Stripper's Guide

 
[Cartoons Magazine, debuting in 1912, was a monthly magazine devoted primarily to reprinting editorial cartoons from U.S. and foreign newspapers. Articles about cartooning and cartoonists often supplemented the discussion of current events.

In November 1913 the magazine began to offer a monthly round-up of news about cartoonists and cartooning, eventually titled "What The Cartoonist Are Doing." There are lots of interesting historical nuggets in these sections, and this Stripper's Guide feature will  reprint one issue's worth each week.]

THE POWER OF NEWSPAPER CARTOONS
We wonder that no sustained outside effort has been made to hold in check the tremendous power of newspaper cartoonists, whose pictures were characterized a few days ago by Frank I. Cobb of the New York World as “pictorial editorials.” This is not saying that cartoonists are not answerable to managing editors, or that they are given unlimited license. Rather, we mean that they are permitted to say in pictures what managing editors would not permit in words.

There is a general impression that the cartoonists of certain opposition newspapers so stirred enmity against President McKinley that morally they could be charged with complicity in his assassination. For two decades cartoonists have been potent instruments in arraying class against class. Newspapers that have made the greatest use of cartoons have very generally made their appeal directly to persons who do not think closely, and whose minds can be inflamed more easily by vision than by reason.

The European war has inspired many cartoons of doubtful propriety, some of positive viciousness. Newspapers of the East are not as careful to maintain neutrality as those of Minnesota. Some of them are almost violently partisan and they admit editorial expression not calculated to help the President in keeping free from foreign entanglements. These cartoons serve as a somber background for what their editors say.

Cartoonists generally are genial men, and many are men of liberal education and broad reading. Perhaps most of them are artists first, and as artists they are trained to distort faces and to accentuate defects in order to give their cartoons the desired “punch.” In their pictures they permit themselves far more extravagance of expression than any editorial writer or special correspondent would dare. They do not stop short of sacrilege in their efforts to make their ideas telling.

Frankly we do not believe in allowing such fateful power in the hands of men whose training has not tended to bring out the qualities of judicial interpretation. The keen instruments of a surgeon belong in the hands of men qualified to use them; firearms, in the hands of those who can use them with discretion or under competent direction. Cartoons are “loaded” else they have little value; the man who aims them should have the coolest head.—Minneapolis Journal.



THE BIGGEST CARTOON
The “Wonders of Science,” reproduced on another page of this issue, was drawn by Will Dyson, of the London Daily Herald, and is said to be the largest cartoon ever published in an English newspaper. It was printed in the London Daily Mail, and has since been put on exhibition among a number of Mr. Dyson's other war cartoons at the Leicester Galleries, London.

Mr. Dyson came into the limelight several years ago when his cartoons in the Sydney Bulletin attracted widespread comment. Later he went to London, but failed to gain recognition until his labor cartoons began to appear daily in the London Herald. Mr. Dyson gained the name of “the cartoonist of revolt,” because of his opposition to all existing conditions. Since the outbreak of the war, he has turned his satirical talents against Germany. H. G. Wells, the famous novelist, has this to say of the Australian artist:

“Mr. Dyson perceives in militaristic monarchy and national pride a threat to the world, to civilization, and all that he holds dear; and straightway he sets about to slay it with his pencil, as I, if I could, would kill it with my pen. He turns his passionate gift against Berlin.”

A NEW “INDOOR SPORT"
T. A. Dorgan, “Tad” the cartoonist, was dining alone in a restaurant in Fulton Street the other night. A stranger dropped into the seat opposite and fell to discussing cartoons.

“Now take my old friend Tad,” said the stranger. “I like him personally. In fact we are the best of friends, but as an artist he is punk.”

“You know Tad then?” Tad asked.

“Know him ! I should say I do.”

“I’ll bet you $5 you don’t know him,” said Tad, reaching for his wallet. The $10 was deposited on the table.

“Now,” said the cartoonist, “how are you going to prove that you would know Tad if you saw him?” “That's a cinch,” chuckled the stranger, as he gathered in the money. “You are Tad.”—St. Joseph Gazette.

FRANCE HONORS “HANSI”
The Alsatian caricaturist, M. Waltz, who is known as “Hansi,” has been decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honor, says a recent dispatch to the Associated Press from Paris. Some time before the war broke out, Hansi was sentenced to one year's imprisonment at Leipzig for cartoons he drew ridiculing everything German in Alsace-Lorraine. He escaped, however, and volunteered as an interpreter in the French army. He has been mentioned in dispatches for his courage and as being a splendid example for his comrades.

WEBSTER DONS SPIKETAILS
Mr. H. T. Webster was roped and then branded with a full evening dress suit the other night and carted away to a swell musical event in Carnegie Hall, says the Passaic (N. J.) News.

When he was awakened after the first intermission by his companion he was told that the next number on the bill was the great Efram Zimbalist, the violinist.

“Do you mean to say there is such a person as Efram Zimbalist?” inquired the cartoonist. “I always thought he was a typographical error.”

TEACH CARTOONING IN PUBLIC SCHOOL
Ambitious young men will find an excellent opportunity to pursue work in cartooning at the South Brooklyn Evening High School, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. Anyone with any talent in drawing is admitted to the class, and expert instruction is being given. The attractive features of the instruction are free tuition and free materials with which to work. The class is expected to be one of the largest in the evening high school.

“The advantages of this work,” says the instructor, “lie in the fact that there is no time wasted. A student is advanced according to his ability. The instruction is absolutely individual, and there is no fake encouragement given. If a pupil does good work, he will be told so, and if he does poor work and shows no improvement, we will not encourage him to continue the work.”

“THE EARTHQUAKE ANSWERS"
These verses by Mary Moncure Parker were suggested by Mr. Bradley's cartoon, reproduced elsewhere in this issue.

What ho! Grim War! I, I am here. I, Earthquake, the Mighty One!
Beneath your chariot's lumbering wheels, these mankind things you've crushed,
Drunk with this warm, young human blood, along the highway rushed,
Calling above the cannon's roar, “War, War, the Mighty One.”

In egoistic orgie wild, a challenge you have hurled
To forces of the Universe, the tidal wave, the lurid fire
Unglutted, you have laughed to scorn. On and on, in mad desire
For blood of men, for power supreme, you’ve plunged o'er half the world.

Your bloody gauntlet I have seized. What, ho! The fight's begun!
With my great hands I cleave the earth. Behold the trenches wide and deep!
Into the yawning, ghastly gap whole busy, pulsing towns I sweep.
What ho! Grim War! I, I am here. I, Earthquake, Mighty One!

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A West St. Paul paper speaks of the noted cartoonist of another generation as “Petroleum V. Nast.” Both Nast and Nasby will shudder at this mix-up and its source.—St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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Clare Briggs, of the New York Tribune, has profusely illustrated a new book by Mrs. Charlotte Hay Meredith, of Peoria, which has just been published.

