The Saint Paul globe., December 28, 1902, Image 11

About The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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"" LONG with pyrography so-
Aciety has chosen a new fad
this season, and one that
promises to be as productive
of both pleasure and profit
as Is the burning on wood.
Modeling in clay is the new form ot
Bocial pastime. Shaping the plastic clay
into forms of beauty, whether undertaken
as a serious pursuit or merely as a di
version, is a branch of art the devotees
of which are rapidly increasing in num
ber.
. Even little children come. under its in
fluence, as one of the most popular
courses taught in the public schools is
that of clay modeling. They make suc
cessful copies of leaf and -flower, delight
In molding the cat, dog or other animals
Vi'ith which they are familiar, and maka
praiseworthy attempts to reproduce the
likenesses of the persons they know best.
It is a branch or art that opens rip a
constantly widening field, in which the
amateur has a place no less interesting
than the accomplished artist. To the
■woman who has small patience with em
broidery, who shuns the decorations that
the half-taught brush can give, modeling
offers an opportunity for beautifying her
home in a manner that will afford lasting
pleasure and will not offend the most
asthetically sensitive.
Ornamental friezes and panels can ba
molded to fit certain spaces with designs
that will harmonize with the style and
furnishings of the room. Busts, heads
and figures, according to the measure of
one's ambition and ability, can be turned
out for one's own pleasure or that of
one"s friends.
Society alone will not be benefited.
Those of the working class are in position
to accomplish as much with the clay and
the little wooden tools as is she of the
most aristocratic lineage. For, in the
first place, the entire outfit for the work
costs comparatively nothing, and, In the
second place, no restrictions are placed
upon the station or standing of talent.
One of the most interesting uses to
which clay modeling has been put In re
cent years is illustration. An unusually
striking effect is obtained by making a
design for the cover of a book in clay, in
high or low relief, according to the sub
ject. This is then photographed for the
illustration. This method has been used
for some of the recent of the Kipling
Jungle Beoks.
Not only are the Illustrations success
fully obtained from casts, but book cov
ers are frequently made in the same man
ner. For calendars and all such work,,
in which strong pictures and artistic ef
fect are desired, clay modeling is the
favorite medium employed by the dß
eigner.
In so many ways is clay modeling em
ployed that it seems to lie at the founda
tion of almost every piece of ornamenta
tion on -which the eye falls. Almost every
chandelier, electrlo llghtholder, door
knocker and irons and candlesticks, th«
fountains and the statues in the parks,
public squares and museums, hark back
to the same origin.
The scope offered for clay modeling in
architecture alone is immense.' Every in
tricate adornment of a beautiful building
In this city has first been worked out in
clay.
It is only recently, comparatively, that
women have realized how advantageously
this field could be worked by them. Now
one 1 finds the girl art student doubling
herself recklessly with the sticky, gray,
green clay, girls putting apart a corner
at home for modeling pretty knicknacks,
and others, turning their ability to ac
count in factories and potteries.
An insight Into the actual processes of
the artist who models his figures from
clay will enlighten those who are inter
ested in the methods by which the clay
Is worked and managed from the time it
Is put out moist and sticky on the table
until it appears in the solid form, whether
It is the full length human figure or a
simple leaf of a plant
Modeling in clay is the sketch which
the artist makes before the work is put
Into plaster, bronze, stone, marble or
whatever material is chosen. Wax is used
by jewelers, it being of suitable consist
ency for their work. A substance called
plastalina Is greatly used for the first
sketches for the mpdel, but It is disa
greeable to some sculptors on account of
its greasy consistency..- ..Its advantages
are that it always stays in the same con
dition and does not have, to be kneaded
or wet as the clay does. If a softer
-consistency is desired, a little cbttolena
mixed with it produces the right effect.
It is used for the most part for small
work, although a seven or even a nine
foot figure has been put up in it..
Clay, however, is more, generally used.
The term is applied tn -a vague way to
those kinds of earth or soil which, when
moist, have a sufficient degree of tenaci
ty and plasticity to. be satisfactorily
moulded. They owe their origin to the
decomposition -of other minerals.
For large studies in clay modeling,
sculptors use potters' day, which when
mixed with finely pulverized Bandstona
works freely.
