The weekly tribune., 1893-08-18
A RARE PHOTOGRAPH
THE REPRODUCTION OF THE OLD
DE WITT CLINTON DUE TO IT.

c'4uo hit OF history winch Deal.
With the Old Anti-NIasonry Feeling In
New York State Over Sixty Years Ago
A Clever Artist with Scissors.
The New York Central Railroad com.
pany's reproduction of the first railroad
train and locomotive ever run in New
York state, q most interesting and valu.
able exhibit at the Chicago fair" said an
old resident of Albany, "causes me to
wonder how many of the officers of that
company know that if the disappearance
OF Morgan from Batavia Is years ago
bad not been attributed to murderous
Vaccinations of the Masonic fraternity,
which resulted in the great anti Masonic
excitement that spread throughout the
country and became sensational polit-
lcal factor, they would not have been
able to make the reproduction, and the
appearance of that curious railroad train
and engine would never have been known
In accurate and pictorial representation.
1t was years before the discovery and
practical introduction of that crude pred
ecessor OF photography, the daguerreo-
type, when the pioneer railroad train in
this state was run. and as the future i'm
portance to history of the appearance of
that train never occurred to those inter-
ested III bringing it into existence the
skill OF 10 artist with his pencil was
brought into use to perpetuate it on
paper. 1t happened that young man
named Brown-William H. Brown of
Phladelphia-was in Albany on the day
the train was run, Aug. 8, 1881. and had
been in the place several days.
He had Il marvellous talent for cutting
with a pair Of scissors out of black paper
lifelike profile portraits and accurate
representations of buildings, machinery
and even landscapes.
The remarkable part of this talent of
his was his power to make perfectly
exact portrait Of persons days and even
weeks after having seen them but once.
and that only casually on the street.
He had for some time made good liv-
ing by the exercise of his peculiar art.
Thaddeus Stevens was at that time lust
beginning to make reputation in poll
tics and had seized upon the nti-Masonic
idea for use in Pennsylvania, as it had
been so successfully worked by Thurlow
Weed and his lieutenants in New York
state. The feeling was growing in Penn
sylvania, and young Brown thought it
would be good stroke of business for
him to go to Albany, have look at
Thurlow Weed and others, snip their
likeness out in silhouette, and besides
getting fee from them for the work
duplicate the pictures for sale among
the anti-Masonic enthusiasts in Pennsyl-
vania and elsewhere.
He went to Albany early in August,
1881, and did great deal more than get
the portraits of Thurlow Weed. His
wonderful work took the town by storm,
and he was kept busy from morning un-
til night cutting the silhouette likenesses
OF people of all kinds. sexes and ages
that hocked to his rooms.
His greatest artistic feat was the cut
ting i'll one large picture of the famous
Burgess corps entire, with staff and band
III full parade, each members portrait
being of surprising accuracy. This pic.
ture is among the most precious relics in
the state library.
"And SO 1t happened that this unique
young artist was in Albany on the DAY
the quaint locomotive De Witt Clinton
wlthits equally quaint coaches, was to be
run on its first trip over the Mohawk and
Hudson railroad.
lie was one OF the passengers on the
train, and when it returned to Albany
he cut with his scissors an exact picture
OF the locomotive and two of the coaches.
making the portrait of David Matthew,
the engineer, and John T. Clark, the con-
ductor, on his seat on tho outside of the
front coach.
In that picture appear the ikenesses
OF Thurlow Weed. Ex-Governor Yates
and other distinguished Albanians of
that day, but neither Mr.. Weed nor the
ex-governor was on the train. Without |
> thought Of the future Of that picture
Is valuable contribution to history,
he artist cut those portraits merely as
IN exercise of his skill in depicting sub
ect from memory. He told me so him.
'elf 40 years afterward
While Artist Brown was in ALBANY
10 concluded to go to Boston and Hart
ord to make some portraits and other
cuttings with his marvellous scissors
While in Hartford he showed the picture
10 had made of the railroad train and
locomotive to IA member Of the Connecti-
ut Historical society, who at once saw
What II treasure it must necessarily be-
ONE, and the artist presented it to the
ociety. where it is today a relic beyond
rice.
Some 30 years after cutting that pic
lre Brown became interested in the
abroad business himself, having long
eased to exercise his artistic skill pro-
essionally, and one day, having almost
'rgotten the Albany picture, he read
a newspaper an account of II litho-
raph that had just been published
'om photograph of the silhouette pic
ire he had presented TO the Connecticut
historical society.
He sent to the publisher of the itho-
'aph and procured a copy of it and was
Diced TO see an exact reproduction OF
$ scissors cutting of more than 80 years
fore. But the jOv he felt over n sight