The morning call., 1891-03-22
PUTTING ON HEADS.
One Way That a Man in This City Has Of Making
a Living.

'You may look astonished," said we'll
known gentleman of this city to repre-
sentative of THE CALL, "but it is fact
that there is mau in this city who makes
living by putting on heads, repairing
broken arms and limbs, and he is not a
graduate of any medical college,"
"Of course" said the representative, "a
man might be able to set fractured arm or
broken leg without having passed med
ical examination, but when it comes to
making living by putting on heads, unless
he b. prize-fghter, l would rather see the
operation than take your word for il"
''He is not prize-fghter; and as you
seem to doubt Inc, I'll ask you to step
around the corner and will give you proof
of the truth of what have just told you"
The representative was taken to small
shop on one of tine side streets of the Eighth
Ward, and there was shown man wearing
feZ cap on his head, tennis shirt open at
the Dreast-pr0bably to give him full sway
of the muscles of his chest; the sleeves OF
his SHIRT were rolled up to above the elbow,
displaying brawny arms; large apron he
wore To save his lower garments; and while
he looked anything but like pugillSt, he
was actually engaged at that moment In
putting head on-not human being, but
a very valuable statuette of Apollo BelYi-
dere.
The individual-a pleasant-looking son of
la belle Francois engaged in the business
OF repairing and making again as good as
new all sorts of articles of ornament that
have become the victims OF careless servants,
or the cat, the animal that has to bear the
blame of having done much damage.
On the shelves in his shop aud on the
bench before him were great number of
parcels, each containing the accumulated
remains of some household treasure all
more or less damaged, and waiting the time
when his def fingers would take up the
separate pieces and JOIN them together. In
one parcel were the shattered pieces of
once magnificent Bohemian vase; i'll an
other, an armleSS Cupid; one contained an
Italian peasant that was split diagOnally
from right shoulder To left knee, and in a
paStebOard box was the head OF bisque
doll which was minus nose and one ear.
my dear sir" said the workman, drop
ing some tools he was using, II Will say
that am ready to make sound and whole
again anything that may be broken except
a man who is dead broke. You &sk if this
is not tedious work well it is kind OF work
that requires great deal OF patience, some
knowledge of art, also of anatomy, for in
making the repairs it Is necessary TO keep
the lines of the subject and il is also
requisite to know how to replace an arm, a
leg, a nose or an ear so that it will conform
with the representation of the human figure,
aud besides, one must know something
about tie anatomy of animals"
''Do you have to have all the pieces in or
der to make your repairs ?'
"If can get them, no matter how small
they may be, the better, for they are a great
help. but | can get along without them.
Here, for instance" said he, exhibiting a
statuette OF the Babes in the Woods that had
been through the repairing process, "a lady
brought this to me few days ago, aud she
appeared to be in great distress. She said
that she was gOverneSs in the house of q
gentleman living in the Western Addition,
and that that morning sla had the mis- fOr-
tune to run against the statuette, and Ia fall
ing 1t had struck against an andIrOn in front
of the chimney, shatteriDg the right arm in
such small fragments that IL would be i'm
possible TO put them together again. The
Statuette was one that was highly priced by
the lady of the house by reason OF some at
tachment connected with it, probably love
romance, but that, of course, | don't know,
nor do L care. IF this can be repaired be-
fore the lady comes buck from visit to a
sister in Oregon 1t will be all right, but if it
cannot, then might as well look for another
place, said the goyerness.
81 looked at the pieces she brought me,
and sure enough what there was of the right
arm looked as if it had been taken from I'M
der QuartZ-cruSher. l told her that | would
do the best l could, and here is the result.
L made new arm, and Iguarantee that when
the lady comes back she will have to have
a very sharp eye if she can detect the new
arm The upshot of this case is that have
earned few dollars, the governess' pos ton
is safe. and the lady Of the house will not be
any the wiser.
" How do L hide the defects? Why I'll
tell you if you don't give it away. 1t is a
simple matter. 1t is nothing but paint toned
down to match the original article Some
times it is impossible TO match the tint, and
in such cases it becomes necessary to give
the article new coat of paint, making it to
be sure as nearly the tint of the original as
the mixing of colors will admit"
The TeDairer excused Minis elf from further
talk, saying that he had to finish putting ON
the head on Apollo. ami the representative
retired with the firm conviction that there
many ways of making money that are not
generally known.