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Mrs. John F. John has been secured as a special cartoonist by the New York World. Mrs. John’s home is in Bloomfield, N. J.

RAILROADMAN CARTOONIST
Sam M. Copp, an employee of the Illinois Central Railroad at Fort Dodge, Iowa, has broken into the limelight as a cartoonist, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Mr. Copp proves his good nature by directing his satirical drawings at his own line of railroad work—that of a claim agent.

“The railroadman-artist pictures the ‘downs' of a claim agent,” says The Picayune, “as he declares that there are no 'ups.' Among the ‘downs' portrayed in a recent issue of the Illinois Central Magazine, is a picture of the claim agent sleeping, or attempting to sleep, in a village tavern; flirting with acute indigestion at the railroad lunch counters; trying to convince irate farmers that their hogs would have died anyhow if the train had not hit them, and in various other positions that go with his job.”

BRITISH ADMIRE CANADIAN CARTOONS
A display of war cartoons from the pen of A. G. Racey, of the Montreal Star, has been attracting a good deal of attention in London, according to the London Times. Mr. Racey has drawn some striking cartoons on the war and his work is said to be on a par with the best that has been produced in England since the start of the world conflict.

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The Chicago Daily News has issued, in book form, a collection of war cartoons by L. D. Bradley. The cartoons date from the beginning of the war, and form a pictorial history of the first five months of the conflict. The cartoonist has taken a neutral stand in his drawings, although much of his work indicates that he is a bitter foe of militarism.

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Ryan Walker, socialist cartoonist, recently purchased a neat little bungalow at Great Notch, N.J., and does most of his work far from the “busy marts of trade.”

ROYALTY'S CHECK ON CARTOONS
Apprehensive lest royalty fall into disrepute, and socialism assert itself too strongly, if the license of the cartoonists goes unchecked, King George and Queen Mary of England, according to a dispatch to the New York World, are using their influence to suppress some of the grosser caricatures of the kaiser which have appeared in certain London newspapers. The “Kaiser's Kalendar,” published by the London Daily Express, and reproduced elsewhere in this issue, and the “Adventures of the Two Willies,” in the London Mirror, on which were modeled the amusing “cartoon dolls” shown also in this issue, and some of Jack Walker's drawings in the Daily Graphic, will probably be found among the offenders. The censor has been given instructions to prohibit further publication of one series, and to keep his eye on others. The war office already has made a ruling that the cartoons cannot be sent to soldiers in the field, and publishers have been obliged to make statements to that effect.

Emperor William, the dispatch states, has been repeatedly represented as a butcher and as a man whose character is so detestable that the slum boys and girls ought to be applauded for throwing mud at him. The crown prince has been almost universally referred to as “the Clown Prince” and drawn by the cartoonists for the newspapers and magazines as a half-witted fellow with no claim whatsoever to the consideration and esteem of anyone.

The Iron Cross, with which the emperor decorates his soldiers for bravery on the battlefield, has had its mock representation offered for sale in the London streets, a death's head and the emperor's name upon it. Hucksters dressed in fantastic German garb made sales with “Old iron, who will buy?”

Never since the French Revolution was precipitated by the slanderous and satirical lampoons of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette has there been such a campaign of offensive abuse as the London press has indulged in against the German royal family; and as King George and Queen Mary are both members of the same family, with hardly a drop of blood in their veins which is anything but German, the wave of scorn and hatred of German royalty whipped into fury by the newspaper writers and artists of the English capital is bound to surge up to the very steps of the British throne unless drastic action is taken by the British authorities themselves.

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R. M. Brinkerhoff, magazine illustrator, and former cartoonist of the Cincinnati Post, has embarked in the confectionery business in New York.

DOCTOR'S CARTOON CAUSES ROW
Dr. Ernest Amory Codman, a prominent surgeon of Boston, angered the surgical section of the Suffolk District Medical Society, of which he was chairman, by displaying a cartoon he had drawn, satirizing the “Harvard Medical Ring,” as he labeled it. The cartoon so offended the members of the society that Doctor Codman was forced to resign as chairman of the body.

In the offending cartoon, an ostrich, representing the Back Bay population, was shown feeding on a “Hill of Humbug” and laying “Golden Eggs” for the “Medical Ring,” represented by figures labeled with names prominent in the “ring.” President Lowell of Harvard University, the Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital were thus singled out.
In explanation Doctor Codman accused the medical ring of operating at fancy prices for appendicitis, on the slightest excuse. He announced that it was easier to remove the appendix than to determine before the operation if there was really anything the matter with the organ.

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Clare A. Briggs, of the New York Tribune, has yielded to the blandishments of musical comedy, and his famous “Skinnay” is to be dressed up, as to book, by Ring W. Lardner, and set to music by Aubrey Stauffer. The production will open soon in Chicago.

CALL FOR DOCTOR YAK!
A newly employed bell boy at the Hotel LaSalle, Chicago, recently created a laugh in the lobby of the hostelry by paging “Doctor Yak,” Sidney Smith's comic-section character. The “green” bell hop evidently had not seen a comic section of the Chicago Tribune, as he took his order to page the doctor seriously, and kept up his call for nearly fifteen minutes. Finally he reported back to the desk clerk.

“Doctor Yak isn't here.”

“Why, Doc Yak is a goat,” said the clerk. “He appears in the funny papers.”

The new bell hop got red about the ears and remarked that he guessed he was the “goat” instead of Old Doc Yak.

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A cartoon by Mr. Blackman, of the Birmingham Age-Herald, was used recently by the Rev. Willis G. Clark of that city, to illustrate a sermon on Christianity.

“FAMOUS CARTOONIST DEAD”
Under this caption the London News and Leader, in a recent issue, announces to its readers the startling fact that “Mr. Eugene Zimmerman, the famous American caricaturist, is dead.” The News and Leader continues:

“The deceased, who was 52 years of age, started life as a boy on a farm doing odd jobs, and was successively assistant fish peddler, baker, and sign painter. He was connected with “Puck,” and afterwards as cartoonist for ‘Judge.” Mr. Zimmerman is perhaps better known to the public as ‘Zim.’”
Which reveals the remarkable fact that the News and Leader does not know its own aristocracy. Mr. Eugene Zimmerman, the Cincinnati railroad magnate, was the man who died. He was the father-in-law of the Duke of Manchester. “Zim,” who also enjoys the name of Eugene Zimmerman, refused to take the announcement of his death seriously and drew the accompanying cartoon of himself attending his own funeral.

Labels: What The Cartoonists Are Doing

This card is unsigned and the maker is also anonymous. But we are so goshdarn well-informed around here that I can hear a chorus of readers chanting, "Albert Carmichael, Taylor & Pratt series #728, circa 1913-1914."

Bravo to you all!

Labels: Wish You Were Here

Under the direction of its original creator, Sidney Smith, The Gumps was the gold standard for comedy - soap opera strips, a genre that it created. When Smith died in 1935, however, the Chicago Tribune - New York News Syndicate made what is pretty universally considered an error in judgment by handing the strip over to Gus Edson.

