The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-27
STRANGE ANIMALS
 FOUND ON STAGE They Are IngeniOusIy Made of
 iPapier Mache GREAT SKILL IS REQUIRED Men Who Make Stage Spiders and Frogs Are Skillful Artizans and Actors Have Difficult Parts
 to Play.
GREAT SKILL IS REQUIRED
From the New York Tribune.

With the increase Ol popuAoA AANNA Ne'H AAA musical extravaganzas on the stage an art unusual and almost uncanny has sprung into being. With costumers and decor ators the stage folk have long collabor- ated. but with the artisans who now, with a few wires, some papier maehe, much skill and more patience, convert good looking actor, as actors go into either d laughable parody of some well known domestic animal or some beast truly hideous and repulsive, the stage is yet not we'll acquainted. But they've got to have us; they can't get along without us.' commented one of the foremost in this particular line Of art the other day. And there was more truth than fiction in the remark. When shows such, for instance, the Babes in Toyland,' now at the Majestic theatre, come upon the stage, these men who work the seemingly impossible in wire and papier mache. are almost as essential to success as the audiences themselves
 Probably not one in ten of those who have seen the ''big black spider sit down beside her and drive Miss Muffet away" at the Majestic has sympathized with the spider, anyway. Those overgrown frogs with their awkward hops have a wonderfully lifelike appearance, but they owe 1t all to the artist in wire and papier mache.
 Persons witnessing a performance in which several of these extraordinary ere ations are produced together cannot real iize the amount of study and work re- quired to make each move as smoothly and naturally as it does.
 Much Detail in Work.
 There's an awful amount of detail in this work" said artist in an uptown shop the other afternoon. as he rested for a moment in his endeavors to make a huge donkey head as life-like in every particular as possible
 That's right" agreed his assistant as he strengthened his back and shifted the close fitting head he had been wearing while his chief adjusted it.
 Now, take this head for instance. It's to be worn by-by-who's this-why, that Jack in A Midsummer Nights Dream you know who I mean
 'Well, now, look here. See those strings?" and he pointed to two rows of thin but very strong cord hanging at either side of the donkeys neck.
 ",,1ow, watch them," and he pulled first and then another, until all of the twelve had been pulled. As each was worked the papier mache donkey did the unexpected. His lips rolled back in a broad SI1il, HIS aluOulll iltW opell III d. HedTly 'iHa, Hap his ears turned In every con- ceivabe position and entirely independent of each other, his eyelids blinked natural ly, and he made "goo-goo" eyes, in re- sponse to the twitching of another string in a. manner to excite the envy of the au- -tthor of this art F '-sa
 Now, that was no fool of a job" ex- plained the chief, as he relieved his as- sstant of the cumbersome headgear "to work out that thing. Of course. this isn't dressed up yet. This is just the founda- tion just wire and paper mache. This has to be coated with hair and painted up to make it look natural.
 Took whole lot of figuring to get that thing right. You see the actor gets an idea; he comes to us and outlines what he wants. We get together on it. Of course, the actor generally has big ideas about what can be done. We know. how ever, and just do the best we can.
 Is Very Expensive.
 "Yes, it is pretty expensive work For instance, that head there we've just been looking over is worth. roughly, about $50 These others" and he pointed to the ar ray of apes faces, lions tigers, ele- plants and other animals grnning down from the rafters and from nearly every side, "afe~also very expensive things. some of them costing more than this head and some of them less.
 Just before the theatrical season opens is our busy time. Then they come in on us with a flood of new ideas, and they are always in a great hurry for us to work them out"
 To many of the actors taking animal or kindred parts on the stage much credit is due for the ingenuity they display in devising and carrying out their parts One of the most striking Illustrations of the amount of study that can be put into such part is afforded by the spider in the Babes in Toyland." off the stage the spider Is Robert Burns-"Bobbie" Burns his friends call him when in poetical mood. Unlike the poet, however, this Mir Burns is an athlete. When Julian Nit chen conceived the idea of having a. giant tarantula gyrating about the stage during the scene laid in the spiders for est, Mir Burns was called upon His cos tune as first designed was two legs short. according to the fashions prevailing in the best tarantula society. MT. Burns proved this by purchasing a tarantula brought from California. This tarantula he kept in bottle in his room To perfect his of the slow. hesitating movements he studied its motions closely His imitation of hesow, hesitating movement of the insect is now said to be as near per- feet as it is possible to get
 Theoretically, the imitation of a huge spluer is easy; in actual practice it is not so easy.
 "Jts hard strain on a mans arms and legs" says MT. Burns, Ito move about supporting the weight of the body upon them, spread out as they must be to initiate the legs of a spider"
 While acting his part Mir. Burns wears tight-ftting jersey suit. colored and spotted to immitate the body of spider About his waist Is strapped what may be styled an elongated bustle This is colored and spotted to represent part of spiders body. Fastened to the sides of his suit are three long, padded legs or claws These rest upon the floor as he craws about upon his hands and feet, and give him the appearance of huge spider, having five legs on either side of the body All of the legs on each side are made to move in unison by means of rubber bands passing from the actors hands over and around the artificial legs back to his own legs. To the neck of the suit Is fastened a hood, shaped and painted to initiate the head of a big spider, while face mask of mosquito netting does away with the necessity for making up. In the dull green light which follows him about the stage. MT. Burns looks extremely spiderlke, and the man. ner in which he climbs trees and crosses