In making a small statue, lay about
two feet high, fifty pounas of dfcy, cost*
ing about one cent a pound, will bo more
than enough. The clay must be placed
in a large galvanized iron can—an ash
can or something of that sort—or in a
box lined -with galvanized iron. It is
kept moist by occasionally sprinkling it
with water and covering with wet rags.
The modeling stand is a solid, four-leg
ged affair of heavy wood, on rollers, so
that it can be moved readily. Heavy
boards, about eighteen inches square, are
placed on top. They move easily on cas
ters turning on an iron track. The top
is made so that it will not warp, as water
is constantly sprinkled over the work,
but it must turn with the slightest move
ment of the hand. The stand is about
as high as the artist's chest.
There has to be an armature or skeleton
of lead pipe or copper wire to support the
clay, with sometimes little wooden cross
pieces called butterflies to support the
smaller portion of the figure that is being
worked upon.
The clay is pressed upon this skeleton
firmly, chiefly with the thumb and fingers,
they being the most efficient tools. They
&re helped ont with thin pieces of polished
boxwood, «ac end of which sometimes
..•;;-" v'
Is a blade and the {;c *ther a hooked
piece of metal. ThejTjdiffer in size and
shape to suit the worß, small, pliable
blades being used on,the'fine work.
The figure is built <u# with clay until
the perfection the .sculptor desires is
reached.' When one is-J&bt working upon
Whatthe Tostoffice Department Is Doing***;
. .|NE of the* "most interesting
OgovernmeWAjocuments late
ly published is the annual
• report of'iSi general super
intendent of the free dcliv
' cry, system, of the postofflce
department. The remarkable feature of
the report is the exposition of the results
of extending the delivery system to rural
districts. The amount appropriated for
this purpose; which in 1898 was only $50,
--000. has been increased in the current fis
cal year to $7,000,000. During the interval
the number of rural' delivery routes has
been expanded from 148 to 11,650. The area
covered by rural delivery carriers now
the figure It must be carefully -wrapped
In wet cheese cloth or similar material.
When the figure Is finished It Is ready
for the process of casting in plaster or
bronze or having it done Into marble.
Casting a "relief is. of course, easier
than casting "in the round."
comprehends 300,000 square miles and con
tains 7,000,000 inhabitants. The whole are*
to which the postoffice department intends
ultimately to give rural delivery embraces
1.000,000 square miles, and the cost of
such service is computed at $2i,000,000.
iVom that cost, however, must be deduct
ed the additional revenue. How consider
able an income may be counted upon from
this source will be evident when we point
out that last year, while the Increase of
receipts in the rural regions generally
was only 2.4 par cent., there was, on the
other hand, in those sections which en
joyed a full rural delivery service, an In
crease of receipts amounting to 10 par
cent Neither is the income derivable from
the sale of money orders and the registm*
FELINE HYPNOTISM
LATEST MEDICAL MYSTERY.
I i ATS, like serpents, have long
Cbeen known to possess the
powers of hypnotizing their
prey by a glance from their
, eyes.
' * The case of Mrs. Elizabeth
Cunningham, who went to Bellevue hos
pital, New York, recently, twice in one
day, with her jaws fixed and rigid and
her mouth open because of the effect of
cat'sT eyes upon her, has caused much
wonder among laymen and medical au
thorities.
So wonderful is the case in point that
it resembles in many respects the story
of Dv Maurier, in which poor Trilby was
hypnotized by a glance at a photograph
of her Svengall.
Mrs. Cunningham feels' her jaws relax
and fix even at the mention of the word
"cat" in her presence, causing her to
show signs of mental uneasiness.
Many times while walking peaceably
along the street she has been suddenly
confronted by" a stray cat and been
obliged to walk home speechless.
To her a cat is a serious matter.
She is not a young, nervous girl.
She has lived in this world of sorrpw
and of cats for the last forty-eight years,
so that her peculiar misfortune cannot be
attributed to a youthful nervousness.
When she was only sixteen years old,
she says, she first felt the hypflotic In
fluence hidden in the cat's eye. \
A pet kitten with which she was play-
Ing suddenly went mad in her arms.
