Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 131, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1916 — Page 2

SCULPTOR MAKES NEW FACES FOR WOUNDED MEN

Copper Masks Are Molded by Francis Derwent Wood, a British Officer. REMARKABLE FACIALSURGERY Many Pathetic Cases Fall to Care of Celebrated Artist —Spends Months in Experiments Before Attemping His First Case — New Eye for Soldiers. London. —Not “new lamps tor old,” but “new faces for old,” is the cry of the modern Arabian Nights magician. This magician is a sculptor of renown, English by birth but half American by ancestry. He is Francis Derwent Wood, a name familiar in the United States, where various collectors possess examples of his work. Wood's steadily growing fame, however, was extended in America just before the war began, when he was commissioned by Lady Paget and the duchess of Marlborough on behalf of the American women in England to execute the statue of William Pitt, which, as soon as circumstances make the thing more suitable, will be presented by them to their native land in commemoration of the hundred years of peace between this country and America. Lieutenant W T ood, as he now is, has discovered how to give new faces to who have lost theirs in the war. He can make new eyes, cheeks, foreheads, chins; in fact, he is making them daily. Up to date Derwent Wood has made new faces, or at least parts of faces, for five such victims of war.

Remarkable Facial Surgery. The most pathetic case of all of these was that of a trooper named Everitt, whose face had been broken by an explosive bullet. His nose had been carried away almost entirely and his left cheek torn open from his ear to the corner of his mouth. Like most of these victims of facial disfigurement, he had to undergo operation after operation. He received his wound on May 13 of last year. Finally he was brought to a London hospital on September 2, and up to a couple of weeks ago, despite the fact that his wound had entirely healed and surgery admittedly had done all that it could for him, he remained a sad sight. Before the war he was a taxi driver. Now, made at least presentable by the wonderful “facial mask'’ which Wood has contrived for him, a mask consisting of false nose, cheek and a “mustache” which conceals his injured lip, ex-Trooper Everitt is plying his old trade again and doing well at it. “When he saw himself with his mask for the first time,” said the sculptor, “he jumped for joy.” New Eye for Soldiers.

Another case in which Wood has salved human wreckage is that' of Driver Fergusson, a member of the Canadian field artillery, who was hideously wounded at Ypres on April 25, 1915. A piece of shell carried away his right eye entirely, and as the surgical report professionally put it, “the surrounding structures.” In the ordinary way, there would have been nothing to fix an artificial eye “to,” and, as in the case of Trooper Everitt, his disfigurement was so appalling to behold that it is doubtful of he ever could have taken up his old trade, which was that of a machinist.

Now with the upper part of his right cheek restored, and what appear to be two perfectly good eyes beaming at you from behind spectacles, this youngster not only.will be able to earn his living hereafter, but is going to get married, and the gratitude of his fiancee to Derwent Wood is only surpassed by his own. These are the two worst cases with which the s'culptor has yet had to deal, but others in which he has been equally successful are those of Private Harper of the King’s Royal rifles, who also lost most of his nose and the biggest part of his cheekbone; Lance Corporal Davis of the Australian imperial

KAISER VISITS AUSTRIANS

"This picture was taken somewhere On the Eastern front when the kaiser visited the Austrian commander general of cbvalry, G. D. K. von BoehmjErmolli.

AMERICAN TRENCHES AT BOCA GRANDE

These trenches at Boca Grande. Mexico, were dug and are occupied by negro troops.

forces, who was minus an eye and part of his cheek, and a British private, whose left cheek and nose were frightfully torn by a shrapnel bullet. All these men will now be able to follow their own trades, instead of having to exist, shunned by all save the most stoical of their fellows, on the princely pension of 25 shillings ($6) a week, which is all that their country can afford to pay in cases of “total incapacity.” Wood’s War Service. Soon after the beginning of the war Col. Bruce Porter of the Royal Army Medical corps made a speech to the members of the Chelsea Arts club, of which Derwent Wood is a member. The colonel asked his hearers to make a sacrifice of their art, and if they were too old to fight to accept the lowest service in the ranks of the R, A. M. C. A goodly number of the Chelsea artists enlisted in the R. A. M. C. forthwith, and among them was Derwent Wood. At forty-four he is not available for active service. His father came from Harrisburg, Pa., married an Englishwoman and settled down at Keswick, in Cumberland, where Derwent Wood was born.