The heir apparent for The Gumps was Stanley Link, but according to legend, Link thought he had the syndicate by the short hairs. He made some pretty big demands and acted as if he was indispensible. According to a story told to me by Jim Ivey, Link put the final nail in his coffin when he came to a meeting with syndicate chief Joe Patterson and put his feet up on the Captain's desk. Apparently Link was not totally out of favor, because he continued Ching Chow, Tiny Tim and originated other features for the syndicate for many years hence.

I find Edson's version of The Gumps to be really tiresome, but perhaps through inertia alone the strip maintained a very healthy list of newspaper clients through the 1940s and even into the 50s.

The Sunday page of the strip had a topper for awhile in the Sidney Smith years, a revival of Smith's popular Old Doc Yak strip that was his first big hit back in the teens. But Smith or his syndicate seemed to have little interest in it, and it was dropped in early 1934. From then on the strip ran without a topper at all (a rarity in the 1930s) until the first Sunday of 1944, when the Gus Edson version suddenly added a one-tier topper called Cousin Juniper. Juniper was a pre-existing character in the strip, a bald sailor who had befriended young Chester Gump. In the topper he became a bland vehicle for weak gags.

The topper made The Gumps function better in the newly popular third page size; rather than trying to shoehorn a whole tab's worth of strip into that small format, the main strip was shortened so as not to end up with a very busy looking three tier third.

The new strip was emininetly forgettable, but appeared as a part of the half-page and tab versions of the strip for over a decade. In 1955 Edson for some reason dropped Cousin Juniper in favor of a new topper strip titled Grandpa Noah. Unfortunately, finding The Gumps Sundays in either of those formats by 1955 is so unusual that I can't give you a specific end date for Cousin Juniper, and I don't know how long Grandpa Noah ran. (I can say that based on original art for the feature, the topper seems to have disappeared by 1957.) Any information readers can give would be much appreciated.

Labels: Topper Features

In 1927 King Features produced a short-run daily strip that cherry-picked odd and unusual facts about marriage from a recently published book titled A Short History of Marriage by Edward Westermarck. The strip ran from July 12 to August 6 in the San Francisco Examiner, and ran in some client papers as a weekly (as shown above, using two strips per weekly episode).

The strip seemed to end rather abruptly after that that three week run. Perhaps they were out of material, or perhaps there was enough blowback from clients over the contents of the strip that they dumped it. Alexander Popini, freed from his usual job of drawing chaste romance cartoons, was having a field day depicting bare-breasted native girls in the last few installments, and maybe he went too far. Here's the final installment:

Labels: Obscurities

Albert L. Levering was born in 1869 at Hope, Indiana, according to Herringshaw’s National Library of American Biography, Volume 3 (1914). The 1900 U.S. Federal Census recorded his birth date as March 1870. The middle initial was included in numerous city directories.

In the 1870 census, Levering was the youngest of three siblings born to Levi [Lemuel] Levering, a stair builder, and Sarah [Martha Youngling]. The family lived in Columbus, Indiana.

The 1880 census said Levering was the third of four siblings whose father was a carpenter. Their home was in Columbus.

By 1882 the Levering family was in Kansas City, Missouri. The 1882 city directory listed Levering’s father and partner, G.M.D. Knox, as the architectural firm, Levering & Knox, on Main Street. The 1883 directory said Levering’s father had his own practice at 527 Main Street. In 1886 the address was 605 Delaware Street.

The New York Daily Tribune, August 23, 1902, said “Levering was educated to be an architect …”. Kansas City directories for 1887 through 1889 said Levering was a draughtsman at his father’s firm, L. L. Levering. Levering resided with his parents at 1007 Harrison Street.

The 1890 directory is not available. Levering’s occupation was architect in the 1891 directory. He lived with his parents at 2137 Lexington. The 1892 directory listed Levering as an artist at the Kansas City Journal. He was an architect in the 1893 directory.

Levering was listed in two 1894 city directories: an architect in Kansas City, and a draftsman at Orff & Joralemon in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he stayed at the Hotel Clinton. In 1895 he was listed in the Kansas City directory but, more likely in Minneapolis directory, he was a resident living at the Victoria. Levering was an artist studying with Burt Harwood.

The Minneapolis Journal, January 3, 1903, said

… Mr. Levering began his artistic career here [Minneapolis]. He was one of the best of the many good architectural draftsmen who have worked in the twin cities. While doing his best work in architecture he abandoned this work to do newspaper illustrating. He was a hard worker and made rapid progress, studying in the night classes of Burt Harwood’s art school and doing a phenomenal amount of work for his paper. From here he went to the Chicago Tribune, and then to the New York Journal, and after two or three years newspaper work went to Munich for two years’ study abroad.

The Kansas City Journal, January 6, 1895, said “Mr. Albert Levering, of the Minneapolis Times, visited friends in this city during the holidays.” Six months later the Journal, June 7, 1895, reported the Western Authors and Artists’ Club meeting and said “… Albert Levering, of Minneapolis, Minn., formerly of the Journal …”.

The 1896 Chicago, Illinois city directory said Levering was a Tribune artist residing at 294 Erie Street. Obituaries said Levering moved to New York City in 1896.

In the late 1890s Levering went abroad. The Indianapolis Journal, August 25, 1902, said Levering “studied art at the National Academy, Munich, and finished that portion of his study by spending four months in Italy on a bicycle, investigating all sorts of delightful by-ways and out-of-the-way corners. …”

Sara Duke said in her book, Biographical Sketches of Cartoonists & Illustrators in the Swann Collection of the Library of Congress (2014), artist Will Crawford “… shared a studio with John Marchand and Albert Levering.” According to the 1900 census, Levering, Marchand, Crawford and Percy Gray, all artists, resided at 53 East 59th Street in Manhattan, New York City.

Levering contributed to Harper’s Monthly Magazine, September 1900, and Harper’s Weekly, November 17, 1900.

Levering was located at 27 West 30th Street in the 1902 city directory. In 1902 Levering illustrated the books, Grimm Tales Made Gay, The Adventures of M. d’Haricot, Mollie and the Unwiseman, and Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream (1907).

The following Philadelphia Post story was printed in many newspapers in early 1904.

Albert Levering, the black-and-white artist responsible for so many ‘comics,’ used to live in Chicago, but recently transferred his allegiance to New York. He took his hypochondrical [sic] tendencies with him, and they are still in good working order. His favorite pastime is to read of some deadly disease, preferably a new one, lie awake all night, seek his doctor in the morning and get assured that he was in perfect health and then go back to work cheerfully.

One morning he turned up at the doctor’s just as the man of medicine was getting into his carriage.

“I’m in a hurry,” called the doctor, “and can’t stop to see you—but it’s all right—you haven’t got it.”

“Haven’t got what?” demanded the astonished artist.

