The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-20

Where They Are So Plentiful That
They are Not Counted, But Weigh
ed-A Land of S13,OOO,OOO Worth
of PIaythings.
Doesn't it make your mouth water
to hear of a land where the toys are
so plentiful that the entire weight of
them is &c 900 tons?
How would you like to be able to
see many million dollars worth of
them?
That's what can be seen in Nurem-
berg and Sonneberg in Germany
where verybody-man, woman and
child, rich and poor-thinks and talks
and makes toys and nothing but toys
from Jan. to the next Jan. 1.
Whole forests in Bavaria and Thur
ingia, and the black mountains, known
as the Err Gebridge or Mountains Of
Ore are growing for the sole purpose
of being carved up into Noah's Arks
and hobby horses and similar toys.
These forests have just the very best
wood in them that ever grew any,
where in the wide world for making
toys. 1t is just as if Santa Claus, or
"Sankt Niklas," as he is called there
had planted them for that specific pur-
pose.
Sonneberg is the fine place for girls
to visit They would see dolls in ev-
cry house, in almost every window.
More than 10000 people are kept
busy there and in the surrounding
hamlets by the eternal doll question.
MI or,1 fraf u mr.
give them voices and hair, and even
muscles to walk.
Sonneberg used to be famous for it's
wax dolls; but the wax doll, poor thing,
proved unequal to her task when the
great business of recent years forced
dolls to become such great travellers
that nowadays a person can go hardly
anywhere in Siberia or Africa or the
Fiji Islands or the middlest part Oh
the middle of any other old place with
out running into a civilized doll.
Under the hardships of travel, the
wax doll suffered from the running
away of her pretty face in hot eli
mates and from chipping in cold ones
So now Sonneberg is making the III
tie ladies out of papier mache.
Near Sonneberg is a village where
everybody makes ships. Warships'
frigates, yachts, canal boats, all KINDS
of noble craft are made there; ana
the funniest thing about it is that
hardly any of the villagers ever saw
a real ship or ever saw water enough
for anything except rowboat.
This is the village of Haemmern.
Not far from it is a hamlet where
everybody makes picture frames ana
fancy boxes.
Near it is Hsfeld-a heavenly place
for it is hobby horse town. 1t is there
that the great chargers are made WIN
notified fat legs and oakum tails ana
names floating in the breeze as the
brave young dispatch rider lies close
to the pommel and rocks headlong
throughout fire and smoke and attack
ing cavalry.
The evil-minded small boy VINO
longs to be an Indian or robber would
find the tools of his bloody trade IN
Schalkau and Ehnes. In these TWO
villages are made wooden guns OIL
every size and kind. and a fellow can
just wallow there in imaginary gore
and noise of combat.
Naked wooden animals travel from
Sonneberg and other towns to Neu-
fang In this hamlet the inhabitants
are occupied all the year around III
the philanthropic pursuit of clothing
the nude, for their business is to put
fur and feathers on animals and BIRDS
Heinersdorf is a place where a per
son might get terrible Nightmares;
There are made the masks that go an
over the world, and one can hardy
go into an entry or a shop without
being confronted by some tremendous
face.
No grouty old uncle would lever
dream of taking his nice but audible
nephews and nieces to F'ichtach, FL
feldere, Schichtshoehne or Mengers-
gereuth. Even If he did not avoiu
these places through terror at ther
names, he surely would flee far from
them when he discovered that they
produce the well-known whistles ana
trumpets of Christmas commerce. NO
doubt certain small boys and girls
we'll known to certain grown-ups
would enjoy visit to these places
very much.
In Nuremberg the ancient toymaker
has been replaced to a large extent Dy
machinery. But Nuremberg still leaus
the world in the evolution of quaint
and excellent toys. That ancient city
of armorers, whose weapons once WeIe
the best and most terrible-Nuremberg
the olden, that sent spear and sworn
and battle AK out into the lana ~
smlte and destroy and battle the Woriu
I'm blood, now Is the peaceful and genus
ruler OF the field of most complete
peace--the field Of Christmas and ltS
toys.
D.t, n W r. TaVlOr formerly