The Washington herald., 1918-02-19

Special Correspondent Of The Washington Herald
New York. Feb. B.-The comic ar
lists, cartoonists, and sketchers of
the funny strips, are going to build a
clubhouse in New York. 1t will be
something like the Players Club in
! Gramercy Park. which is for actors
who represent the cream of the Thes-
pic art.
The new clubhouse Is to be known
as the Gargoyle. Incidentally, it is
said, it will be one Of the most pre-
tentious buildings of its kind in the
city. Comic artists are among the
! highest paid men in New York. Very
few OF them get less than $4,000 a
year. with Goldberg and Bud Fisher
garnering in some hundred thousand
| simoleans annually.
Every newspaper in New York now
has its comic artist-even the stately
| Evening Post, which stood out as long
as it could and preserve its dignity
and circulation.
1t seems to be about the most prom
Using profession for the young man
who has talent Tad-in real life T.
A. Dorgan-came out of California
WIFI lIlc lOCd VI IlldhlHE uOS Slldl
tiers. Editors at first didn't like the
idea, but the public did. and he was
made.
After he got flying start he had
the misfortune to lose several fingers
on his right hand and he had to learn
to draw all over again with his left.
Cartoonists who have grown rich in
the New York field include Briggs,
Webster, Kirby, Fox and Cassel.
Nest all the present crop of cartoon
lists are young men under thirty-hve.
In the past few years there has been
a demand for the kid cartoon, that is,
comic strips appealing to children.
Brinkerhoff, a cartoonist, saw the
possibilities and dropped a cartoon
| job to tackle the kid carton. He has
| just gone to the Evening World at a
| large salary.
HERMAN with his Crazy Cat" and
Baron Bean is said to be one Of
the highest salaried men in the world
| of the comic strip. He lives in Yorba
Linda, Cal, and, while his comics ap-
pear all over the country, he comes to
New York only once every three years
to sign a contract.
Most of the cartoonists and comic
strip men do their work at home. Some
submit their ideas before publication.
but most do not. 1t requires about
three hours work a day to turn out
the average cartoon or strip.
He stood before the desk of a hotel
in a room whose pillars were of
carved onyx. the tapestries such as a
nabob could scarce afford, the floor
inlaid with strange woods, the ceilings
of gold.
81 wish a suite and a bath" he
, said. The clerk stared.
1T will be SIS a day.
"I make $780," the man replied. His
hands, strong and calloused, showed
how. He sauntered about among the
millionaires whose fortunes he had
helped to create. One of them eyed
him narrowly. He is a forerunner,
said the captain of industry. soon
they will own it ALL"
About the busiest persons in New
York during the critical period of Col.
4 Roosevelt's illness were the two tele-
phone girls at the Roosevelt Hospital
1t was impossible to answer all the
calls, but they did the best they could
without eating or sleeping.
The overflow had to be taken care
of by James Stanley, a singer, who
almost had to go to the hospital him
self. He happened to have number
that sounds over the telephone much
like the Roosevelt Hospital number,
land SO he was kept up night and day
answering the misplaced calls.
At last he got tired of telling the
linquirers they had the wrong number,
and SO he replied that Mr.. Roosevelt
was better or worse. according to the
newspaper bulletins. One frantic In
Il quirer called up Mr.. Stanley just be-
fore daybreak with this unsought
message: ''Tell the Colonel that Mike
Hicks called. He'll remember me.
I'm the fellow that shook hands with
him at the depot the day he came to
Allentown"