“Whatever it is you think you’ve got. Not a symptom of it. Good-bye,” and he drove away.

“Well, now,” said Levering, turning to a lamp post as the only witness of the scene, “that’s the time he’s mistaken. I know I’ve got it—ten dollars in my pocket to pay my last bill; but if he’s sure I haven’t I’ll try and get in line with his diagnosis,” and he went around the nearest junk shop and invested the money in a pair of brass candlesticks and a brass kettle.

Indiana’s Laughmakers: The Story of Over 400 Hoosiers (1990) said Levering married Francis Jewell Levering of Bloomfield, New Jersey on May 31, 1905. 

The Chicago Tribune, April 29, 1906, announced that John T. McCutcheon, a Tribune cartoonist, was going on vacation for five months. The Tribune made arrangements with 31 cartoonists to cover for McCutcheon. Thirty American cartoonists committed to providing a cartoon for the month of May. Levering, of Harper’s Weekly, was one of them. Englishman Tom Browne would replace McCutcheon from June through September.



In the 1910 census Levering and his wife were Manhattan, New York City residents at 206 West 106th Street.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Levering produced two comic series: Artful Arty and Alex Smart, from October 15, 1905 to October 14, 1906, for the Philadelphia Press; and The Flatt Family, from August 7 to September 10, 1918, for Press Publishing.

From 1911 to 1812 Levering illustrated George Ade’s New Fables in Slang.

Levering contributed many cartoons to the New York Tribune from 1916 to 1917.

In 1919, Levering illustrated Potash and Perlmutter series that appeared nationally in newspapers.

Levering’s address was 617 West 170th in the 1920 census. The 1925 state census recorded self-employed artist Levering at 222 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.

Levering passed away April 14, 1929, in New York City. The Rhinebeck Gazette (New York), April 20, 1929, published an obituary.

Albert Levering, illustrator, died of heart trouble, from which he had been suffering for several weeks, Sunday morning in his apartment at the Hotel Chelsea in New York city. His wife, Mrs. Frances Jewell Levering, who is formerly from Red Hook, was with him when the end came.

Born in Hope, Ind., sixty years ago, the son of Levi Lemuel and Sarah Martha Youngling Levering, he studied architecture with his father, and later took up drawing in Munich. He practiced architecture several years in San Antonio, Texas, and then became a newspaper artist, working successively in Kansas City, Minneapolis and Chicago. Coming to New York in 1896, he joined “The Journal”, now The New York American. Later Mr. Levering was on the staffs of Puck, Life and Harper’s Weekly and other magazines, and then began a Sunday page for the New York Tribune. Many humorous books contained his Illustrations.

Mr. Levering is well known in Red Hook, having spent several summers there and was one of the prominent figures about town when the trout season opened.

Surviving him are his wife and a brother and two sisters of Kansas City. Funeral services were held on Tuesday at the Campbell Funeral church, Sixty-sixth street and Broadway, New York city. Burial was in Rhinebeck cemetery.

Several obituaries said Levering practiced architecture for eight years in San Antonio, Texas, before becoming a cartoonist. I have found no documentation supporting that claim. It’s possible Levering worked on projects for San Antonio clients. For eight years, from 1887 to 1895, Levering’s occupation was draughtsman or architect in Kansas City and Minneapolis city directories.

 
Further Viewing
Indiana Illustrators and Hoosier Cartoonists
Library of Congress
Metropolitan Museum of Art
WikiMedia Commons
Bibliography of Ellis Parker Butler


—Alex Jay

Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles

George Frink debuted on the daily comics page of the Chicago Daily News in 1901 and produced a ton of material, both in series and one-shots. His fifth of dozens of series for the News was Scientific Experiments, a strip in which a scientist would show some scientific principle or demonstrate a new invention with wacky results. The strip only ran a handful of times from January 23 to March 18 1902.

Thanks to Cole Johnson for the samples.

Labels: Obscurities

[Cartoons Magazine, debuting in 1912, was a monthly magazine devoted primarily to reprinting editorial cartoons from U.S. and foreign newspapers. Articles about cartooning and cartoonists often supplemented the discussion of current events.

In November 1913 the magazine began to offer a monthly round-up of news about cartoonists and cartooning, eventually titled "What The Cartoonist Are Doing." There are lots of interesting historical nuggets in these sections, and this Stripper's Guide feature will  reprint one issue's worth each week.]

CARTOONS OF HATRED
Peace between the nations will remain an idle dream as long as cartoonists consider the ridicule of foreigners their chief reason for existence. For years the crayon and pencil artists of Europe have spread before their public the distorted images and hateful impressions of neighboring peoples. They have traded on hate and taught contempt. Just now they are at it harder than ever, with an ever increasing vindictiveness which panders to national prejudices and holds off the day of armistice.

Chickens come home to roost. London Punch is now heartily ashamed of Tenniel's slanderous cartoons on Lincoln, printed at the time of the Civil war, when the moneyed classes in England favored the south. Tenniel, in later years, upbraided himself more than once for the immaturity of judgment which led him to lend his art to the abasement of a great and good man whose aims, purposes and character he could not understand. The Spanish cartoonists no longer depict the United States as a hog with both feet in the trough, their favorite conception of us in the late nineties. They have learned that they are better off without colonies; the only real benefit Spain gained from the Philippines during the last century of her occupation was the $15,000,000 Uncle Sam paid into the Madrid treasury in return for that responsibility. And for our part we have given up representing Spain as a Weyler in a matador suit, spitting babes on his sword-point. Time has shown us that the Spaniard is a gentle manly fellow whose ways may not be our ways, but whose manners may well be copied.

Similarly the time may come when German, French and British cartoonists are heartily ashamed of the encouragement they are giving the old Adam of national bias in his efforts to barbarize a civilized continent. Unless restrained by conscience or the public need, this mobile, slap-stick art of Europe is more dangerous than militarism itself, since armies must have public sanction and that arises from the circulation and pressure of hostile ideas.
— Grand Rapids Press.

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Some of the war maps in the metropolitan papers are evidently drawn by cartoonists. — Plattsmouth (Neb.) Journal.

SCHOOLMASTERS HONOR SHAFER
Claude Shafer, of the Cincinnati Post, has been granted an honorary membership by the Cincinnati Schoolmaster's Club in recognition of his cartoon campaign in the interest of a special school-tax levy. Mr. Shafer is the first person, not a school master, who has been thus honored.

In proposing the cartoonist for the honorary membership, Principal E. W. Wilkinson, of the Dyer School, said:

"Mr. Shafer's cartoons presented in concise, graphic form the best arguments for the school levy, and I believe that our victory in a large measure was due to his drawings. A man who so effectively aids the cause of education deserves the appreciation of teachers."

Mr. Shafer was for many years the sport cartoonist of the Cincinnati Enquirer, and it was on that paper that he originated his now famous "Old Man Grump." Grump was a "knocker" par excellence, a blacksmith by trade, and typified in a way the attitude of a certain class of Cincinnatians toward their national-league ball team.