He began his artistic career at Karlsruhe, later returning to England, and becoming a student at the Royal academy. There he won the gold medal and the traveling scholarship,which took him for some time to Italy. He afterward became assistant to Thomas Brock, R. A., one of the most famous of British sculptors. Honors were awarded him at the Paris salon, and four years ago he was made an associate of the Royal academy. Examples of his statuary are in the possession pf Henry Phipps, of his son, J. Phipps of Westbury, L. 1., and several other well-known American collectors.

Moved to Aid Wounded. Having joined the R. A. M. C. as an ordinary private Wood was sent out to a London military hospital. It iB one of the biggest in the metropolis, with more than 1,500 beds. At the beginning the new orderly’s duties were not of an exalted nature, one of them being to assist in rolling a new asphalt path. In a few days, however, the sculptor was drafted into the wards, where he began by taking plaster casts of damaged limbs. He soon became a master of splints. And in the course of his work he saw the saddest sights of the war, the men with the mutilated faces.

Moved to intense compassion, Derwent Wood went to his colonel one day and said: “Let me see what I can do for these poor fellows. I believe that I can do something anyway.” The officer consented gladly. “I spent months in experiments,” said Wood, “before I undertook my first case. This was in December last, my patient being Trooper Everitt. My ‘masks,’ as we call them, consist of plates of thin copper, silvered and then painted to match the hue of the patient’s skin. They are light to wear, they fit like gloves and the men declare that they give no discomfort whatever. Yes, they are intended to be removed at night, exactly like a set of false teeth, and they are easily cleaned with a little potato juice. Most of them can be kept in place by means of ‘ether gum,’ such as actors use, but in cases of artificial eyes and noses, I prefer to ‘build’ them on to spectacles, which assist to keep them in place and which themselves are held firm by means of a couple of small straps at the back. Plaster Mold Made. “In the beginning a plaster mold of the face is secured. This is dried and a clay or plasticine ‘squeeze’ is obtained from the mold, giving a positive model of the patient’s dressed wound and the surrounding healthy tissues; this is fixed to a board on a jjnodeling stand and a sitting from the patient with the undressed wound is obtained.

“Havingxjompleted my model I proceed to cast It, and procure the plaster positive of the wound and Its surrounding structures.. Another sitting is had and the portions which are to be hidden eventually by the metal plate are modeled in clay or wax, the edges being blended to the uninjured portions of the face, thus effectively masking any trace of wounds. This is once more molded in plaster, and* the edge of the proposed plate being marked on the negative, a cast is obtained, edges are trimmed to marking and the model is ready to have the artificial eye fitted to the lids. “The plaster eyeball is dug out, the

TIIE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, INP.

requisite thickness of lids is carefully worked down, the glass eye placed in position and the edges of the lids made good with thin The model is then taken to the electrotyper, where an exact reproduction by galvanoplastic deposit is made in thin virgin copper. The final sittings are devoted to the pigmentation of the plate. “I have found a thin coating of cream-colored bath enamel a good preparation for flesh color matching. Should the patient have a shihy skin this is easily obtained by varnish rubbed down to match it. I have tried false hair on eyelids and eyebrows — they will not stand the weather —and have adopted tinfoil split with scissors and soldered into lids for the eye, and for the eyebrows pigment applied to the modeled forms.” Lieutenant Wood declared that the American made artificial limbs were by far the best in the world, and spoke admiringly of the work that is being done at Roehampton by Americans in the way of equipping armless and legless soldiers.

TRIES TO CARRY OFF GIRL

Madman Whips Three Men Who At* tempt to Restrain Him at Fullertown, O. Chardon, O. —Charge of assault and battery was made against Blaine Redding, thirty-two, after his 'arrest when, it is alleged, he tried a few nights ago to carry away Miss Ethel Springer, seventeen, from her home in Fullertown. Later the charge was withdrawn and he was adjudged to be insane. He was arrested only after having thrashed three men who tried to hold him. He was taken in charge by a deputy sheriff at his boarding house when kneeling in prayer. “I will marry Ethel Springer, no matter what happens," said Redding, as he left later in custody of Sheriff Ballard and Deputy Rhodes for the Newburg state hospital after being adjudged insane.

