Life — December 26, 1901 — page 8: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

554 men, collaborators whose aid we found it ,bard to spare,thave been taken from us, One of the first to go was Wilson De Meza. His pictures, always rich in thoir effects of light and shade, embellished many a pago of Lrrk. And tho next year, in 1894, we lost F. P. W. Bellew, well known as “Chip.” Of Mr. Bellew’s unfailing sense of humor and his tireless invention, it 1s impossible to say too much. It would be dificult to overestimate the value of his services to the paper in those early days. A young man at tho time of his death, tall, slender, with a palo, serious face that rarely indulged in @ smile, he gave no impression of the wealth of fun and humor that was hidden beneath, In fact, it seemed against his principles to show any signs of mirth, I romomber one day as we sat together dis- cussing a series of drawings, an idea was suggested, which struck me as being so funny that I sat back in my chair and impulsively laughed aloud. It was such a fit of merriment as seldom comes to the hardened professional, As I looked at Mr, Bellew, I saw him trying to smooth away—to iron out—with his fingers, a smilo that threatened to get possession of his mouth, But he conquered tho impulse, Tho death of Charles! Howard ‘Jobnson, in 1896, again deprived us of one of the cleverest, most;prolific, and most versatile of our artista, The abundance of his ideas and his facility of design wero a constant surprise. Dainty initials’for bits of verse, double- page cartoons on social or any other subjects, were produced at will, and always successful. And in 1899 we lost Michael Angelo Woolf, a man of lovable per- sonality, whose little children of the{poor won the sympathy of all who knew them, The cartoon for the;first number of Lire was drawn{by Francis ‘LIFE: CHARLES HOWARD JOHNSON. Gilbort Attwood, and he remained an unfailing contributor till his death in April, 1900, His delightful fancy, bis untalling humor, and his knowledge of men and things, rendered him a collabora- tor whose loss {s keenly felt. Ho wasa man of strong convic- tions. No drawing ovor loft his hands that was not in accordance with his own strict senso of justice. To hia range of subjects there was apparently no limit, Children, animals, angels, devils, landscape ; tragedy and comedy, allegory and realism; kings, Tammany politicians, fairies, flowers, all, and much more, ho de- pleted with exquisite art, and with # delightful sonsibility. He started the paper with us, and bis death marks one of tho saddest milestones in Lrre's journey. Twelve years ago only two women wore on Live's list of regular contributors. To-day thero aro nearly fifteon, Most of thom aro 80 woll known to our readers that a repetition of their names is superfluous; but of Lrre’s indebtedness to theso ladies, and of his hearty and sincere appreciation he makes grateful acknowl- edgmont. A Little Confession. We aro painod to admit it, but why dissemble ? Lire is not infallible. This confession, however, is made with reservations—with a string to it. In‘questions of importance we are, of course, always right. In trivial matters we confess to being pleasantly human. It is gonorally believed that all beings of mortal origin are liable to error, bat the average sinner does not rush out upon the street ‘and proclaim his folly, He does not buttonhole the reading pub- Ue and ery aloud, * Listen, and learn what a fool Lam!" On tho.contrary, ho keops certain things to himself, But when Lire does the foolish thing, he shouts it from Maine to Texas; from Boston to San Francisco; over Europe, Atia, Africa, South America and the Pacific Islands, and throughout the navies of the world. And so, every time it happens be bears of it from the uttermost corners of the earth ; from regions too remote, it would seem, for human periodicals to penetrate. And these mistakes, 80 far as wo can judg, are immeasurably more satisfying to his comicbooks.com