WITH DONAHEY IN EGYPT
"Abroad with Donahey," is the title of a volume of cartoons just published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The book is in the form of a "cartoon diary" kept by Mr. J. H. Donahey on his recent trip abroad. Donahey found humor in the most trying situations, and his apt manner of expression makes the volume a classic.

Donahey got much amusement on board ship by observing his fellow passengers. A native of Pittsburgh confided that he had discovered that a collar might be worn a whole day on the bounding main. Another Pittsburgher wanted to die of sea sickness but was disappointed. The cartoonist discovered that "extracting" is the chief industry of Madeira and declares that a toboggan slide has been built to jar visitors loose from any cash that the merchants and beggars have overlooked.

After creating a riot on the dock at Naples by tossing a penny into a swarm of children and mendicants, Donahey proceeded to Cairo. He called upon the Pyramids and also gave the Sphinx the "once over." Three husky Arabs pried the artist free from several hard-earned dollars, but he finally made his escape and went to Naples. On the return journey a bunch of Italian immigrants furnished material for several cartoons of a more serious trend. Donahey made a dash for the nearest cafe, when he landed at New York, and put in a large order for apple pie.

HENDERSON AIDS ANTI-SALOON CAMPAIGN
Mr. Russell Henderson has been retained by the National Anti-Saloon League and will have entire charge of the art department. His headquarters will probably be at Washington. Mr. Henderson is one of the youngest artists in the cartoon field. His first work was done on the Charlotte News, while he later served on the staffs of the Pittsburgh Post and Chicago Herald. Lately he has been doing some free-lance work for the New York Tribune.

CARTOONS AS RECRUITING AIDS
Punch, in order to aid Lord Kitchener in his efforts to recruit more men for the British Army, has reprinted some of its strongest cartoons and poems on handbills for distribution throughout the United Kingdom. The cartoons have also been prepared on lantern slides and are flashed at the "movie" theaters.

"Nothing appeals more strongly to the imagination than a striking cartoon or a telling poem," says Punch, "and the more widely these are disseminated among those whom it is desired to influence, the greater, undoubtedly, will be the result secured."

"CARTOONS BY HALLADAY"
This is the title of a book containing 100 of the best cartoons by Mr. Milton R. Halladay, senior cartoonist of the Providence Journal, which has just come from the publishers. The Journal has issued the volume in appreciation of the work of its star artist and in order to record in permanent form some of the more notable of his drawings. The volume is a de-luxe edition and will make a handsome addition to any library.

The first group of cartoons in the book is based upon affairs of the nation. The second group is made up of cartoons on the present conflict in Europe, and the third has to do with Rhode Island politics. There are several other groups dealing with business subjects, while the final series is of a general nature. The editors of the Journal pay a high tribute to Mr. Halladay's genius in the introduction. They say in part:

"There is a fine quality of sincerity and frankness in Mr. Halladay's work, and, while his pencil has necessarily cut deep at times into the sham and dishonesty of the hour, the whole spirit of his cartoons is one of kindliness.

"We feel that thousands of people will be glad of the opportunity to own a book of this kind, typifying the work of a man who has endeared himself to all the readers of the Journal for the past fifteen years."

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Ryan Walker has bought an acre of ground at Great Notch, N. J., upon which he intends eventually to erect a home for worn-out cartoonists and artists.


"DING'S" CARTOONS IN BOOK FORM
The Des Moines Register and Leader has printed a volume containing the cartoons drawn during the past year by its cartoonist, Mr. Jay N. (Ding) Darling. The book is attractively bound and printed and is certain to prove popular.

Mr. Darling has covered almost every conceivable subject in his drawings, ranging from local happenings to cartoons based upon topics of world interest. His best work is that in which the "home folks" play a prominent part, as he seems to possess the knack of portraying them exactly as they are. He gets a deal of humor into his work, but it is not the variety of humor that is likely to "bite."

Mr. Darling has completely recovered the use of his drawing arm, which was partially paralyzed for a time, and continues daily to delight his large family of Iowa readers with his cartoons.

BAN ON KAISER POSTCARDS
The Central News learns that the British authorities, acting in conjunction with the French military censorship, intends to discourage sending to the front, from friends at home, picture postcards ridiculing or caricaturing the kaiser or the German crown prince.

It has been discovered that where such productions have been found on prisoners or wounded soldiers, the men have, according to the German military code, rendered themselves liable to summary treatment.

In some cases they have been maltreated or even shot.

Nothing apparently annoys a German more, a representative of the agency was informed today, than to discover that a captured enemy possesses pictures derogatory to the kaiser or his family.
For that reason it is better not to ridicule the kaiser — "certainly not at the front."

CARTOONS ILLUSTRATE PASTOR'S LECTURE
The Rev. James D. Dingwell made use of seventy of the best cartoons relative to the European war to illustrate his lecture on the great conflict, at Fall River, Mass., recently. The drawings had been arranged on lantern slides, and were very effective when thrown on the screen. The Rev. Dingwell was careful in his selection of the cartoons, and consequently his illustrated lecture did not give offense to any partisans in the audience. The Fall River News declares that the lecture was "unique, interesting and instructive."

CARTOONS USED TO INSPIRE SOLDIERS
A German captured recently by French troops, told his captors that a biweekly bulletin had been published for some time by the Germans for circulation among the soldiers and prisoners of war, depicting the progress of the great European conflict, according to a special cable dispatch to the New York Tribune, the other day.

A number of cartoons were produced in the bulletin, the correspondent said, showing the fall and destruction of Paris, a Zeppelin attack on London, as well as the sudden death of the czar of Russia, on hearing of a great German victory in Poland weeks ago. One of the drawings depicted King George in company with the king of the Belgians, sitting on a form, in what purported to be a cellar beneath Buckingham Palace, looking apprehensively up into the face of a huge Prussian guardsman, who, with sword drawn, directed a terrified servant to place a large bowl, labeled "gruel," on the floor beside the two unfortunate monarchs. There was also a map on the wall, with the words "Great Germany and Ireland" scrawled across the British Isles.

Another cartoon showed the crown prince riding out of the gateway in a white hat, mounted sentries on either side being German imperial guards, while in the background a body of men, supposed to be British life guards, were being fitted out with German uniforms and knocked into shape by German drill instructors.

"This same prisoner said that up to a short time ago he and the majority of German soldiers had believed these things true," the correspondent wrote, "but owing to the capture of several English newspapers a tiny seed of doubt was sown among the Kaiser's helmeted hordes."

EXPRESS PUBLISHES "KAISER'S KALENDER"
The Daily Express of London has published a volume of cartoons depicting imaginary events during "Demented Willie's Conquest of England," in the form of a calendar. The official title of the publication is, "The Kaiser's Kalender for 1915; or, The Dizzy Dream of Demented Willie." Each month in the calendar has a title, and the series for that period is based upon the general caption. For instance, January: "Willie Lands at Dover;" February: "Willie's Triumphal Procession through London," etc.

