Washington sentinel., 1900-11-24
IT., To SENTINEL
WHERE ARKS Noah's ark,
=.om that universal
w ONl 8 wv tnn, Of child

toy OF child
hood, is made mostly in SaxonY,
Germany, says the New York San,
and it and all its inmates are made
by hand, in the homes Of people
who work in the fields in summer
and who, whole families together,
old and young, devote their time
in winter to the production Of these
TOYS. Both arks and animals are
not, however, produced under the
same root Some families make
nothing but the arks while others
make only animals. Arks and
animals are subsequently Assem-.
bled IN the establishment oil some
toy manufacturer who supplies the
people with some, If not all, OF the
materials used in making the toys,
who buys the finished products
and who sorts and packs them and
makes them ready Tor market.
1t may he that family for sue
cessive generations has been en-.
gagged in making ark animals from
Ipodels handed down from father
to son. The whole family takes
part in the work, father, mother,
and all the children. Every one
does som sthing, what he can; and
so a single family brings to bear a
considerable amount Of labor. It
is really little domestic factory,
employing, all told, say half a
dozen pairs OF hands; and they
turn out a great number of finished
animals.
The wood from which the ami
mails are to be made is first cut into
a block OF such dimensions that
animals of the kind and size re-
quired can be cut from cross sec.
tIons OF it. Such a block might
be for instance six inches long, an
inch and a quarter wide and an
inch nigh. Suppose there were to
be made from this block cows.
The solid block is dug out and
gouged out lengthwise and uni
formly from end to end, in such
manner that looking now at the
end there is seen there the outlines
OF a COW; a slice Of the right thick
ness cut from the block will be
COW in the rough; the next slice
would be Just the same; and so
from the block there would be
SLICED OFF cows
until it was used up, The same
method would be followed in max
ing horses. goats, pigs and so on.
Then these little animals in the
rough get a touch or two with
knife to fashion them further into
the likeness OF the animal they are
made to resemble. Then they are
painted and perhaps vanished,
and once, or, maybe, twice week
the finished product ri the family
is taken 10 the establishment OF the
manufacturer, where the workers
get for the animals cash on deliv
cry.
Noah's arks thus made are pro-
duced with marvellous cheapness;
there are, in TACT, not many things
made in the world which, consid-
ering the labor involved, are sold
so cheaply as this toy Of worldwide
use. There can be bought at
wholesale in Germany an ark, six
or seven inches in length, and con-
tanning ten or a dozen animals, for
less than a cent and half, But
even the statement OF that price
must convey to one unfamiliar
with Noah's arks only a faint no
ton OF how cheap that price really
is. There are arks with animals
complete that can be bought still
cheaper, but the animals in these
are all alike and rather nondes-
cript in form besides. But the
price named is for a good ark with
good animals all different and all
we'll finished.
The boat and house OF this outfit
are trinity painted IN at least three
colors. The house has a gabled
roof, with one side hinged so that
the root can be opened to take the
animals out and put them back.
The animals are all painted in their
natural colors, many OF them in
two colors, as, for example, If an
animal is spotted, and then every
one is vanished. In many oi
these low priced arks the animals
are very good. They are small OF
course, and by no means carefully
finished, but decidedly lifelike.
The expense of bringing such
arks across the ocean and putting
them on the market here, includ-
ing the freights and duties and
carriage, amounts to about as much
as the original cost. Such arks
cost the importer iu stock here in
the neighborhood Of
THIRTY CENTS A DOZEN,
but that permits retailers to sell
them at cents. It would be diff
cult to find many things much
cheaper than this!
But while this ark as an exam
pie is thus remarkable for It's
cheapness and other qualities,
there are, OF course, many other
kinds of Noah's arks, including a
greater variety than one might i'm
agine. There are many Of larger
sizes and considerably more ex
pensIves containing more and
larger a1d more elaboratelY
carved and finished animals.
There are arks that are mounted
not on fat boards, pointed at the
ends like boats, but on regular
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