The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1895-09-20
ARTISTS In THE NAVY.
how Jolly Jack Loves to Decorate
His Body.
Tattooing Still Flourishes as Profession,
Especially Among the Man-o'-Wars
Men-It Il Not Painful. Nor Is
1t Very Beautiful.

it is hard to say. but it is certain that
about ninetcnths OF thc sea faring men
of the world are tattooed on some parts
of their bodies Among the uEcivilizcd
OF almost every CLINE this custom of
marking and defacing the body has
been quite common. and it is very
probable that the sailors. in their
cruises to foreign lands untraveled by
civilized people picked up the custom.
In my experience among sailors writes
Dion Williams in the Washington
Star, have often noticed the many
queer devices tattoOed all over the
bodies, or on some part of these hardy,
goOd-natured fellows that love "a life
on the ocean wave" better than the
dry land.
1t is probably among men-o'-war's
men that the custom is most near
ly universal, and there is scarcely
ship in the navy but has some blue
jacket aboard who is an artist with
the tattOoing needle. 1t is said that
the Chinese are the most expert at this
queer trade, and their designs are
often artistic-that is, artistic in the
sense of the dragon and snake style Of
art peculiar to Japan and China.
The outfit of tattooing artist con-
sists of a few needle points stuck in
the end of a fine stick, forming sort
of steel comb. a few sticks of India
ink, generally black, blue and red, and
a few mixing cups. and always book
of samples in which are crudely drawn
in chalk the flashing designs that the
artist is able to make. Seated on a
ditty box or the deck, the artist first
takes the arm or the place to be
tattooed and draws in ink the design
to be made. He then draws the skin
tightly and with the steel needle points
punctures the skin along the design,
first dipping the needle points into the
color to be used. The operation is not
particularly painful, no more so than
sticking sharp needle through the
skin, which, if anyone tries to do with
deliberation, he will find not particu-
larly painful The place tattooed then
becomes sore to an extent depending
upon the size of the design and the
place tattoOed, but it generally COM
pletely heals within ten days, and the
design in cOlors is indelibly incorpo-
rated into the skin. There is no known
means of removing it after it is once
on, except to remove the skin tattooed,
which would, Of course, leave a severe
scar.
On board a man-Of-war in the early
morning after reveille the men all
over the decks take off their clothing
and wash themselves, and it is then
that l have found the best opportunity
to notice the.queer designs in tattoOing
on back, breast, legs and arms. The
designs are rich in variety as we'll as
execution. Here. for instance, is a
grizzled old tar with messy breast,
whose back is covered with ship I'M
der full sail. with the men on her decks
ten times too big for proper proper
tions. Another has on his breast a
picture which his fond imagination
paints into the glorious fight in Mobile
bay, with Farragut and the Hartford
in the foreground and cannon below
ing red clouds of fire all around. The
old jackey points with pride to it and
tells an admiring crowd of young APP
prentice boys, who stand around. of
that glorious summer day when Farra-
gut, ever dear to the navy as their
Grand Old Admiral said: ''D-n the
torpedoes." and led the squadron to
victory in the old Hartford. She was
then the pride of the navy, and now is
being rebuilt to be put in active serv-
ice, according to an act OF congress,
which provides for keeping the Hart
ford and Kearsarge in the service in
commemoration of their gallant record
in the civil wav.
Many bluejaclSets have picture of
the crucifiXion tattooed upon them.
though one whom saw with it cover
ing the whole of his back seemed little
fitted to bear SO devOut an ornament,
for when another sailor stepped on his
bare foot such torrents of real sailor
profanity came from his mouth that
there could be little doubt that he had
forgotten the day of repentance when
ne had the cross tattooed on his back.
These large designs cause such great
expanse of skin to become irritated
that they become quite painful if done
all at once, so they are generally done
in sections, sometimes so unskillfully
that the marks show. making a sort of
checkerboard picture. Some OF the de-
signs are very grotesquc. l remember
one very well done. one of a monkey on
mans leg, that always caused smile
among those who saw it. The blue
jackets often have pictures of their
sweethearts tattooed on their arms or
breast, and it makes little difference
if the sweetheart herself changes from
20 .afr
as much like one as another, and the
wearer's Imagination will do the rest.
Story About the Pansy.
A pretty fable about the pansy is cur.
rent among French and German chill
dren. The flower has five petals and
five sepals. In most pansies, especially
OF the earlier and less highly developed
varieties, two of the petals are plain
in color and three are gay. The two
plain petals have single sepal, two of
the gay petals have a sepal each, and
the third, which is the largest of all,
has two sepals. The fable is that the
pansy represents a family, consisting of
husband, wife and four daughters, two
OF the latter being step-children of the
uif.'. with only one chair; the two small
gay petals are the daughters with a
c.lair each, and the large gay petal is
the wife, with two chairs. To find the
father one must strip away the petals
until the stamens and pistils are bare.
They have fanciful resemblance to an
old man with flannel wrap about his
neci,. his shoulders appraised and his
feet in ,...tbtub. The story is probably
Of French origin, because the French
X ..al the nanSu the sfenmnthar