The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-07-09
RE
Eyoal1TioN AND INFLUENCE OF TIE
NEWSPAPER CARTOON.

:
yhe Ancient Greeks, Romans and
Egyptians Used GrosesQue Pictures
TO Enaphasize Their Satire The
Ess7gh4eensh Century Craze.
The story is told of an abbe Of the
geFenteenth century who was as de
formed in figure as he was ridiculous
dress, and as sensitive about his
PHYSICAL deformity as he was vain OF
his eccentric attire. that while serving
mass one morning he Observed a smile
Of contempt on the face Of one OF the
eeErtiers present and determined to
aTenge himself by serving a process
upen him FOR appearance in court the
following day.
The offender. II. de Lasson by name,
moving that things would go hard
Tiith him unless he could show some
reason for his nirtth, made a hasty
sketch Of the hunchback able, exag-
gerasing IN size the SIX black caps and
the aistcoats IN wh5ehshe NFas won't
Eo appear, and when heAWas solenniy
asked to show cause for his unseeTaiy
raiirth and Inaignity to the holy church
hesuddenly displayed before his judges
the caricaturei Of the able as his .e1-5 s-
cuse The likeness was so excellent
and the cartoon so grotesques that the
entire court fell to laughing and the
accused was liberated without repri-
Daand
This is the first authentic case OF the
uowey Of the cartoon in a haAsof JUS.
tee, but it Illustrates the power OF the
pencil ii depicting the follies Of the
foolish and the afectafiens Of the arti-
acial.
There IS 40 telling when The art OF
caricature began There are number
n srotesques that have come down 20
rs from earliest ypdan times. The
sreeks employed pictures to emphasize
their satire, and so did the Romans.
An through the middle ages there were
numberiess examples Of grotesque-
RES which, curiously enough. were
used IL enforcing the doctrines OF the;
church By means Of satirizing the devil
But the eighteenth century was the
heyday of the cartoon. 81
Beginning In France and doSerrunnlns
into Holland and thence across the
ehannel into England, shefoed OF carl
caturists carried every thing before II,
and it is safe to say that We read the
history Of the times with clearer vision
and with more accuracy OF detail for
the mirror which caricaturisss held up.
TO reject the striking peculiarides OF
the mensand events passing before i.
Gautier meationssa Spanish cartoon
Isl, Francisco Gaya : Lucientes, mix
xure of Rembrandt. Vatican and Rae:
Dels who preceded the two great car
scaturists OF the latter half Of the
esateenfh cent Geprge ez-uikshank
n England and N. Charlet in France
Ehariet is knownsas the father efcEnod-
ern social caricature and holds as good
9itie to his position as does Philipau to
that of the father OF comic Journalism,
with Le Chariyari. the strongest paper
oE It's KIND Then came Punch in Eng
aand, which still retains its subtitle of
fhe London ChariYari. for years the
faithful il nosthe most highly polished
reaecter Of British life. Upea its STAFF
John Leeeh. Richard Doyle, John Fea-,
MEL. George du Maurier and q dozen
men ass lesser name kept Great BriSain
in good humor for two generations.
1t has been reserved for America,
hoMeger,-t bring fortba new race Of
scaricaturists. which for lack OF q better
Tile may be called the personal car
toonists. men who seize upon the char
acferist:es OF an Individual and so ex-
aggerate them that the subjects Of the
cartoons are known by the most proni-
nent features in their physical. mental
or ueral makeup.
True there was one man in London q
hunslred years ago. Gillray by name.
who had this faculty of dissecting his
subject until he found his weakest
point aud then unmercifulls pricking It
witi, his drawing pencil. but with him
the race died out. to be reincarnated in
America. Gillray was close observer
OF People and events. He would sit in
his publishers window and watch the.
tops OF the court as they passed and
Sasten in his memory every feature by
which man would be recognized by
his acquaintances. He remembered eY-
cry stors that related 10 the traits OF
shatader of those in the public eye,
eana the 81 James street Of 1900 is
faithfully reproduced In his art
Perhaps Ye Americans look at the
6rpl side Of life more than ether pee
BE. but certain IL Is Rehaye more and
better cartoonists than elsewhere. The
verF uuickness with which We see the
point Of joke demands equal facility
in porraying droilery in a cartoon we
sketch boldly and leave much Of the.
Sunecessnrysde detail to QUIZ slower cous-
ms. Then, TOO. our public events hap
pen with such startling rapidity that
cartoon OF yesterdays doings would be
,c% GooYs