as = very bright talker in the Ger
man colony but neither ho nor Mast Is funny
or in any degree lively IN Engliss- Both are
about 20. snd both have made fortunes and
are taking things easy. Mast is a dressy. al
most natty, little man, vita face almost
exactly ike the pictures he makes OF himself
He is wrapped up in domestic joys al his
country home in MOrristown. Some Of Us
got hlm on bis feet az dinner in Montreal
the other day. but he had nothing To say.
When he talks at all, which Is ia private, he
does so extremely sensibly.
Keppler is an oddity; hs likes 10 startle the
town with unconventional attire. lie Is apt
10 stride through the streets with high boots,
worn outside Of trousers so patched az TO
suggest jersey cloth, bell crowned, turn mp
German silk hat. and Spanish cloak wound
round his body and thrown over one shoulder.
He is a serious man, and funny as has pictures
in Puck often are their purpose is always
serious. He is most interesting when lie talks
Of his past, particularly Of the days when he
was an employe at Si5 week, making
funny pictures for Frank Leslie, and be and
Frank Leslie fell out over a IS increase in his
salary.
STARTED A FUNNY PAPER
keppler announced his determination to
start a funny paper, and Leslie warned him
that if he did he would start one Just ike 1t
and drive him out of business. Keppler took
Schwarzmann, the foreman Of Leslies print
ing Office, and they together, with 81 500 in
money, started the German edition Of Puck.
lt was success, and In a year or two the
English edition was established. This re
mained a feeble bantling until Keppler pub
lished in it a startling picture Of scene on
Fifth avenue, after the death of fashionable
abortionist. From that day it has fourished.
| Now no such pictures are published, both illus
trations and letter press having grown very
refined, and yet the paper gained Is, 600 cir
| culation last year.
| Look at some of the junior cartoonists.
| Charles Jay Taylor whose fun is always
| original, piquant and elevating, looks as So
| Der as parSon when he is producing the fun
| NEST faces and situations on paper In COM
| pany be Is retiring and quiet and his wit only
scintillates among those who know him very
| intimately. Taylor, by the way, is the only
conspicuous one of his number who received
| al art education. The rest educated them
/ selves. Sober as Taylor is he is excelled in
this respect by MI. Zimmerman, of Judge,
than whom the most timd girl could scarcely
be more shy. Yet he can be as audacious and
rollicking with his pencil as ever William r.
Travers was with his lips. He is from the
central part of this state and made his way
upward from humble beginning He is still
in the thirties
SON OF A roRrY-NIvEn.
L. ". Kemble, by the way, is the son OF
California Forty miner, and after a hard
! struggle attracted the interest of Mark Twain
who got him 10 illustrate "Huckleberry
Finn" and then introduced him to Gable, The
/ novelist, who took him south. Through this
he got on The Century. While i'm the south
he fell in love with the American Afri
can as a source Of hurnor and any day one is
apt TO find him rooted in the street, roaring
in laughter at some coniical darky passing
by As l said, be is the only artist who's
humor is externally visible. lie is about 5.
or 81. There was another, even lveier-ths
late ]. A. Wales-a born entertainer, but bs
was too social for his own good.
Frederick Opper, of Puck, is a round faced
meek young man. with mild gray eyes and q
contemplative habit, who says funny thing,
in his quiet, grave way, if he is obliged to, but
much prefers to listen. He is closely relatec
to De Blowitz, the Paris correspondent of Th,
London Times. His sister is a writer ant
gives him frequent assistance, though the mos
remarkable feminine lieutenant any humor
ist has is the talented wife Of Philip Fl. Welsh
the witty dialogue writer of The Sun anc
Puck Her help explains both the quality
and quantity Of this wonderful workers pro
ductions
Caricaturing in America has made enor
nous strides during the past ten years Wha
artists call ~cornics" have appeared in our il
Illustrated papers for many years past, but n,
great genius has come 10 the front Mast anC
Keppler are both Germans, but no American
has specially distinguished himself in this ar
any more than in painting. Europe, it i
humiiating TO confess it, is ahead Of US IN
this respect America has not yet produceS
a Gilray. a Hogarth. a Cruikshank. a Browns
or even a Du MaurieT. We shall improv
with age, and our rising humorous artists an
a very promising lot.-Juiian Ralph in New
York Mail and Express.
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