New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-11
Giving New Faces to the
Battle-BlaSted Soldiers

OF the patient, with his eyeless socket. the
cheek partly gone, the bridge of the nose
missing, and also with his good eve and a
portion of his good cheek. These unchanged
features were purposely included in the
original cast, for these are what the dam.
aged ones must be made to match. But the
eye is closed; its lid was, of course, lowered to
shield it from the plaster; we remember
that morsel Of tissue paper further shroud-
cd II. The plasticine squeeze, then, repre-
sents face lacking one eye and with the
other eye shut. The shut eye must be
opened, so that the other eye. the eye-to-be,
can be matched TO it. With dextrous
strokes the sculptor opens the eye. The
squeeze, hitherto representing face asleep,
seems to awaken. The eye looks forth at
the world with intelligence.
"The opening of the closed eye is prac.
tically the sole function Of the squeeze
From the squeeze thus modified a further
plaster Of paris cast is made, negative;
and then a positive This last positive Is
the basis for the sculptor's main task On
it, working with minute and elaborate
finesse, he builds up the patients portrait
The eyeless socket is filled in and given an
eye, eyebrow and eyelashes which pair with
their neighbors; the concave cheek is made
convex to pair with the good cheek; the
nose is restored, its shape reproduced from
measurements and from comparison with the
photograph or photographs. 1t comes to
pass in the fulness of time that a plaster
likeness emerges Of the man not as he is
but as he was; and from this sculptured
plaster portrait the eventual mask is forged.
Generally speaking, when the patient Is
wearing his mask the only differences which
his friends can observe In him at a couple
of yards distance are (1) that whereas be-
ore the war he had no occasion to wear
glasses, he now does wear them, and (2)
that he occasionally squints. This latter
(apparent) phenomenon is, of course, due TO
the fact that the masks eye is immovabe,
while the sound eye shifts from side TO side.
But as long as the patient, in talking, re-
members to look directly at his vs-a-vis no
seeming squirt occurs; the sole abnormaity
is that one eye winks and the other does not
This, and the squirt, the spectacles partly
conceal
at is difficult 20 convey fair impression
of the extraordinary thousandth- of-an-inch
sort Of correctitude with which these mem
branelike but strong metal masks adhere 10
the face and cover the grisy gap beneath
them. AT slight distance so harmonious
are both the moulding and the tinting it
is impossible TO detect the join where the
live skin of cheek or nose leaves off and the
imitation complexion of the mask begins.
Figure what this means TO the PATIENT
Instead Of being q gargoyle, ashamed to show
himself on the streets, he is almost a nor
nal human being, and can 90 anywhere UNI
afraid-unafraid a happy release) of see
ing others afraid. Self-respect returns to
HIM His depression departs. With this i'm
provement in mental health there is a cor
responding improvements no psychologist
will need to be told-in physical health like
wise.
"When the upper lip is gone its absence
is screened by false mustache hung be-
reath the artificial nose; this false mus
tache is made to initiate the mustache
which the patient boosted before the war
if he was mustachc-wearer. One owner
of mustached mask Of this type is so
proud of it, in spite OF its falseness, that
he wakes and twists it in a fashion spruce
~ dandiacal, and would not be offended If
told that he is now a handsomer man than
he was when he joined the army"