The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-20
MONSTERS TO ORDER.
A FACTORY FOR THE MANUFACTURES
OF FREAKS AND MUMMlES.

The Man Who Sheds His Stimulates a
Tattooed Man In Two Hours and Ossifies
You While You Wait-Egyptian Num-
mics Furnish q Good Market For Wax.
There Is freak factory In tho 1900
block" Of East Ono Hundred and Eight
zenith street which daily adds fresh mon-
strositics to the list of dime museum at
fractions. A moro grewsome place would
DO difficult to find. Hideous anatomical
sketches adorn tho walls The human
form, frightfully distorted, Is visible every
where. Tho dissecting room of medical
college has an air of cheer as compared to
this place. 1t is a thorough proof, too, of
the late z. L. Barnum's assertion that the
American public loves to be humbugged.
Nature Is not sufficiently prolific of
freaks to satisfy the demand Of tho exhib-
itors thereof. Therefore They are made to
order, nnd it Is no small tax on the inven-
tion of tho creators Of those objects of in
forest to satisfy the constant Aemand for
something new. The presiding geniu, of
the factory referred to revealed a fow So
crets OF tho profession tho other day,
which, to say the least, are startling.
An invention Of the freak genius is that
of tho man who con, snakelike, shed his
epidermis ut will. After this performance
every little vein stands out in bold roliof.
Tho freak is apparently skinless, and tbe
strange feature of the whole thing Is that
no sheds his skin Mt specified hour each
day. The process is simple enough when
understood. The skin which is shed Is con-
structed-just how the freak inventor ro-
fused to say-from tho membranes of tho
intestines of animals-the same sort of
material which binds together that epicu-
rean product tho bologna sausage. The
real skin of tho freak is first covered with
preparation which seems to render it
very thin, but only does SO In appearance.
A dolioately constructed rubber stamp is
used to put the veins on, and the skin
shedding freak Is complete. "Oh, it's n
rare ono!" tho freak inventor sold rs he
gleofully rubbed his hands. "They ain t
any of 'em in 1t with me on this" Of
course tho false skin is put on every day,
but just how tho freak man declined to
say.
There WINS also In the course of prepare
ton Mt tho factory tho other day tho equip
mcnts of tattooed man, an albino and on
ossifled man. Perhaps there havo been
genuine specimens of all three but that
was long timo ago, and anyway there
wouldn't be enough to go around
The process of making n tattooed man is
ot'HpA'Siey Aeocu- IL JuSU rs cuSy Us put
ting big firms nnme OH boxes of goods
which it ships. And it Is done tho same
way. The would be tattooed man poses in
tho altogether" while another man.
with series of very 1ino stencil plates and
india ink, proceeds to mako him ian I'M
fortunate man who after many years can
tlvlty among tho south sea islanders has
at last succeeded in escaping to ciyiliza-
ton
Tho genius Of the freak factory said it
was no unusual thing to make % tattoocd
man in two hours.
From appearances the role of the ossifled
man Is not likely to provo popular. 10
properly construct one Is no small task.
system of delicate steel rods covered with
peculiar sort OF cement, is the material
for making the case into which tho sup
posed ossified man enters. Once inside
and properly fastened no is, to all intents
and purposes, so far as no Is concerned,
truly ossi1ed until he is released There
are several secrets connected with tho ossi-
hcation process which the freak construct
or said 1T would be unprofessional to re-
veal. The facts stated form u rough out
line of the methods pursued
The albino Is tho nearest approach to
tho genuine OF any of the freak factory
products. 1t is absolutely necessary that
tho person cast for this character shall
have eyes approaching % reddish white in
color. thus equipped by nature, art will
do the rest. The hair, which, of course,
must be long, is blcached to tho proper
shade and then is thoroughly anointed
with preparation which first makes it
assume almost perpendicular and then
curl at the ends. After this tho eyebrows
are Dleached. This accomplished, q full
ncdged albino is ready for exhibition.
Tho manufacture of these freaks, as
may be imagined, requires highly skilled
labor. Tho first step in making ancient
Egyptian inummics is to construct the
original body, which is afterwartl decorat-
ell to suit tho demands and taste of the
purchaser. These objects are first cast in
wax, and tho freak factory is provided
with complete outfit for making wax
casts. Iho figures In most cases are cast
In dozen or more different pieces. There
arc dozens of molds used for casting hands
and feet of various sizes. There are head
molds which turn out heads to fit mum
mics OF all ages and conditions. These
molds are used over and over again, so
that very largo families of mummies are
turned out all rs much nlike as can be.
IL may be seen, therefore, that the work
OF constructing simple mummy 1000
years OLD requires considerable skill and
ingenuity. In one corner of the little fac
tory Is q stove arranged for boiling large
quantities of WAX, to be used in casting
these ancient mummics The freak manu-
facturer buys wax 100 pounds Mt n time
In this branch of tho business it is only
necessary to cast fairly regular human
form, and the addition of the cloth wrap
ping and varnish serves to conceal all but
the mere outline Of the original form. Cen
orally in mummy manufacture it is neces-
sary TO leave some section of tho mummy