INSECT CUTS DOWN TREES

New Pest Is Causing Much Annoyance to Pacific Coast Fruit Growers. Grass Valley, Cal.—The state of California is on the trail of the pleocoma, a large beetle of the scarabaid family, and efforts will be made to check his propensity to chop down fruit trees. Agents of the state insectary are here collecting larvae of the pest for the purpose of breeding specimens and studying its life history. The pleocoma is found in new, stumpy ground. It works just below the surface, cutting down a good Bized tree as neatly as it could be done with a saw. The larva is more than two inches in length, as large as a man’s fingen,and is equipped with a powerful set of Jaws. - The state insectary at present knows of no means of controlling the pest.

MRS. CLARK AND CHILDREN

Mrs. Edgar E. Clark and her two young children, Mary and Edgar E. J[r. Mrs. Clark, who is the wife of the interstate commerce commissioner, takes a prominent part in Washington societjs and at the same time finds time to raise her family.

LINGO OF AUSTRALIA

Description of a Baseball Game Is Quite Unique. Pitcher “Mounts the Box” and “Treats Batter With Respect”—“Came With Brilliant Hit Right Out to Left Field/' The following description of a baseball game played recently in Australia between native and American resident nines gives an excellent idea of antipodean baseball vernacular: “The American mounted the box first, sending Marre to face the attack. The pitcher treated, him with respect, allowing him to walk to first. Casey followed, and Hearnden’s error enabled him to p§sch second in safety. Caswell then threw wildly at first bag, and before the ball was recovered Marre and Casey had sprinted across the plate. Tucker, meanwhile, had made good on the diamond, but Bragg s fly, which was muffed, gave the fieldsman an opportunity of cutting the runner off at third. Bragg consequently scored on Brown’s hit to the country, making three runs for the inning. "Australia sent Hearndon to the box first, but a putout at first base was registered. Comber followed and Marre’s bad throw saw him safely landed at first. Golby then came with a brilliant hit right out to left field, bringing Comber home. Spiller, who had been missed by the catcher, made his way to third and a passed ball completed the distance for him. In the next term America could not get off the box, and then Australia made a determined effort to draw level in tire succeeding term. Hearndon brilliantly smashed to the left “garden” for a two-bagger, and a passed ball sent him on to third. Another passed ball completed the journey for him, and the score read three-all.

“Spiller was indulging in daring pilfering on the diamond, and a well judged steal gave him second base, from where he was sent flying across the plate on Golby’s clout, which Casey allowed to get past. Golby had reached third when .Lambert went into bat, and the Leichhardt player brought him home on a fine outfield hit, which produced two bags. Caswell then brought Lambert home, making four runs for the session.”

TIPPLE SENT TO BALTIMORE

Manager Bill Donovan Wins Out In Argument With Captain Huston Over Recruit Pitcher. It seems that Manager Bill Donovan of the Yankees has found a real club magnate in Capt. Til Huston. They disputed over the fate of Pitcher Dan Tipple, for whom the New York club had paid $9,000 or so. Donovan decided Tipple would not do and ordered

Dan Tipple.

him to the Baltimore Internationals, all other major league managers agreeing that he didn’t look good, but Huston, remembering the price paid for the pitcher, insisted he should be given more trial. Donovan won in the end, because Tipple failed to make good.

LAJOIE RETAINS OLD SKILL

Big Frenchman Has Been In Major Leagues Twenty Years —Is Most Graceful Infielder. "Larry” Lajoie, who will be fortytwo years of age next September, played a brilliant fielding game. This is his twenty-first year as a professional half player and his twentieth in the major leagues. He always has been one of the most graceful inflelders in the profession and still possesses much of his old-skill. t

TEAMS DISCARD OLD SUITS

Boston Braves and Chicago Cubs ray Themselves in Gray Uniforms While Traveling. The somber blue or black or whatever it was that the Boston Braves wore on the road has been discarded and they are rigged out to a light gray for this season. The Cubs also have discarded their blue uniforms and gray in one shade or another to the popular brand for traveling suits.

CONNIE MACK’S FAMED $100,000 INFIELD

Famous Quartet of Players Now Broken Up.

