The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-12-12
THOMAS MAST DEAD.
Great Political cartoonist Succumbs to
Yellow Fever at GuayaquiI,
L 1885, Ecuador. 4

--.e aag o .. ..' -SNGAoIs ~ r. |H ~
Guayaquil,- Ecuador, Dec. e.-The
United States consul general, Thomas
Mast, died yesterday at noon after
three days illness from yellow fever.
He was inferred at S o'clock in the af-
sernoon. The funeral was attended by
ihe governor, the consular. representa-
lives, the American colony and by many
friends. The coffin was wrapped in the
stars and stripes. The British consul
"ecited a prayer in the cemetery. The
Heath of Mr.. Vast is deeply lamented
by the natives, who held him in high
esteem.
New York, Dec. S.-Thomas Mast, the
e~artoonist, sailed from New York early
IN July to take up his duties as United
states consul at Guayaquil, Ecuador,
taking the place Of Perry M. de Leon,
whose removal was requested by the
~Ecuadoran government. 60.
Mast was born in Landau, Bavaria, Sep
TENDER q, 1910. He came to America with
ms parents when very young. lie said OF
My natural inclination was toward car
feature. | was never fit for anything else.
IN the old National Academy Art school
IN New York city in the SOS. when l was
but a young boy, the sides of my crayon
sheet used to be full of caricatures. in
great part those of the political heller. l
loved him then; l love him now. Old
w Iilldlll l.. , u lllc NldlllUGlS Sllccl
theater, New York, gave me my first idea
OF comic art. When l was IA years old,
and rather diminutive, | applied tor a po-
sition at the great publishing house of
Frank Leslie. Frank Leslie told me to go
down and sketch a ferryboat.. sketched
It. 1t was accepted, and l started out upon
u salary of 50 a week."
The most important work Mast did for
Leslie is said to have been the Keenan,
Savers fight in England. Soon atlerward
he began work upon Harper's Weekly.
made him the most talked of artist and
the most powerful cartoonist in America.
But from the first he made cartoons and
the start, but, the year being 1864, were
upon wal subjects, and Were patriotic and
sentimental. ~.
Toward the close Of that year, when
Mcclellan was nominated for president by
the democrats, Mast began his political
work. which ended brilliantly in 1871, when
he began his attacks upon William M.
that time was drawn with pen or pencil
directly, on the wooden blocks that were
to be carved out, into wood cuts afterward.
He did a part of this work with India ink
wash" on the wood in the same way. He.
parted with the Harpers ~later-owing, it
is said, to difference of political opinion
but returned to the Weekly, after a long
absence, at u salary that was considered
remarkable. In the interim he drew car
toons in England. Some said that ne got
SIS, 600 a year, and some that the figures
NAS WV DoS lAo SS1 LAY uCSllIlSo.
keppler, of Puck, had filled the field, and
with merits that Mast never had. Keppler
had no limitations or letters. He was an
absolute free lance, his sense of humor
was broader, and his power of satire was
keener. Moreover, he made artistic pic
lures. enhanced by the use of gay %colors.'
Mast could not recover his old place as
the chief Of American cartoonists. He
mad made much money, but it was said
that he lost most of it. He went into a
western mining venture and specialized
in nthar VIC without Sylr.aSS Hn foNlY
up newspaper work last OF all, but it was
evident that in every field ne had ebeen
distanced by those who had the artistic
faculty supplemented by artistic training.
Mast never had either. He drew very
clumsily and crudely.
Had Mast been able to keep pace with
Lad he stopped work in 1872 his famc would
have been splendid. In the closing year
OF the war ne was more detested in the
south than the most rabid abolitionist in
idolized in the north. The Union League
club of New York ave him a set of plates
for what he did to glorify patriotism and
Tweed with his pencil it was reported that
his life was threatened, and that great
bribes We're offered to him: Tweed was
reported to have said that Nast's pictures
worried him more than all that was writ
ten by his opponents.
Nast's personal popularity Yves great all
he gave blackboard talks all over the
country, made him well known in even
the smaller cities, and travellers say that
there is scarcely a club house between
this city and the Pacific coast wherein the
visitor will not see Thomas Nast's bearded
face drawn by himself, framed and in 4
place Of honor. 1t was his ability to ex-
press a popular sentiment in a picture
that gave him his vogue. OF late years
Nast's fortunes had declined, but he had
always had the regard of President Roose-
welt for his notable work in the interest of
good government.