When she threw it to the floor in fear,
the furry creature ran, writhing/ spitting
and scratching, through every room in the
house.
The impression made at that time upon
her was so strong that she- never for
got it.
She leaped to a table, screaming.
Then her noise stopped, and she found
herself looking straight at the infuriated
animal, with her mouth open, as If she
were still shouting, but not a sound came
from her lips.
Her jaws were tightly wedged and she
could neither open nor shut them.
' Everybody supposed she had "lockjaw,
but gradually the phenomenon went away
of its own accord, leaving her again in
her normal condition.
But the fear of a cat would not go.
Ever since she has been annoyed re
peatedly by a recurrence of *he malady.
If the cat goes about its business and
pays no attention to her she will pay no
attention to the cat.
The moment the creature faces her or
the moment ehe comes face to face with
one unexpectedly and t%>ts a look into its
eyes she feels her Jaws parting and ohows
all the outward symptoms of being
afflicted with tetanus.
On the day that she was conveyed to
the- hospital twice she exhibited all the
usual signs.
When she awoke In the morning, like
the hero in Edgar Allan Poe's "Black
Cat," she found a cat in.her room.
Of course, It threw her Into a. "spell,"
and she was taken to the hospital in an
ambulance.
The cat was driven from the house.
In the afternoon, when she returned on
foot, perfectly cured, to all intents and
purposes, she found another stray cat in
the back yard, and back to the hospital
she went in short order.
In an hour or so she was "well" again
and able to return home. All they did at
the hospital was to place a hand under
her open jaw and tell her that there were
no cats in sight, and that she had better
be calm.
Whereupon her Jaws clicked back Into
place.
In speaking of the case, Dr. Halliwell
of the Bellevue hospital said that, in his
opinion, the woman had no signs of lock
jaw.
He declared that it was nothing more
or less than an unusual manifestation of
hysteria.
On the other hand, Mrs. Cunningham
declares that she was hypnotized by the
cat. ••*
"I always have a peculiar feeling when
ever I see one—a sort of sinking sensa
tion at the heart and a desire to scream.
"If the cat fixes me with its big green,
staring eyes I almost swoon, and I can
not run.away. I seem to lose the use of
my limbs, and am robbed of all power of
action.
"I have never been hypnotized, but I
know that If I should bo the sensation
would be the same.
"Why, I open my mouth, and why I
cannot close it again is as much a mys
tery to me as it seems to be to everybody
else."
Dr. George F. Shrady regarded the ques
tion in the light of "auto-hypnotism."
He said that the woman was evidently
afflicted with the same mental hysteria
j. tlon of letters by rural delivery carriers to
Ibe ■ overlooked." Last \ year nearly ;: 115,000
letters ] and ; packages were registered \by
I carriers' in \ Isolated j farming .communities. -
-. In view of these '-flgilres/ it is; certain not
Ionly ; \ that rural deliveries render ,- a ; ma- ■
j. terial service 'i tD farmers, c-f which '■■ hith
i erto thejr have been f deprived, but also
■••: that such ," deliveries 7 tend to become self
supporting. LAst year, although the rural ;
;' deliveries had been Ip, operation on a con
■'■]tinually increasing : scale since / 1898, the '
postal i deficit - had > shrunk from' $11,000,000
in 1897 . to a little over f2,090 ; 0G0. It is cal
culated that *no fewer than » 20,000,000 \ In- •
I habitants of the United \ States ) are I inter
;■ ested In the extension of free deliveries to
-the rural Oiatrifiiß>
which formed the controlling influence in
the lives of the Hindoo priests, and so
called miracle workers.
"Many cases," said the doctor, "are on
record where men have been able to con
trol the involuntary muscles of the body
for a period, and have been able to pro
duce some curious results. ' •
"One man stopped the gating of his
own heart for the period of sixty seconds,
and another threw himself into a deep
sleep for thirty or sixty days.
"Auto-hypnotism is the name of this
curious 'disease,' if it can be so called.
"In the case of the young "girl, 'Nellie
Corcoran,' who attracted much attention
by her long sleep, medical men are of
the opinion that it was nothing else than
a form of hysteria or 'auto-hypnotism.'