Somebody tagged the name "SIOO,OOO infield” on the Mclnnis-Collins-Barry-Baker combination in the pennant-winning days of Connie Mack’s Athletics, and it stuck until the infield was broken up. There was always the idea, however, that the title was not to be interpreted literally, despite the recognized worth of the combination. The sale of Frank Baker to the Yankees has proved that the famous infield was not overrated, financially;; lu fact, It was underrated. Mack got $50,000 when he transferred Eddie Collins to the White Sox, Later he got SB,OOO for Jack Barry from Joe Lannin of Boston. Two members of the quartet remained, and there was some doubt as to whether Mack would, or could, get $42,000 for the pair. The price for Baker has never been officially announced, but it is generally understood that the home-run king cost Ruppert and Houston $35,000. This leaves only„$7,000 to be accounted for by Stuffy Mclnnis. Stuffy, who is still a youngster, has batted over .300 for six successive years in the majors, and he would bring two or three times that $7,000. So that famous infield was more than a SIOO,OOO proposition after aIL

MOBBED FOR WINNING GAME

Mordecai Brown, Famous Cub Pitcher, Tells of Contest Which Stands Out Above All Others. In a fanning bee Mordecai Brown was asked to tell the best game that he ever pitched. “There is one game which stands out in my mind above all others. That was in 1908, when we beat the New York Gijants in the play-off for the National league pennant. You will remember that Pfeister started that game and filled the bases in the first inning. Chance motioned to me to go in, and I got out of the hole with but one run scored against us. "In the third inning we made four nma off Mathewaon. In the seventh

Mordecai Brown.

inning the Giants started a rally and made one run. The game ended with the score, 4 to 2. "The strain of that game was never equaled by me. Upon it hinged a league championship and the right and honor of play in the world’s series. In addition to this, the feeling in New York was at such an extreme pitch that we had received ‘Black Hand’ letters, which threatened us with our several lives If we took the pennant from New York. "I don’t believe I ever was so alarmed on a diamond as at the conclusion of that game, when the crowd at the Polo grounds practically mobbed us. Chance was hit in the neck and could not speak for several days. Other players were similarly treated. Luckily I escaped.”

EX-FED PLAYS GAME ALONE

Player Under Contract to Newark Club Reports for. Duty Every. Morning and Afternoon. Rupert Mills, a kid player with the Newark Feds last year, is under contract with former owner Pat Powers, who is .unable to get the boy a berth. Bo in order to earn his salary of 13,000 Mills reports each morning for practice and works with, some neighborhood players. - ,

DIAMOND NOTES

Hans Wagner seems tp be the same cld demon of the past. • * * The Athletics continue to prove easy for their opponents. * * * One solid wallop delivered in th« pinch covers a multitude of errors. * * * Joe Jackson is hitting the ball hard these days, but he is not getting many hits. • • • The town that produces a famous baseball ■pitcher can well afford to rest oh its laurels. • * * Is Hans Wagner aged? Watch his . batting every day. He has been getting bingles regularly. * * * The Cleveland Indians, with Trts Speaker acting as field captain, ara much improved over last year. * * * "Fried eggs cause insanity,” says an expert. Ah! Now we know what ails the baseball fans of St. Louis.

. * * • If the managers’ predictions come true this season, the two major league pennant races will furnish an eightpiece tie. * • * Joe Judge, Washington, flrst-sacker, originally toiled in an electric power house. Now we know why he sparkles In fast company. * • * This is the time of the year when great baseball teams throw away games that they bitterly regret in the shank of the season. * * * The Philadelphia Athletics are the most erratic players in the major leagues. One day they lose and the next the other fellows win. ♦ * • Tom Sawyer is holding a Job as assistant funmaker for the Washington Senators. Folks say Tom is a .huckleberry at cutting comical capers. • • * The Oakland club has released Babe Danzig and Frank Hosp, who failed to show signs of coming back, and returned Catcher Dave Griffith to Wichita. • * •

Another Titus breaks into the game this year. His front name is Elmer and he hails from Ph'.ladelphia. He will play with Wheeling in the Central league. • • • ;— *■ .' . : George O’Brien, catcher sold by the St. Louis Browns to the Terre Hautei Central league club, is out with an an-; nouncement that he will retire frbttij baseball. 1 * * * Manager Tinker has always contended, that Max Flack is a wonderful little outfielder and he is bearing outj the manager’s comment by starring ia. the outfield. "Billy" Sullivan to advocating the _ keeping of the young pitchers of the Detroit team for a period of training after the regtilar training season closes next autumn.