New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-10-26
i, TATTOOING "ARTIST."
My AMATEURS PRACTICE ON SCHOOL
LDREN-"PROFESSOR' WHO IN
VENTED ELECTRIC MACHINE
FOR WORK.

When the schools on the East Side opened q
Nv weeks ago the teachers were astonlshed a'
J.. number of tattooed youngsters VINO ap-
Jared for beginning their schooling Some OF
! I'm were as variously decorated as the salueS'
III seaman. and the boys who had escaped tne
g.. die were so envious that they only waited an
rportunity 10 join the ranks of the skin plct
l,s' as the tattooed boys were called.
The designs were not unlike those one sees
o. the arms Of grown men. Youthful taste h"u
"a been allowed to assert itself, for the rea-
~, that the tattooers were simply practising
, the bows that they might do better work on
ne men who came To them. So there was the
s-ual round of anchors. eagles. stars butter
L. frogs snakes, hearts entwined and bleed
hearts
rren. in a careless moment one of the tat
Aoers made a mistake He wanted TO try Some
.el5gious eInbems and was not particular aS
a. the faith OF the victim. In everlasting l''N
\, rut a picture of the crucifixion, popular WIN
9oman Catholics. upon the chest of JEWISH
boy The father naturally objected and com
planned to the boys teacher.
Another amateur tattooer prickei out an elab-
orate cemetery scene with the inscription TO
.he Memory Of Beloved Mother Gone to Rest
Quite by accident, probably. he put it on the
,I,iu II a boy whose mother is very much alive
and has no idea OF going 10 rest" just yet
The boy strutted all the way home, and was
The envy of every other child in Attorney 81
IL hunted up his mother and showed her the
pathetic tribute 10 her memory. She failed to
See the joke. So did the boy after she had
finished tattociug another part Of his anatomy
with a slipper. She, too. complained 10 the
boys teacher.
The craze for tattooing grew worse. ana eaoh
morning saw new additions 10 the ranks Of the
fhsA eli ina
reae he'd when a dozen little boys and several
little girls appeared with beetles shrmps, lob
ste-s and butterflies crawling over their faces
The teachers reported this wholesale outrage
10 the Society for the Prevention Of Cruelty 20
Children. Then they investigated and found
that the facial decorations were only limitations
Of real tattooing. The designs had been
stamped on from transfer paper and would en-
tirely disappear after few washings- This.
however. means some little span Of time among
many East Side children.
In the mean time Agent King. OF the Chill
dren's society. had been busy, and arrested
Charles Wagner. a young tattooer. OF No. 23i2
Eowery. Magistrate Deuel. let him go on his
promise to keep his needles away from young
boys.
1t serves them right for practising on kids. "
said Electric Elmer the Wonder Tattooer "
% Chatham Square. His real name is FL
mer T. GtcheI. Tn call at his tat
tooing shop address him Professor He
says he is an artist" and that his art should
rank with music poetry and painting.
Never would you catch me tattOong a
Tia he continued. They are not old enough
10 know whether or not they really want TO be
tattooed and they have no ideas about picking
out artistic designs for the decoration OF their
skins. The judge did right in stopping the
amateur tattoOers"
ITS a good thing for you that there is nc
o.iety for the prevention OF cruelty to grown
men and women" said his visitor.
You're on the wrong tack. my SON. said the
professor" There is cruelty about tat
tCoiag by my electric process II feels just Ike