The first edition of the "Kalender" was sold out within an hour after it had been placed on sale on the London streets.

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Mr. and Mrs. William Ireland of Columbus, Ohio, announce the birth of a daughter. Mr. Ireland is cartoonist of the Columbus Dispatch.

CARTOON ANGERS GERMAN WAITER
Objecting recently to a cartoon in the Manchester Guardian, an English newspaper, Oswald Lippoldt, a German waiter, tore the paper out of a file in the New York City Public Library and destroyed it. He was arrested and later was fined.

"I thought that picture was doing harm to Germany and that's why I tore the page up," was the only defense offered by the waiter when he was arraigned in court.

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Sidney Smith, cartoonist of the Chicago Tribune, has purchased a $10,000 residence in Kenmore Avenue.



CANADIAN ARTIST GOES TO WAR
Louis Keene, whose work as cartoonist and war artist has placed him in the first rank of Canadian artists, is now at Salisbury Camp with the first Canadian contingent, a member of the Canadian Automobile Machine-Gun Battery.

He has made a specialty of army and navy cartoons, and his recent work in Beck's Weekly has attracted widespread comment. Mr. Keene is an Englishman by birth, but he has lived in many lands. On one occasion he traveled all over Europe on foot. His walking tour through Germany proved not the least interesting part of this trip. He also lived for ten years in South Africa, traversing the Congo, the Union of South Africa, and Portuguese West Africa before going to Canada, where he has since made his home.

The Canadian artist is expected to prove a valuable acquisition at the front, speaking, as he does, fluent German and being thoroughly conversant with the Franco-German frontier.

STEINKE'S HISTORY OF SCRANTON
W. S. Steinke, cartoonist of the Scranton Tribune-Republican and Truth, has published a cleverly written history of the founding and growth of Scranton. The book is entirely different in its method of treatment of dry historical facts. It is profusely illustrated by the author.

Mr. Steinke refuses to treat his history seriously, and his account from the birth of Scranton when "Jonathan Slocum, Will Park, Thomas Picket, 'Hank' Bush and Daniel Marvin got tangled in the briars," up to the present day is a rare combination of wisdom and mirth. He thus describes the discovery of coal in the Pennsylvania city:

"In the winter of 1812, H. C. L. Von Storch found himself up against a hard proposition. Mrs. Von Storch, in getting a baking ready for the oven, had just discovered that the woodshed was empty. She bade H. C. L. get busy with the bucksaw and ax. Mr. Von was unable to find the saw or ax and then remembered that the next-door neighbor, whose place was half a mile away, had borrowed the weapons. Groping in the cellar he recalled that Judge Jesse Fell, of Wilkes-Barre, had been bragging that he burned anthracite, but Von had never taken much stock in Fell's claim.

"However, when a man is out of wood and his wife is crying for kindling, he will do most anything. So Von Storch kicked loose from the cellar wall a bucket of black rock, and hiking back to the kitchen, threw it under the oven. Then he went down to the exchange and gathered the day's whittlings. These, too, he cast under the oven and when Mrs. Von S. had struck the flint he looked on and saw that while the black rock was not much for blazing, it was a sizzler for heat.

"An hour and a half was Mrs. Von's time limit for the baking over a wood fire, but an hour after H. C. L. had set the black rocks glowing, she looked into the oven to see how the pans were coming on. All that was left was charred and brittle crusts. H. C. L. had discovered that coal would burn, but Mrs. H. C. L. had to set another sponge."

GRAPHIC PUBLISHES WALKER'S DRAWINGS
The London Daily Graphic announces the publication of a volume of war cartoons by its popular artist, Mr. Jack Walker. Mr. Walker has added greatly to his fame as a cartoonist since the outbreak of the European war, through his satirical drawings of the kaiser. Most of the London artist's cartoons have the German emperor as the central figure, while the crown prince comes in for his share of ridicule.

Labels: What The Cartoonists Are Doing

Here's a card from a freebie series given away by the Hearst papers, this one featuring the players in Howarth's "The Love of Lulu and Leander". The series was called the Moving Picture Comic Post Card, and as you can see it is essentially a double card, in which the top third and bottom third fold together. I have no idea how one makes this picture "move", though. If the idea is that the platter can be made to konk poor Leander on the head, I don't see how that works. To make the platter "move" you need to shift the whole top half of the picture, which makes Lulu and her dad split into two parts. I get the feeling I'm missing something really simple.

Labels: Wish You Were Here

For a little over three months the readers of the San Francisco Chronicle daily comics page were tormented by the appearance of a locally produced strip titled Lord Chumpleigh. The strip was badly drawn and the gags were copied verbatim out of cheap jokebooks, but it was inexplicably given a prime spot at the top of the comics page from December 22 1921 until April 1 1922.

The new strip knocked Mutt and Jeff from the comics page to the sports page in the middle of the week before Christmas. A short promo ran the day before, saying that R.E. Parker (he signed himself "Tops") was a former lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps credited with shooting down seven German airplanes in the Great War. He supposedly created the strip as a revenge against a former superior officer, a stuffy old titled Brit. One hopes that Mr. Parker got some closure from his revenge, but his readers may have suffered more greatly than he did. I also have to wonder about the veracity of  his claim, since there seem to be no pilots by his name listed here as aces with seven WWI victories. I checked the list for five through ten victories as well, with nary a Parker to be found.

Labels: Obscurities

Extra special treat for you Eddie Eks fans today as we cover his long running series L'Enfant Terrible with lots of eye candy from the collection of Cole Johnson.

In this series, which ran from November 2 1902 to August 9 1903 in the St. Louis Star, Eksergian gives us a little tyke drawn in his most outrageously grotesque style. I mean this kid looks more like a troll than a human, and the action is utterly bizarre. A hundred-some years later I thank the Star profusely for ignoring the reader outrage that they must have endured in order to leave us these unabashedly primitive, anarchic and esoteric works of a deliciously sick mind.

Cole knew I have a special love for Eksergian's umbrella fixation and provided not one but two of Eks' trips down the rabbit hole with those objects. I can't even conceive what newspaper readers must have thought when they opened the paper to find strips like the umbrella ones above, which were a regular subject for him. Did no editor ever approach Eks with a suggestion that he keep his umbrella fetish off the cover of their funnies section? Evidently not ...

Labels: Obscurities

W. O. Wilson is today remembered for Madge the Magician's Daughter, a fantasy strip enlivened by Wilson's great facility with the pen. He also penned the long-running series The Wish Twins and Aladdin's Lamp. One strip less worth remembering is the Richleigh Family On Tour, which is unusual for Wilson in that the writing is half-awake and the art is merely serviceable. The strip ran in the New York Herald from May 1 to October 23 1904.

