The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-03-31


Heather idols are made in Philadel-
phla. This fact recently became known.
1t was not the idoI-maker who an
nounced the fact; it was a Corean, a
natlVe of Seoul, who has lately come
10 America to purchase some Yankee
made gods. The Corean's disclosure of
the purpose OF his visit has thrown the
Philadelphia idol factory into disre-
pute. Bishops and missionaries have
denounced it bitterly. Nevertheless the
manufactures, a strong-willed man.
does not propose to give up making
idols.
For the heather to bow down to
Chrlstlan-made gods is a new thing.
Thousands of idols are turned out in
Germany each year, and nearly ali the
little gods and fetiches that
the Africans worship are the product
or the enterprising English town of
birmingham. Frederic Poole, a mis-
slonary of Philadelphia. estimates that
a good percentage of the worlds idols
are made by Christian nations, and DR..
William P. Wilson, the head of the
Philadelphia Commercial Museums.
SAYS that the ~idol-making trade OF Ger
man is enormous.
The Philadelphia idol factory is q
wooden building of one story. It's owner
Is a German, and his trade used to be
toy-making- He came from Germany
10 Ph1Iddelph1a two years ago, and he
says he took up the manufacture of
ldols because a friend of his, a resident
OF india, proved to him that there was
a greater demand for idols than for
toys, and that there was more money
In the idol than Ire toy business. Most
OF his trade is with India and the prin-
clpal idols he makes are Buddahs and
Ganeshes.
He recently permitted some photo
graphs to be made in his factory on
condition that his name not be re-
Vealed.
L am not ashamed CT my business"
he said. 1T is not on account of shame
that L Withhold my name. 1t is on ac-
count OF the visits of clergymen and
missionaries, n on account of the let
tiers urging me to shut up shop. that
of NOUS women would write"
He led the way into a small room
that had a white curtain. Here a man
IN a blue cap was carving a Buddha of
white marble.
The Buddha of white marble is n
OF our more expensive gods" the pro-
prietOr said. This god, two feet In
height, costs $50"
He pointed at d little wax Buddha
that stood upon a shelf.
That is the model" he explained,
III my Id mere 1OllO" IT IS a
copy of a Siamese Buddha that has the
reputation of being the best image of
the god extant. But my man has made
SO many Buddhas that he hardly ever
locks at the model now. I guess he
could carve a Buddha in the dark by
this time"
The man, smiling, said that this was
true.
In the second room another man was
carving n STRANGE God n pn1 with fo,1,
arms and an elephants head. the Hin
doc deity, Ganesh.
This is another expensive idol said
n proprietor. plain, it costs $50, and
decorated SIS. Two of my girls are dec
Grating a Ganesh now"
He led the way to a third room.
where severGl young ONE We're at
work with Pc 1T and brushes. On
shelves around the walls white gods of
wood and stone sat, and these. one at
a time, the young women decorated.
They who were decorating the ele-
phant-headed Ganesh put hands and
hgures N arabesques of red and bold
and green Upon his arms, his trunk and
his stomach, and his crown they paint
ed a pure gold.
There is the model said the pro-
prietor, indicating a Ganesh hat the
girls were copying. Nothing can be
lone without a model when YOU work
III - bS vi buOuIlISl SOOS-
Every ole every hand, every little
decora ton has a meaning. If you go
wrong anywhere your god is worth
less"
He passed on to the department of
the cheaper gods. the little wooden
idols that the poor use.
" have a fine machine to cut these
gods out with" he said. 1T is some
thlng Xix a paragraph. Watch it,"
man sat at the machine, which was
ten feet in length. Ten circular saws,
Set parallel, a foot apart, had before
each OF them a a block of wood.
Inc handles that guided the first saw
the operator held. Now he pressed
back a lever. and all the saws began TO
reVoIVe swiftly with a buzzing sound.
The operator ran his saw swiftly over
and through and around his block of
wood. He made a round thing for a
mead and an oval thing for a body; he
made two crude arms: he made a pair
OF crude legs. And all that he did to
his own block of wood the nine other
saws, just as though he had been guild
ing them with his hands. did theirs.
When his block was finished. the nine
other blocks were finished.
You see, with this machine" the
operator said, I'VE can make ten idols
at a time"
In his office the proprietor had a
49, "Aoo VII SouS.
They were of wood of marble. of brass,
of bronze: and here and there was one
that glistened as though made of pure
gold. Som were beautiful. The Bud
dhas particularly were beautiful, with
their serene and gay smile. Some were
hideous. blood red, with cinctures made
of skulls n severed hands. Some
were ridiculous: figures little and fat
that squatted like toads. Some were
outlandish- with the heads of birds, the
bodies of beasts and the tails of rep
tiles.
We make, you see, all kinds" said
the proprietor, with a smile. Then.
seated at his desk comfortably, he went
on:
7 sell a good many idols to Corea.
They buy Buddhas there. I make them
little cheap Buddhas out of wood. AT
the COrean temples. after prayers. each
Worshlper gives TO the secretariat at
the gate q piece of money and receives
IN return a little god. 1t is these little
gods that I make.
make gods for India. DIP you see
that horrible goddess on the lower
shelf, the goddess with the black body.