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CARTOONS THAT MADE FACES
FAMOUS
AND FACES THAT
MADE
CARTOONISTS FAMOUS
The leader of the State Oppo-
sition, Mr. Lang, has publicly
stated that the cartoonists have
treated him very generously.
The question arises: When a
public man sees a monstrous
likeness of himself—yet more
like himself than he himself is—
staring at him out of a news
paper, what does he think?
"No . . er . . Yes!"
When the intended victim of a
caricature is asked to sit, as a
rule he mildly protests—at the
same time patting his hair,
straightening his tie, etc.—then,
“whispering, ‘I will ne'er con-
sent,’ ”—consents. Only few
occasions
have been
traced
when the
cartooned
one has
objected
to the hid-
eously-re-
vealing re-
sult.
Norman
Lindsay
recalls a
conversation he once had with
Mr. W. A. Holman. During
lunch, Mr. Holman opened out
with a brief homily on the re-
sponsibility of “you chaps.” Their
depreciation of politicians could
go so far as to keep the right
kind of men out of public life.
Lindsay, having politely agreed,
reminded him, “But in the first
place the politicians must bive
us the material to depreciate
them with.”
Outward and visibly, as well
as politically, the finest material
ever offered to Australian car-
toonists were the hair, beard, and
snub-nose of Sir Henry Parkes,
the leonine head and eye-glass of
Sir George Reid, and the gar-
goyle-like ensemble of Mr. W.
M. Hughes.
As “God's
gift to car-
toonists,” D.
H. Souter, re-
calling the
early days of
black and
white, of Phil
May and Al-
fred Vincent,
names Sir
Henry: Harry
Julius champions Sir George; and
those of the new generation, in-
cluding Tom Glover, say, with
one voice: “Billy!”
David Low rose to world-wide
fame on the ears of Billy
Hughes, and, no doubt, cartoon-
ists were “God's gift to Billy.”
It would be difficult to judge
how greatly Low's “Billy Book”
contributed to its “hero's” fame.
Billy Hughes was the last of a
Golden Age for cartoonists—the
age that opened with Sir George
Reid and “Hop” of the “Bulle-
tin.” After the uninspiring
beards of J. C. Watson and Dea-
kin, Sir George's eyeglass came
as manna from heaven to the
hungry cartoonists.
The story of the knight's
subtle revenge, exacted in ban-
tering tones across the dinner
table, from “Hop,” has been re-
lated by Mr. C. H. Bertie.
“The most interesting thing
to-night,” said Sir George, “is
the careworn expression of my
friend, ‘Hop.’ He has had an
opportunity to-night of placing
himself opposite me, and of see-
ing what a prolonged series of
infernal slanders he has been
guilty of. . . . I never blamed
‘Hop’ for his caricatures. I did
all I could to help him.
“At the beginning I saw that
no one understood who it was he
was drawing. I wanted to help
a struggling artist, so I says, ‘I'll
wear an eyeglass.’ From that
day to this ‘Hop’ has been con-
sidered one of the most marvel-
lous artists in Australia. . . . ”
Another famous meeting, be-
tween Sir George and Will
Dyson, is related by Norman
Lindsay. Caricaturist and vic-
tim found themselves face to face
across a dinner-table in London.
“I left the country to get away
from him,” said Sir George, “but
he has followed me . . . ”
When the artist rose to speak
he welcomed the presence of the
knight. “It gives me the oppor-
tunity,” he said, “of clearing
myself, and of showing you gen-
tlemen really how kindly I have
treated him ! ”
Enter, “Billy”
After Sir George came the age
of Billy Hughes. Low was his
“Hop.” For years, the grotesque
figure postured and pirouetted in
the centre of a kind of “Car-
toonalia,” and Low pulled the
strings.
When “Billy” snuffed out of
the limelight, it was a tragedy.
All over Australia the cartoon-
ists sat dumbly biting their pen-
cils, trying to figure out what
they could do with the regular,
polished countenance of Stanley
Melbourne Bruce,
It was Tom Glover of
the Melbourne “Herald” and
now cartoonist of the Sydney
“Sun” (and whose work ap-
pears on this page), who,
like a Kerensky or a Mus-
solini, leapt, pencil in hand,
into the breach. And so a
blase, supercilious, spatted
figure strutted with a grand
air of dignified aloofness across
the boards that the mounte-
bank had vacated.
Along with the burlesque dig-
nity of Bruce there evolved his
caricature- twin, a sort of ami-
ably half-witted Earle Page.
And, as a final touch, when
Earle Page's financing came
more into the public eye, Tom
Glover always had him with, a
little ticket, inscribed: “2 plus 2
equals 5.”
Scullin's Top-knot
But, on the whole, the Bruce-
Page Government was a lean re-
gime. Its overthrow might have
been worse but for the fresh
eruption of Mr. Hughes. Car-
toonists are doing their best to
develop Mr. Scullin's top-knot;
Mr. Theodore, besides being
without out-
standing feat-
ure to seize
upon, has not
let himself
into their
clutches to any
extent; the
rest of the Gov-
ernment is dis-
couraging; Mr. Latham is feat-
ureless.
But in the State field, both
Messrs. Bavin and Lang—par-
ticularly the latter—are good
butts for black-and-white satire,
while on the civic horizon looms
a whole array of new aldermen,
very welcome after the unadapt-
able features of the Commission.
The ferocious possibilities of
Mr. Lang have been a great
boon through a lean period.
“Yet he may be gentlest of
men at home,” remarked one
cartoonist, the
other day,
with the de-
tached air of
an executioner
who comments
upon his lat-
est victim.
And, by
the way,
leaving poli-
ticians for
hte moment, did you ever hear
the yarn of David Low's suc-
cess with a steam-roller?
Low, then working in Mel-
bourne, yearned for a sitting
from a roller, and rang the City
Council to know where he could
get in touch with one.
“Where do you live?” came
back a voice.
Low gave his address, at El-
wood.
“Righto ! It will be there at 9
o'clock in the morning,” said
the voice.
And at 9 a.m. sharp, up puffed
the faithful steam-roller to the
Low door ! It was the most
complacent sitter the artist ever
had; a shining example to poli-
ticians and public men gener-
ally!
Politicians, however, nearly
always take their caricatures in
good part. They all realise the
enormous publicity value of the
cartoon.
none Help
"Billy" says a feu) Words. Help
||“Billy” says a few words.||
Dr. Page's "Tut-tut." Help
||Dr. Page's “Tut-tut.”||
The Scullin-bird. Help
||The Scullin-bird.||
boon through a lean period. "Yet he may be the gentlest of men. at home," remarked one cartoonist, the Help
7, Stanley Melbourne .Bruce." Help
||“I, Stanley Melbourne
.Bruce.”||
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