In those days the Grand Tour of Europe was a must-do for wealthy families, and this strip follows the Richleigh family from country to country on their quest for the picturesque. Unfortunately as you will see above, Wilson seemed to have little interest in writing gags that are particular to those countries. Okay, so yes Norway gets a lot of snow*. Holland has dog carts and is known for kidnapping children? Switzerland is known for its eagles? Admittedly the above samples are some of his real stinkers, but there isn't much better in the rest of the series.

As lackadaisical as Wilson seemed to be in this series, he for some reason extended it beyond its natural lifespan. After the countries of Europe had been exhausted, he sent the Richleighs off to Russia, Egypt and other parts of the world.

Ken Barker's New York Herald index supplies me with the running dates and title of this series, but as best I can tell the title was always in the form of "The Richleigh Family in _____". Perhaps the introductory episode, which I have not seen, used Barker's title.


* This strip is interesting in that it shows the family skiing with single long poles. Turns out this was a common method back then, but soon became archaic as double-poled skiing was found to offer a much livelier experience.

Labels: Obscurities

On September 14 1964* the Toronto Telegram, a major Canadian newspaper, started a new comic strip series titled The Giants. It was written by Walt McDayter and drawn by Norman Drew. The strip told biographical stories from Canadian history and was syndicated to a goodly number of Canadian papers.

Sensing that the idea had merit beyond the Canadian market, the Telegram shopped the strip around, offering to expand the subject matter to biographies of general interest. They found at least one taker, the  LA Times Syndicate. The new Canada-free version of the strip debuted on the U.S. market on February 6 1967**.

Soon after U.S. syndication began, on September 25 1967 artist Norman Drew was replaced by Bill Payne. Payne provided a more sophisticated look to the strip. Writer McDayter left the strip on August 10 1968, and from then on the strip was credited only to Payne, though it is unknown if he actually produced the scripts. On December 30 1968 Payne stopped signing the strip, but he still got credit on syndicate proofs (see above), and the art style didn't seem to change. An artist by the name of Bob McCormick is sometimes mentioned as having a role in this strip, but he never signed it. Perhaps he was the mystery man who took over and mimicked Payne's work so convincingly?

The strip was cancelled, in Canada and elsewhere, on September 13 1969. The U.S. distribution of the strip never took off, but I get the feeling that the strip was cancelled not for lack of sales but because they unexpectedly lost their creative personnel. My guess is based on the fact that the final week of the strip is cobbled together from old art with hastily written typeset text.

A complete list of stories and running dates for The Giants may be found at the Canadian Animation, Cartooning and Illustration website.

* Source: Brandon Sun
** Source for U.S. syndication dates: Denver Post

Labels: Obscurities

[Cartoons Magazine, debuting in 1912, was a monthly magazine devoted primarily to reprinting editorial cartoons from U.S. and foreign newspapers. Articles about cartooning and cartoonists often supplemented the discussion of current events.

In November 1913 the magazine began to offer a monthly round-up of news about cartoonists and cartooning, eventually titled "What The Cartoonist Are Doing." There are lots of interesting historical nuggets in these sections, and this Stripper's Guide feature will  reprint one issue's worth each week.]


CARTOON SHAFTS FROM NIPPON
A Tokyo correspondent to the American press sends the following interesting letter on the subject of cartoons in Japan.

"In no way is the striking difference be tween Oriental and Occidental methods of thoughts better indicated than by the cartoons which are now appearing in Japanese and American periodicals. Those who are interested in psychology will find these differences between American and Japanese brain-processes as reflected by the 'funny men" a very interesting study.

"In the first place, the Oriental neither feels pain himself nor pity for the agonies of others as does the Aryan.

"American cartoons which have reached Japan appear to indicate an almost universal horror at the barbarities of the war, besides a keen sympathy with the sufferers on both sides in Europe.

"Japanese cartoonists have yet to indicate that that phase of the war has appealed to them. They remember well their own great and devastating struggle with Russia, yet no cartoon that has appeared in Japanese papers, and no expression of opinion by any of the papers has considered in any way the pitiful loss of life in Europe or has indicated that the horror of the war is appreciated.

"Instead, the cartoonists find in the battle scenes a vast field for humor, and as Japanese humor usually turns on something mechanical, the Tokyo and Osaka comic papers since the beginning of the war have devoted their pages very largely to picturing fantastic machines of war.

"For instance, a cartoonist shows a grotesque suggestion for bringing down German aviators flying over Tsingtau and spying out the positions of the Japanese troops. The Japanese soldiers carry strapped to their backs life sized pictures of comely Japanese girls doing the weekly wash. The German aviators, attracted by this sight, come down to investigate and are easily picked off by the Japanese sharpshooters.

" 'Why not,' says Osaka Puck, 'send a lot of attractive geishas to Tsingtau. Put them out in full view of the German troops, and the latter will be so attracted by them that they will drop their weapons and fall an easy prey to the Japanese.'

"An accompanying illustration shows a line of palm-waving and graceful geisha girls storming a German trench, while the defenders are so stupefied by their admiration for this body of beauties that swords and guns are dropping from their hands.

"The magazine Rakuten suggests that dropping bombs at Tsingtau proved rather ineffectual. It draws pictures to suggest that the aviators pour out bottles of anesthetics, and when the enemy has fallen asleep descend, tie them up and lead them off to Japan as prisoners of war.

"Some of the comic artists' efforts reflect strange ideas about the soul and the afterworld. A series of pictures show a couple of Japanese soldiers preparing to retire for the night, when they notice a lot of ghosts of German soldiers ascending to Heaven. They quickly throw their tent over the ghosts, thereby making an airship, with which they sail over the bay and destroy all German ships at anchor there.

"Another series pictures an ostrich which ate all of a private's cartridges while the latter was at dinner. The private has no means of killing the ostrich and so recovering his ammunition, but he gets a powerful magnet which attracts the steel-tipped bullets in the stomach of the ostrich and so takes the bird to the camp.

"Another ingenious cartoonist thinks that aeroplanes might be used to sweep the land much as trawlers are used to sweep the sea for mines. A long net is fastened to two aeroplanes, so that it drags on the ground as the aeroplanes fly, and gathers up the enemy to be disposed of at leisure.

"The peace suggestions advanced by the United States have been almost universally derided by the Japanese papers, many of them insisting that the reason for the suggestions is that Germany is being worsted and America would stop the war in order to save Germany."

The cartoons reproduced on this page are the work of Kuroiwa, cartoonist of the Yorodzu Choho, Tokyo, one of the most popular newspapers in Japan.

"PHIFEBIRD" TURNS STORK
Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Phifer of Worcester, Mass., are receiving congratulations on the arrival recently of a bright-eyed seven-pound baby girl. Mr. Phifer is the cartoonist of the Worcester Telegram, and those who are familiar with his little crow, or "Phifebird," which appears usually in one corner of his daily cartoon, will be surprised to know that it has been playing the role of stork.

TO EXCLUDE HARPER'S
In a recent letter to the board of trustees of the New York public library, L. Wiener asked that Harper's Weekly be excluded from the files of the library because of its libelous cartoons of the kaiser.

