The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-06
And the Artist Had an Abnormal
Jag With Him That
Night.
Together They Were Assigned to
20 tho Flydecker Fashion
able Reception.
Reporter Ksrr's Manuscript Was Not Read
and Artist scrawIs Drawing Passed
Without Question.

the Christmas number Of the YNew ork
Journalist, its editor, Allen Forman, kindly
enlarged that number to seventy-aix pages,
writes Charles Iederer. He may have had
other reasons for making such a wbooping
big holiday magazine, but l prefer to be-
lievo that it was solely on my account.
Here IL the story.
Though the suspicious of none had been
aroused 1t had been going on for some time.
That most faithful and longest serving
member Of the local staff of the Daily Dem.
onstrator, Frederic A. Kerr. had gone mad
-hopelessly mad. Mr.. Kerr's connection
with the Demonstration dated way back to
a date that was beyond the memory of any
other employe of the Demonstration +. A..
Kerr was, SO a long succession OF city edi-
tors said, the approximation Of RELIABLE
ity. 80 Trustworthy was he, and SO thor
oughly did he understand the policy and
the style of his paper, that his copy was
rarely edited. In fact, tho copy reader gen.
orally greeted Kerr's stuff with a sigh Of re-
lief, unless it was too long or it required
padding, and as neither was often the case,
it meant just so much labor saved.
Yet Mr.. Kerr, reliable, %methodical, Mr..
Kerr, had been for several months gradually
losing his mind.
He had by nature a grumpy, saturnine
disposition, and his increase Of moodiness,
his intensified gloom WAS unnoticed by his
associates. He wasn't q dummy man at
best; he made scarcely any personal friends
in his own profession, but, for some reason,
people outside of the newspaper business
had for +. A. Kerr an u~nbounded respect
and admiration. People were forever Civ
ing him really choice and valuable pointers
in the way OF news. Dignifed gentlemen,
high in all the scales, had been frequently
known to wait patiently for hours in the
ants-room of the local department. in order
to give morose Mr.. Kerr some intensely in
teresting bits of newsy gossip. Nothing
could induce them to ''give up' to any but
the veteran reporter, Frederic A. Kerr.
Nothing unusual had been noticed in Mr..
Kerr's conduct III the day, Dec. &c, 1889,
that his madness ulminated-tbat is, moth
ing except that he was more than usually
surly toward the new city editor, a very
nice young man, by the way. with a very
low voice and a very high collar. Mr.. Kerr
always WIS moro or less uncivil toward CITY
editors, against whom, as a class, he had q
natural antipathy. In turn Mr.. Kerr in
spired all city editors with a sense of awe.
and none of them had ever dared to 'ire''
him.
And his o was simply beautiful.
Probably no other newspaper artist had
ever achieved more Tenown in his narrow
field than had Vincent Scrawl. Scrawi was
of a cheerful, pugnacious temperament. He
WAS o power, IN his way in the Demonstration
Office. His drawings we're very seldom
crowded out of the paper. When they were
he exacted exceedingly full and complete ex-
plantations and apologies from everybody
nj IN the -
stituted a sort of blackmail that retained
him securely in his position, if not in the
love and esteem of his employers and asso-
ciates. When a drawing was left out, and
he found out which particular sub-editor
was responsible for the "kiiIing'' of the
picture, he immediately made a most glar-
ing caricature of the said and subsequently
sad sub-editor and posted the drawing in a
conspicuous place in the local room, or
wherever he thought it would bs most dis
pleasing to the victim of his piercing psn-
Gil.
Even the editor in chief dared not dis
charge Scrawl, for had not the latter threat-
ened to go on the opposition paper, and
through that medium caricature the entire
staff of the Demonstration, from Office boy
to editor in chief.
The cashier, even. of the Demonstration
ofice-and this may seem gross cxageera-
tion-was afraid of the artist, and se%rvilely
made advances of salary on Mr.. Scrawl's
demand.
The illustrator had it all his own way.
Why, he had nothing more to do when he
wanted a raise of salary than to threaten
to use the publishers face as a model of
the principal for a series of pictures that
were to illustrate an article on the life of a
"crook."
But with all these ~idiosyncrasies Vincent
Scrawl was considered a reliable young
newspaper artist when it came to business.
He was a hustler, and his pictures were al
Ways true to life-when life was handy to
copy from. Otherwise-well. Scrawi had
what he admitted to be a bulgine imagina-
4ion.
Like F. A. KeIr's manuscript. Vincent
ScrawPs pictures were very seldom edited.
The foreman of the engraving room. a
docile man with n tendency to mount cuts
on the bias and rout W important lines
in the engravings, always rushed crawl's
drawings through the engraving process of
bltchery; thence to the composing room;
where the completed cuts were dumped
into the particular articles that they were
intended to beautify.
No one knew that Scrawl had taken to
drinking excessively. Yet for weeks he had
been carrying a nice quiet ~"stili.'' to use Il
suspected that he was carrying that ''stiiI'
any more than any one suspected that MIR.
Kerr was suffering from q malady that af-
fected the gray matter of his ponderous
thinking machine.
Sometimes young acrawI saw pink-eered
sea-serpents, with lavender colored tails,
emerging from his lower right hand vest
pocket, but the imperturbabIe artist pre-
served the ~equanIlnlty of his outward ap-
pearance. Even when he would with his
fingers remove from his hair the turquoise
backed alligators and green-tressed mer-
maids that nestled and entanaled them
selves there. thanks to his malade imagi-
naire. his peculiar motions were not conf
mented upon other than as the actions of a
youth oyerburdened with genius.
On the morning of Dec. 2G, 1889, on aris
ing to dress for the day, Mr.. Scrawl discov-
cred that a pair of condoss. with smoking.
fiery bills, had built a nest in one of his
socks, and on attempting to don his trous-
ers he found, somewhat to his surprise, that
a large muscular rhinoceros, with O United
States cavalry brand on each ear. was an
active disputaEt for possession of that gar
ment.
However, he contemplated the situation
complacently and merely remarked that he
should be under the painful necessity of
caricaturing the whole managerial outfit ii
they did not at once vacate his wearing APP
parel. Whereupon the objectionable and
distorted specimens of natural history left
Dir. Scrawfs premises.
On the assignment book of the Demon
%strator, Dec. rs, 1889:
ReceptiOn-Mrs. FIydecker, 43I6 Blue
point avenue fHead l)-kerr, Scrawl. y
col. cuts.
Demonstration Office. 1I.3D n. m. date ms