Wichita eagle., 1888-07-22

The first thing that strikes the customer on
entering the display room Of Une of these
sllops is the sublime Indifference of the dealer.
On one wall IS stretched q man tn banner
bearing Democratic legends, fianked by the
colossal portraits of Cleveland and Thurman;
On the opposite, Harrison and Morton beam
down from silk or muslin, while elsewhere
Fisk or Cowdrey or Streeter, or even Belva
Lockwood. may shine in chrome and oil. The
work room is & conical sight Here, Cleve-
and IN mere outline shines in a picture just
.onnleuced; there Harrison family looms
sut Of a cloud, and yonder is Thurman with
one eve ard ''gauey' look As q rule the
big banners are made in sets, twenty or thirty
az a time. The easel" is all one side Of a
room, which reaches up through two stories;
the canvas" If it is for the common articlel
IS Of unbleached muslin, which has had one
sizing" Of oil and lead. and before that are
aaH dozen men and often as many boys
standing, kneeling or perched on step ladders,
each working according to his own capacity,
and all doing some part OF the same picture
The satirist Of the other party often points g
joke By referring TO the mammoth portrait
as done with hose or squirt gun, or daubed
On by sign painter La reality, the por-
painted by fairly good artists, and the pro-
cess Is as follows;
Suppose there are orders in for a man.
notn banner 20 by 20 feet, to hang from rope
stretched across the street from head
quarters" on the left, Of course, is our
gallant standard bearer" on the right his
vice. above the party legend, and all around
the eTnbleuls Of industry, agriculture, peace,
fortune, or any particular goddess the ex-
uberant fancy OF the committeeman may
suggest The muslin Is stretched and ''sized'
with lead and oil. then the boss designer
makes the letter outlines IN faint crayon, and
the boys, apprentices or unskillful hands, so
20 painting them in Ii in colors, there is
different painter for each color The artist
then tackles the portrait, and soon the cloudy
profile of the candidate shows IN faint crayon
lines. Then come the tilters, and very often
thirty different colors are used, rarely less
than twenty Each tinter has scheme"
much like the mapped out head one sees on
chronological chart, only instead Of being
marked "Amativeness," "Pniloprogenitive-
ness" etc, the little sections of his scheme
head are marked Pink" "Deep Flesh,'
"Florid,n etc.
Suppose it is bust, "Grover Cleve-
land tOuT IecL 04gu, WIFI LL.c CIAJ Ou
man has finished his work there is q
ghastly, barely recognizable outline, and
he proceeds TO his Thurman" at the
other end, or to q Harrison" or Fisk"
elsewhere. Than comes the heavy tinter, and
bright red spots glow here and there on tho
presidential simulacrun, after which the
picture looks as if it had been bombarded
with CHUNKS of raw liver Next comes the
first artist IN hair, and when he IS done the
presidential head is dark brown on the top
Then another tinter adds the neck shading,
another the cheek variation and still another
the pink, vermiIion, etc, and last Of all the
finisher who does the blending" And now
there is a face and head without eyes, perched
on q frame, which Is to be q coat and shirt 6y
and by The eyes are put II by skilled
workman, the coat and shirt rapidly brushed
On" by boys. and last OF oil the blue sky is
poured around the portrait by an apprentice
with astonishing rapidiry. And each one of
,hese workmen can 60 over twenty or thirty
portraits a day. Last of all the muslin
strips are firmly fastened on an immense
betting, Just like rectangular section OF a
coarse fish seine. stout rope is reeted II along
The borders and to be fastened to the main
importing rope, and SO the mammoth ban
ler Is ready for the committee al cost OF
rom $50 to 500 according 20 the compleIlty
If the design.