He called attention to the fact that in a recent issue the kaiser was depicted as a wild boar trampling on children. He suggested that a censorship of magazines be established and all issues containing libelous and vulgar cartoons or articles be excluded from the public files.

The board, however, took the view that such magazines by printing such things hurt themselves more than the subjects they attack.

ELECTED BY ACCLAMATION
"R. C. B." writes to the New York Tribune as follows:

"I hereby announce my candidacy for the office of President of the League - for - the - Suppression -of - the - Use - of - Variations - of - the - Watchful - Waiting - Idea - by - Depleted - Cartoonists - who - Otherwise - Would - Have - to - Draw - a - Skull - with - a - Helmet - and - Mustachios - and - a - Mess - of - Smoke - on - the - Horizon - and - Call - It - War - or - German - Culture."

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Roy W. Taylor, cartoonist, formerly with the New York World and Chicago Tribune, and more recently with the Philadelphia North American, died at the home of his mother, Mrs. A. L. Marshall, Washington, D. C.. Wednesday, October 21.

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W. K. Patrick; cartoonist of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, has been elected president of the New Orleans Press Club.

PRESIDENTS AND CARTOONISTS
Says the Beaumont (Tex.) Enterprise:

"It is worthy of note that for the first time in more than fifty years the president of the United States is not being caricatured in an offensive way. The first president to be caricatured offensively by an able cartoonist was Abraham Lincoln, whom Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly pictured in an exaggerated manner. Nast caricatured many able Americans, particularly James G. Blaine, in an offensive manner, and his offensive cartoons always hurt. Nast's successors caricatured presidents until the assassination of McKinley, when public sentiment compelled the caricaturists to modify their cartoons of public men and particularly of presidents. Neither Roosevelt nor Taft escaped the caricaturists, however, but the caricatures of President Wilson have not been particularly offensive. The sheer greatness of the man abashes even the lawless cartoonist."

To which the Dennison (Tex.) Herald adds:

"Cartoonists generally admit that the president possesses a physiognomy difficult to caricature. Many have tried it but signally failed to show up his features in the ludicrous manner in which his predecessors have been held up to the ridicule of the public. There is no question, however, that the popularity of Mr. Wilson with the whole people has had the effect of staying the hands of those whose business it is to destroy through the liberal use of the cartoonists' pencil."

THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF CARTOONS
How pictures, cartoons and illustrations in newspapers and other periodicals help to develop the artistic taste was told by Dean Fordyce of the University of Nebraska to a gathering of teachers recently in Omaha.

The address of Mr. Fordyce was a plea for more serious consideration of newspaper cartoons especially.

"A serious consideration of the illustrations appearing in our literature from day to day," he said, "will do much to open our eyes to the value of the cartoon and the picture, in rendering more concrete the subjects illustrated and in developing in us the power to appreciate beauty everywhere."

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William J. Burns, the detective, has sued the Seattle Times for damages, basing his suit partly on a cartoon with the caption "Would Convict Christ," which refers to the plaintiff's connection with the so-called Oregon land-fraud cases.

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We present herewith the annual Jungle Stew given by the Associated Cartoon Critters of America. The jungle stew was really a unique idea. It originated with Frank Hammond, cartoonist of the Wichita Eagle, whose mascot, as everybody knows, is "Hoots," a corn-fed owl. Hoots gave the party, and invited the other birds and beasts.

The drawing, which at first consisted only of the kettle and the host, was sent from one guest to another, each being requested to fill in his place at the festive board. The "stew" covered the United States like a blanket. It traveled from New Orleans to Duluth, and from Worcester, Mass., to Portland, Ore. The guests include Mr. Patrick's duck, the mascot of the New Orleans Times-Picayune; Mr. Burtt's houn'dog, of the Knoxville Journal and Tribune; Mr. Gregg's gopher of the Atlanta Constitution; Mr. Mulheim's alligator, of the Florida Metropolis; Mr. Plaschke's monk, of the Louisville Times; "Steve," Mr. Schilder's black cat, of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette; Mr. Satterfield's bear, of Cleveland; "Doc," Mr. Bushnell's lantern-eyed dog, of the Central Press Association; Will De Beck's coon, of the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times; the "Phife- bird," belonging to Mr. Phifer, of the Worcester Telegram; Mr. Handy's bear, of the Duluth News-Tribune; "Polly" from Mr. North, of the Tacoma Ledger, and Mr. Reynolds' tiger cat, of the Portland Oregonian.
"Hoots says he was never treated so cordially before," writes Mr. Hammond, "and I have not been able to get a lick of work out of him since he returned. How would you like a taste of the stew? The jungle stew originated, as you doubtless know, from the foraging expeditions of the knights of the side-door Pullmans. This legend, while hardly appropriate to the present gathering, speaks for the informal nature of the function."


The picture was en route for several months, and after being lost for some time in the wilds of Oregon, finally reached Wichita completed.





THOSE VITRIOLIC CARTOONS
War, being founded, as Goethe said, on hatred, necessarily tends to blot out humor. This is what those must bear in mind who lament the coarsening and vulgarizing which have come over the comic papers of England, France, and Germany. In their dealings with the great conflict, lightness of touch disappears, and all that we get is a series of brutal strokes. One feels it in Punch. Its caricatures of Emperor William seems as if hacked out by the sword, and leave him little human semblance.

Similarly in the German paper, Ulk, the cartoons depicting French and English have a bestial quality that shows that so-called German culture is only skin-deep. At them one rather shudders than laughs. Their designers are evidently filled with rage and fear, making the artistic result terrible, perhaps, but never amusing. This extinguishing by the war of good-natured raillery and really witty characterization and attack, among the peoples involved, was inevitable. In a way, it is a good sign. It helps us to understand what war truly is. Only when we be come callous to its fearful aspects is it possible to jest about it. Still, it is rather a pity to see the humorists across the sea suddenly turn vitriolic. — Michigan Tradesman.

CLUB FOR CARTOONISTS
The Artists' League and Cartoonists' Club of St. Paul and Minneapolis has filed articles of incorporation. The object is to assist in the education of artists and cartoonists by the leasing of quarters for meeting purposes, artists' research, and social purposes. The annual dues shall be not less than $25.

W.A. Rogers, "Modern German Gothic Art"

POPULAR IN FRANCE
According to a British army officer in France, the cartoons of Mr. W. A. Rogers, of the New York Herald, have become very popular among the soldiers over there. One of his cartoons, entitled "Modern German Gothic Art," depicting the Rheims cathedral as a Krupp gun, has been hung on the walls of several French garrisons.

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At an exhibition of equal-suffrage cartoons, held at the headquarters of the Women's Political Union in New York, the cartoonists of most of the leading New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cleveland newspapers were represented. Boardman Robinson, now a free lance, Maurice Becker, and John Sloan, of "The Masses," contributed several striking designs.

Labels: What The Cartoonists Are Doing