The herald., 1898-12-25
POSING A DUMMY's HANDS
It Is Serious Problem and Requires
Many Trials and Much Work


Many Trials and Much Work
The clerks were dressing two dummies
in the show window OF main street haber-
dasher's store and a group of men had gath
cred in front to watch them. The clothes
were put omit was like dressing corpses-
the neckties arranged and the hair carefully
brushed.
"Now, sonny" said Van Dyke to junior
clerk 'tell us how to fX the hands, lie
paused for an idea.
them off entirely would be ridiculous. The
great thing is poise-natural, graceful
poise. So Van Dyke looked at those
1t is TO be understood that the hands OF
lay figure are as difficult to dispose Of grace
fully as are the hands of an awkward youth
at party. They are always too conspicu-
Gus. To put them in the pockets is too
often an effort to hide them and to leave
hands, which he mad already arranged In
ten different ways with bad effect, and
wrinkled his eyebrows.
Put them behind his back" suggested
the junior clerk
Van Dyke regarded. him carefully. These
two wax fellows are meeting in the street.
When men meet in the street do they put
| their hands behind their backs? What do
they do?'
"They shake hands," said another clerk.
make 'em shake, Nan,' said the junior
clerk.
Van Dyke stood the two very swell young
wax gentlemen face to face about two feet
| apart and joined their haids at the height of
| the waist. Now, run out in front and see
how it looks, sonny" he said.
| The clerk came back shaking his head.
Its rotten bad; that isn't the swell shake
| Make 'em shake hands at the height OF the
chin"
The head clerk tried that, but the fingers
| were of wax, and stiff, and he couldn't get
| the hands together.
| A customer came in the store and Van
said: "Now watch me wiring this wax fel
| lows hand off, And to the amazement of
the visitor the clerk severed the wax hand
of the dummy free from the wrist.
"You see" he explained, "every wax figure
| is supplied with several extra pairs of hands
| to strike different attitudes or 70 serve him
| in case OF an accident"
Bring us the wire hand, sonny" said
| Van Dyke. This hand was covered with
| pink cotton flannel and was flexible, that
it might be bent in any way and stay in
| position. Van Dyke secured it to the wrist
of the right hand and raised it to the height
of the chin. Then he shook hands critically
with the junior clerk after the latest fash
| ion and proceeded to arrange the hands of
| the figures in the same way. The clerk
| went out in the street and looked in. Van
! Dyke tried to bend the wire hand around
the wax hand, and broke Off one of the wax
| fingers.
| The junior clerk began to dance around
on the sidewalk, holding his finger in his
mouth one minute and singing it about
| the next like a man with a smashed thumb
nail He came into the store groaning,
"Oh, Lord!" "Oh, Lord'
Another hand was secured in place and
the fingers arranged in satisfactory way.
cat last!" sighed Van Dyke. But that
was easy; dead easy"
| The best wax figures in the world are
made in New York by Gustave Schmidt
| formerly chief sculptor for the Eden musee.
He is of German parentage, but was born
in France and received his education there.
His wax figures are not the tawdry things
one usually sees in the shop windows, but
are really works of art. One firm here has
two to show in its store. Each of these
| figures cost 5000. They are made entirely
of wax and are the exact counterparts Of
two famous New York models. The first
| figure was sculptured after a French girl.
Almost the only difference between the little
French girl and the polite, dainty figure in
wax is that the girl of flesh and blood has
dark hair and the hair of the wax figure is
yellow. The second figure is that of an
American woman. Her figure and the
soft pink flesh of the skin seem almost per.
feet. The woman who stood for the model
of this one was said to have the best Ameri.
can figure in New ork-l<ansas City Star