glad to give the young applicant an opening if possible--a
chance which soon came, but which never meant very much for the artist.
He began with a comic umbrella-stand, and from that basis made scores of
small subjects, all, with but half-a-dozen exceptions, of his own
suggestion. Then, when Tom Taylor died he sent less and less--a little
sore that he should be pushed aside for younger men--and finally ceased
altogether, returning to Halifax in response to business calls. Then
followed W. J. Hodgson (who is not to be confounded with the draughtsman
of the same name and initials of nearly twenty years later), with four
cuts, during 1876 and the two next years; "Captain F.," with a couple;
Miss Fraser ("MF"), daughter of Colonel Fraser of the City Police, with
seven sketches; and Mr. Hallward, with a couple of initials.

[Illustration: E. J. WHEELER.

(_Drawn by Himself._)]

For four years no accession of importance was made, Mr. W. G. Smith,
with a single initial, and Mr. W. G. Holt, with three more ambitious
cuts, being all that 1878 had to show; while 1879 brought forth Mr.
Dower Wilson with a "social" in the Almanac, and a nameless F. B.
("Memorials"). In the following year Mr. Athelstan Rusden made his
maiden appearance as an illustrator with a Disraeli Elephant, which he
had drawn on the wood and sent in from Manchester; but "Moonshine"
offered the inducement of continuous occupation, and the young amateur
drifted away.

The year 1880 is memorable for the enlistment of Mr. Harry Furniss. Mr.
E. J. Wheeler was the other arrival, and he still (1895) spreads over
_Punch's_ pages his bright little theatrical sketches and initials, as
well as illustrations to Mr. Burnand's own literary contributions. His
drawings are unmistakable, as much by their rather old-fashioned method
as by the well-known monogram of later years, or by the appropriate
sign-manual of a "four-Wheeler" in his earlier contributions.

[Illustration: HARRY FURNISS.

(_From a Photograph by Debenham and Gould._)]

[Illustration: BISHOP PUNCH.

(_By Harry Furniss._)]

In Mr. Harry Furniss _Punch_ found an artist who was destined to become,
during the fourteen years of his connection, a considerable factor in
his career. Mr. Furniss was bred up in the _Punch_ tradition. While
still a boy at school in Ireland--where, through a mistake on Time's
part, he was born, of English and Scotch parents--he produced, edited,
and illustrated "The Schoolboys'