Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-11-01
NO. %.
ARTIFICIAL MERMAIDS.
THE GIRLS OF THE sEA' MANU-
FAcTuReD BY SKILLED HANDS.


Monkeys Bedies Joined Tn Fishes Tails
with Cunning and Dexterity-How shs
People Are Deceived by showmen and
Their Aids-The Mermaid Maker Talks.
"Mermaids made and repaired" Such
an advertisement was well calculated TO
attract attention. and, as IL confronted
me one day in a little frequented street
In a large eastern city, determined to
make the acquaintance of the maker of
these incongruitics. Pulling an old FASH
ioned brass bell handle. little old man,
crowned with square paper cap, camo
10 the door. and after eyeing me suspi-
ciously for moment invited me in.
There was the 'beggarly array OF empty
boxes, Walls containing strange animals,
curious stuffed birds which peered from
high shelves and were laced together by
\ cobwebs laden with dust. while many
other objects strewn about told of the
trade of the taxidermist.
THE MERMAID MAKER.
YES" said the old man, in reply to
my questions, Il am a mermaid maker,
and tiatter myself that have produced
placed upon the market. Why, sir"
continued the speaker, warming up under
the recollection OF his triumphs. 81 pro-
duced one that fooled even the doctors.
You see, mermaids have been made as
long as anything. The Chinese manu-
featured them centuries ago. and SO well
that a large number of people believed
In them; and If the work is fairly done
the production is one OF the best cards
show can have.
''One day man came to me and
knew the moment saw him that he was
a Snowman. He said he had mermaids,
but that on the last trip man had Of
fered To wager him $500 that he would
not dare to allow the mermaid TO be cut
open; sohe wanted something that would
bear inspection and be ready for such
contingency told him could do il.
and received the order to go ahead
"Generally In cheap work | stuffed
the skins with cotton or something OF
/. the kind and let them 20, but in this
case went 10 work on scientific princi-
, pies. | took the skin OF a monkey and
separated IL at the waist; then allowed
, it TO dry as a mummy would all of which
o helped along by the application of heat.
| now took n fish common in the China
!. sea, one that would not be familiar, and
! treated IL in u similar way. and finally /
Q joined them both. fastened scales upon
I the monkey portion and carefully graded
. them up among the hairs; then intro
n duced some hairs down upon the fish
h portion; barnacles were fastened here
. and there, aud great cut was left open
a up and down the abdomen. through
which any one could readily see the ribs
'e and the joining of the vertebrse.
y "The face had been given an agonized
l look. the hands were clinched, and, all
in all, il was one Of the most disagreea-
bic sights ever saw. even though did
y produce it,
u "Yes. It gave complete satisfaction.
10 When they exhibited II cloth was
:. thrown over the body, and when ans
= question was raised the proprietor would
say that he would leave il to commit
tee of medical men, thus being confident
of obtaining some notoriety. In one cas-.
40 a number of provincial doctors were com
% pletely deceived. and signed paper re
no tracing certain statements which the,
s had made To the effect that the mermais
" was "a sham.
's EXHIBITING THE FREAKS.
The old mermaid maker has passet
y away. but examples of his work are oftel
~ seen either in grog shops along the har
a. Dor streets in shipping towns, in old tav
n erns and occasionally in museum. Tn
20 mermaid Is generally an adjunct OF tn
..i side show. or second rate circus. Such
!. one recently saw Il was Of large siz
n and kept in a tank of water. A spirite
" painting on canvas depicted a beautifu
IN maiden. half fish. floating upon th
M waves. while the Young man who stoo
lty by shouted his story of the Lady of th
Of Seas. unconsciously, we will assume
ed giving the impression that the merinai
,ht was alive and frisking about the tank.
an The little inclosure was well patron
by lied, and it ,vas curious to listen TO th
vas comments of those who paid the require
err dune. II was a holiday. and young me
ng and women were searching for some g
cuse 20 spend their earnings When te
or twelve victims had gathered the pr
tor prietor would wink at friend. borro
nst his cane and begin lecture remarkab
for the exact repetition of its points,
yht which he explained that the mermai
was half fish and half human. and ha
for been captured in some foreign sea al
brought 10 Ameriea at enormous e
the pense. At least oHe half the people WI
IS gazcd at tie mermaid evidently had
= suspicion lBag il Was fraud. while
third accepted II as a fact and express
their amazemeut and wonder at IL. all
Of which shows that with all our educ
tional advantages we are still credulo
perhaps to an extreme.
low oneof the most akillfui workers in Il
uncanny art was well known 10 us. al
: from whom many hints as to the wa
which are dark were obtained. In se
q . eral large popular unscientitic museum
OF the country remarkably hideons ms
srs4 maids are exhibited, generally und
hat glass cases, while with them Is offered
&- paper purporting 10 be the testimony
the capiors 1t Is remarked that Ia maj
rad cases the names signed TO these pape
.ast are not fictitious but evidently given
,ok good faith. There is but one assumptlo
hss that either the men were bribed or 9
.ms ceived.-Cor. Philadelphia Times.
.a~A ---4a-s-saa4e--~--
-. To Obtain sleep.
nae. Among the various remedies for siee
h. laa.nsaa latalv ad dvised In that In whi