The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1901-01-15
GOOD SUBJECTS FOR CARTOONS
Public Men Who Have Suffered from the
Caricature Artist.


Democrat writer, of the way the
features of celebrities were distorted
in political caricatnres. 81, for one,"
he went on, regard the Hanna car
toon as positive work of genius. 1t
doesn't resemble him in the least,
and, at the same time, is striking
likeness. The cartoon and the real
man haven't single feature in com
mon, vet in some indescribable way
they suggest each other irresistibly.
You would say, at first blush, that
such thing was impossible; but did
you ever happen to see yourself in a
concave mirror? If you are fat, the
thing makes you as thin as pikestaff;
if you have a round, chubby face, you
have lantern jaws in the reflection;
if you are blessed with pop eyes they
suddenly become as narrow and
oblique as a Chinaman's-every fea-
ture, in short, undergoes a complete
metamorphosis, yet the freak who
confronts you in the glass is none
the less your unmistakable twin. To
do that sort of thing in pen and ink
requires ability of a high order. In
Mr.. Hanna's case the figure that
passes muster for him in democratic
cartoons not only had an uncanny
likeness to the real man, but it went
further and embodied the popular
conception of ruthless bossism and
the brutal power of money. 1t may
have done Mr.. Hanna a great in
justice, but there is no denying its
strength as an allegory, and dare say
it lost the republicans thousands of
votes.
"The first prominent republican
politician to be bludgeoned very saw
agely by the cartoonists was Roscoe
Conkling," continued the portrait
painter, reminiscently; ''and his case
was somewhat similar to Mr.. Hanna's.
He was really handsome, aristocrat-
ic-looking man, but he had certain
mannerisms that bordered on the gro
tesque; when slightly exaggerated,
they easily served to render him ridi-
culous. One of them was his peculiar
habit Of throwing out his chest in
debate, and thereby hangs tale. At
the time Of his ascendancy Thomas
Mast was the leading political car
toonist of the country, but being EN-
ployed exclusively on a republican
weekly, he was obliged to refrain from
poking fun at the senator from New
York. Frank Leslie, however, was
anxious TO find somebody to do rival
work on the democratic side, and
finally imported Matt Morgan from
England for that purpose. When
Morgan arrived he went to Washing
ton to take look al the men he would
be expected TO cancature, and hap
pened to strike Conkling while he was
in the act of making a speech, The
artist was at once impressed by his
'chestiness' and proceeded to draw
him as pouter pigeon, which proved
an immense popular hit Even his
best friends couldn't help laughing
and were obliged to admit that there
wa omething extremely suggestive
of the senator in the preternatural
solemnity Of the bird, its protruding
paunch and its strange, strutting
walk. The character fit him so well
that il was universally adopted by
other artists, just as they recently
adopted the Hanna type, and from
that time on he invariably appeared
in cartoons as a pouter pigeon Conk-
ling himself was furious, for his dig
nifty was a very tender spot and he
could never tolerate ridicule. The
strangest part Of it was his close re-
semblance to the absurd pictures, in
spite Of his undeniaBle good looks.
| remember seeing him at a reception
in Chicago only a short time before
his death He was then getting on
in years and his hair and beard were
turning white, but he was still erect
as a pine tree, and as he stood chat
ting with some gentlemen in door
way l remarked to myself what
fine, impressive figure he made. Just
then, however, some chance gesture
recalled the familiar caricature, and
for fleeing moment he looked so
much like a big pouter pigeon that
couldn'trepress a smile. lam never
able to recall him in amy other role"
Here Is Warning.
When woman caller begins the
conversation by praising her hostess