The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-23
SMALLEST DOLLS
 MADE BY YAQUIS
"Play Babies" Most Remarkable in Worthless Than Three-Quar
 ters of an Inch Long


 This is the story of Isabel Belaunsaran,
 maker of the smallest dolls in the world
 who is the quaintest figure in Mexico's quaintest town, Cuernavaca, as told by Russell Hastings Millward in communi-
 cation to the National Geographical so- ciety, at Washington, says a Washington special to the Tampa Tribune.
 This little girl is called Queen of the Needle.'" writes Millwaro. ''rhe natives of the village will tell you that no clever Mexican Indian maiden has ever been known. The diminutive dolls she makes, both in point of construction and design, are the most remarkable in the world "The operation of making consists in forming a tiny framework of wire barely
 three-fourths of an inch in length and winding the same with many turns of silk thread. After the frame has been, prop erly formed it Is ready for dressing. The clothing Is cut according to the character of the doll and fitted carefully about the small figure. The most difficult work, that of embroidering, is then begun. With a | needle that can scarcely be held in the fingers and the finest of silk threads, va rious designs are actually embroidered on the clothing and 80 cleverly is the work executed that even through a pow erful magnifying glass the details of the design appear to be perfect. After dress ing the figures 1t Is necessary to add the hair and what ia undoubtedly an example of the tiniest and most marvellous hair dressing known is then performed on each doll. Even to the details of the braids and ribbons, the work Is completely car ried out The eyes. nose, mouth, hands and feet are then formed and the doll is ready to be placed on sale in the village shop.
 ''On account of their daintiness, ex- quisite coloring design and workman ship, these dolls find at all times ready sale at the ridiculously low price of 35 cents each. But two hours are required to make each doll. so 1t can readily be
 imagined just how rapidly the work must be done, although the finished product shows no signs other than those of artis-
 tic skill and extreme patience. By work ing steadily for 10 hours, the sum of $1 25
 may be earned. So constantly has this lit tie maiden used her eyes that she Is be- ginning to lose her eyesight.
 Miniature roses are embroidered on the dresses and hung about the shoulders of the danging- girl dolls. Ornaments are arranged in the haid and the tiny limbs are formed in graceful and likelife atti-
 tude of dacing. The costume of the
 matador doll is gaily embroidered in
 colors and it's hair dressed in Spaish style including the conventional cue The flower-girl dolls are provided with small baskets woven of fine hair filled
 with flowers of varigated colors It is difficult to believe that human hands
 could have fashioned such wonderful little figures. The first dolls of this kind made
 by Isabel were secured by several of the
 royal families.
 "A German traveller criticized the dolls
 one day. and told the little Indian maiden
 that in Germany they had fleas fully dressed and trained to perform the most
 wonderful feats. Yes, she answered, T
 remember my father telling how those
 trained fleas were first sent to your coun- try from Mexico. We cannot dress the fleas so completely as the dolls. however. as we cannot make them stand still long enough I suppose she added, naively, you can make fleas stand still as long
 as you like in Germany"