"Here i 3 the only case on record where
the sleep resulted in actual death.
"The autopsy showed that there was
nothing the matter with her.
"In India you often hear of the fanatics
who go about inflicting terrible wounda
upon their own bodies as a sort of wor
ship or as a form of sacrifice.
"The amount of suffering they appea»
to endure owing to the serious nature of
their self-inflicted wounds and the subse
quent loss of blood, makes them the ob
ject of respectful veneration to their fel
low-beings.
"But it is a well-known fact that they
do not suffer and that they do not feel
the knife blades in their flesh.
"Just in the same way that a regularly
hypnotized person cannot feel the pin that
is thrust through his tongue.
"Auto-hypnotism differs from hypnot
ism only in the means of arriving at the
same end.
"In the first case the subject hypnotizes
himself and in the" second the subject is
hypnotizer by an outsider.
"Hysteria is at the bottom of the sub-
Jeetive hypnotism, and the main feature
of hysteria is the desire to do something
to attract attention.
"Those who are afflicted with the 'mal
ady' desire for themselves some outsid*
attention.
"And they will do anything to secure
that attention, as is evidenced by this
woman's return to the hospital twice In
■one day from the same cause.
"If they throw themselves into a sleep
It is not improbable that they 'sleep with
one eye open,' so as to receive the benefit
of the notoriety their strange condition
is bound to bring.
"And the effect they have upon their
own bodies is wonderful.
"The pulse will become slow in the
sleeper; the heart will lesß^ frequently
beat; the temperature sometimes drops
below normal; they can resist a galvanic
battery or a knife cut, and the sleep is
to all intents and purposes real.
"But it is also feigned, and the purpose
Is to attract attention.
"Hysteria takes many curious forms,
but the 'cat hynotizing 1 case is rather
new."
Dr. Walter C. Gilday also ridiculed the
idea of hypnotism, as did the hospital
physicians.
V'The thing to do, and the thing they
did, I suppose, was to give her a little
chloroform and let her forget about It
when she woke up. It seems to be a clear
case of hysteria, but there is no denying
that it took an unusual form.
"Right in line with this case is one of
medical history.
"It seems that an eminent physician
once lived who made a specialty of hip
diseases.
"He was enthusiastic over his sanita
rium and took great delight in showing
members of the medical profession
through It.
"One day he took a doctor on a tour of
inspection, and they stopped at a bed in
which lay a woman with a bad case of
hip trouble.
"She smiled in recognition upon seeing
the visitor, and the doctor smiled in re
turn.
. When the two physicians were again In
the private office the proprietor of th«
sanitarium asked:
" 'You know that woman?'
" 'Certainly.'
" 'What do you know about her case?*
" 'Nothing much; only I had her thir
teen years ago with the same hip trouble,
and at that time It was all put on—pure
hysteria."
" 'What." shouted the doctor.
"Then he darted to the door and In five
minutes had the supposed cripple dressed
and on her "way out of the hospital, walk-
Ing as well as a perfectly sound woman.
"There was nothing whatever the mat
ter with her.
"I have cases of hysteria in my prac
tice, but they are all of the same kind
women who think that they are going to
die within the next five minutes.
"The hypochrondriacic imitative is the
most annoying form of hysteria that doc
tors have to cope with.
"That is the case of a man or woman
who sits opposite you at table or asso
ciates with you day By day.
"You have a bad cough or a bleeding
nose or consumption or something, and
they get it, or appear to get It, in imita
tion of you.
"If It Is consumption they grow thin
and waste away, acquire a hectic flush
and a hacking cough and in every way
appear to be falling into a rapid decline,
"When you put the stethoscope on
them or sound their lungs you find them
as sound as a bell.
"They have simply hypnotized them
selves into a belief that they are ill, and
the real question for the doctor to solve
is how to make them think they are well '•
again.
"All of which goes to show what v won
derful control we have eve? uur bodies.
"Hysteria is a disease, and that is what
the woman vho was afflicted with the '
symptoms of tetanus was suffering from
—not so much from the eyes of the cat.
"She could have been hypnotized Just
as well by seeing her own face in tin
mirror if the idea pleased her fancy."