Evening star., 1913-06-15
Fantastic Group of Gifts Be-
ing Constructed at Lang
don, D. c.
ARTIST AIDING PAGEANT
TELLS OF CURIOUS WORK
Oyster as Large as a Man and a
Broiled Lobster Are Among
Unique Designs.

| When the elaborately costumed figures
representing the various states approach
Uncle Sam and Miss Columbia to deliver
their gifts In the Independence day cele-
bration on the White House ellipse they
will bring with them a strange and fam
tastic group of presents symbolic of the
different comTnonwealths and geograph-
ical divisions of the country.
| Among the gifts brought to the throne
of Uncle Sam will be a huge alligator
from Florida. beautiful American flag
from the original thirteen colonies, a
large salmon with ferocious eyes. an oys-
ter as large as a man. big Jumps of coal,
iron, gold, silver and copper. a shock of
corn. a bale of cotton. brilliant red lob
ster, some trees. lumber and tobacco.
OF course none of these things will be
real. but they will be better than real
| from the spectacular standpoint. They
are being manufactured now by w. Bow
yer Pain, an English artist, In his pic
! turesque and artistic cottage called Pine
| Copse." at Langdon. D. c.
Like Ordering Marketing.
When Mrs. Glenna Tinnn, director Of
the pageant, called upon Mr.. Pain to con-
struct the properties for the birthday
party. which will be the final feature of
the celebration, she ordered them as a
housewife would do her marketing.
II want a lobster and an oyster. a
salmon and an alligator" she began.
Then she told of numerous other things
that she positively must have In order
to make Uncle Sam feel happy on his
big day in July. Mr.. Pain pulled PAD
and pencil from his pocket and quickly
sketched some Of the articles that Mrs.
Tinnin specified. They proved to be just
what she wanted. But how to make
them? They must be big and yet light.
They must be lifelike and yet they must
be capable of walking forth upon the
| sward on Independence day with the aid
of pair Of human legs to each. HOW to
make. for example, an enormous lump OF
| Pennsylvania coal capable OF being seen
! the entire distance across the Monument
| lot and yet Of such texture to be car
ried by man, was one of the problems
| Wire. rattan, wooden strips. cord
chicken wires. coarse and small. these
were called into requisition. MIR. Pain
CROPPED his way along, not. however,
without confidence born of some expe-
rience, for he has frequently made prop
critics for amateur theatricals and knows
a thing or two about traDsforming un-
promising materials into presentable
sembiances. At first he confined himself
to stiff coiled wire for his backbone and
ribs and structural foundations. But the
wire was obdurate.
Had Terrible Wire Trouble.
"When 1 tackled the alligator" he
| said, Il had terrible trouble with that
wire. AS bent 1t and twisted it about,
to get the true shape, 1t had a fiendlsh
tendency to uncoil. 1t would leap at me
with venomous design. 1 had good reason
at times to think that the spirit of the al
ngator itself wa sin that winding, writh-
ing wire. Then when | managed to get
the stuff in hand and shaped up the long
curving tail IL was a job. l can tell you.
to keep that tail in the right place. AS
worked on the jaws l would hear swish
and the tail would be lashing bare spots
from the walls and pictures would be
lying scattered over the floor"
But these troubles came to an end when
Mr.. Pain discovered in woodworking
establishment In town a quantity OF rat
tan aout a quarter of an inch thick sus-
ceptible Of bending and curving without
diabolical designs upon the furniture or
the lives of the workers. The properties
as they are evolving now are the joint
| result of wire and rattan.
Remarkable Man Model.
One of the most remarkable looking
features of the establishment where these
materials are being made is a peculiar
aggregation Of wooden Stats with blocks
of wood nailed together in seemingly
meaningless design, with wads Of cloth
| here and there.
What is this?" asked The Star man.
That's my man model" replied Mr..
Pain. Il built him up roughly to get an
| idea Of the space required inside of the
! fish and the alligator and the other
| things for the person who is to walk
| within the creature. Otherwise 1 might
make very fine looking birthday pres
ent, but it would not march. So [ have
| used my sorry looking dummy as tester.
and I am satisfied that every one Of my
creations will hold a man."
| To test this capacity Of the properties
still further, Mr.. Pain himself stands for
| their measurements and now and then
crawls inside to prove to his satisfaction
| that the thing has not gone out Of
shape or shrunk.
Why the Lobster Is Red.
! After the framework is finished it is
necessary to put on the covering. This
consists of stiff paper and buckran, care
fully cut and pasted, or glued, to give
complete epidermis. Then the outside
surface is painted with skill to reproduce
the colors of nature.
II am making the lobster red.'' said
Mr.. Pain. because we are most familiar
with red Holsters. OF course l know
when alive, are green, but a green lobster
would not show vivid y against the lawn
on the Fourth. so we have decided to
present Uncle Sam with q broiled lobster,
which would probably be more accept
able. Besides, I am told that in some
parts of the world live Holsters are as
red as our cooked ones are. So am not
altogether a nature fakir, after ALL
Delights in Painting Objects.
Mr.. Pain takes great delight In making
and painting the various objects for the
celebration, and every evening some of
his close friends go to his home to help
him He Is building the various objects
from framework made of light wood and
wiring. covered with light cloth painted
in various colors.
All the animals and other objects are
large enough to contain the head and
shoulders of man or woman, and they
will be worn in the celebration. The
wearers will have sufficient freedom to
perform any dances or antics arranged
for them. The oyster has two shells,
which open in front to enable the wearer
to peek through.