The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-11
A MAKER OF M1RrH.
Caran D'Ache. the Great French Carl
 caturist Talks About Himself


 es and foibles of H. I. M. Wilhelm IT. q was born and bred in the Napoleonic tradition" M. d'Ache said, in answer to question. q am by birth a Mus covite; but, as so often happens in such cases, the fact that I had never seen and knew so little of the land of my ancestors only increased my desire to see France, and even as a child I solemnly determined to reconquer my Trench nationality My father died when I was seventeen, and in spite of all that my friends had to say against the idea, I applied at the French em- bassy in order to know what would be the best way in which to fulfill the ob- ligation, which knew devolved on ev- cry young Frenchman, of serving certain time in the French army. Once I had obtained this, to me, very important information, I started gayly for France with very little money in my pocket, but with high hopes and boundless ambitions surging through my brain. As a schoolboy I was all ways drawing, but only, for my own pleasure, and, need hardly say, out of school hours. A good deal of my time was spent as a child among the good- natured soldiers of my fathers adopt ed country, and I confess cherished a secret wish of becoming a military painter. One day, to my great joy some one presented me with a fine book of French engravings, and among it's contents was a short account of De- taille, together with some specimens of his splendid work. Accordingly, l made up my mind that would seek him out-youth is ever bold-and no sooner had reached Paris, in, I may add, a somewhat forlorn condition than I boldly presented myself at M. Detaille's front-door, a portfolio of sketches under my arm.
 And you were kindly received?" 'Kindly is not the word Edouard De- taille received me in fashion that proved him to possess what is perhaps rarer even than great genius-a great heart. He looked over my poor little drawings, encouraged me to persevere, and then, after I became a private in the French army, he never lost sight of me. Indeed it was owing to his in- fluence that I was finally appointed to work at the war office among those whose duty 1t is to prepare drawings of uniforms and so on. M. Detaille's kindness did not stop there: he gave me some valuable advice. Instead of proposing that I should become a stu dent in some art school-a course which would have been from every point of view impossible to me at that time, even had I wished it-he told me +o es+, fo o,I ot 10 ha dic- couraged, however poor might be the result; and so, no sooner did find my self in the gard-room of the 113th Line regiment than I began following my masters advice in season and out of season. Not till I became attached to the war office, however, did find time to do work with a view to publication. To my surprise, I found a ready, if humble, market for my wares, and it was then that first signed my draw ings. 'Caran d'Ache which, as you may know, signifies in Russian lead pencil. My first great stroke of luck was undoubtedly the production of s'Epopee' at the Chat Noir.''
 "As to what suggested IEpopee,' he added, that was very simple matter. A friend asked me to design m illustrated cover for a comic song. I attempted to carry out my idea by an application of the old-fashioned silhou- cite. Suddenly it struck me that my Initial idea was cfapable of amending < developments. I threw myself with ar- dor into the work, and as the result of hundreds of experiments finally pro- duced the leading scenes of the great Napoleonic drama, carefully divided into thirty tableaus. The whole was engineered, as it were, with the help of four thousand figures and horses, each of which was entirely evolved and pro- duced by me, being first drawn, then cut out and pasted Of a zinc leaf, which, when once more silhouetted, produced 8 sentient member of my large dramatic company The whole work from beginning to end was en- tirely carried out by me. I need hard 1y say that was fortunate in finding man who understood at once the pos abilities which lay in this very novel type of moving tableaus. Had it not been for the proprietor of the Chat Noir, all my labors might have come to nothing. However, thanks to him I had my chance. The whole action took place across a comparatively small white screen. I attended every per- formance and stage-managed the whole affair myself. I think I may say" he added modestly, that I suc- ceeded in creating a very vivid impress sion of life and movement. Each de- tail of every figure was carefully stud jed, as were those of Napoleon I. him. self, and made many experiments be- fore I felt even half-satisfied with the result. The most striking, and also the most popular tableau was undoubtedly 'The Retreat from Russia,,' for a curi- ously impressive effect was produced by the slow passage in single file of countless men, horses, wagons and car- riages across the great snow-bound plains.
 q work very slowly, and so far have preferred to draw in line. Apro- pos of black-and- white work, I am an enthusiastic admirer of your leading English draughtsmen. I have long been familiar with the work of Phil May, Linley Sambourne, Dudley liar dy-but it is invidious to mention cer- tain names when there are so many now turning out black-and-white work