Imperial Valley Press

By FREDERICK C. OTHMAN
United Press Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19.—One of
America's first PWA artists strolled
into the Gila monster cage at the
National Zoological gardens today
and there began to paint an Arizona
scene upon the walls.
The boa constrictor glared, the
mangrove snake turned his green
back, the black racer sneered and
the rattler stuck out his tongue. But
Garrett Jax, artist working for the
government for $40 a week, was
safe, nonetheless. There are no reptiles in the cage where he worked.
"I can't let an artist in with our
snakes," explained Dr. William M.
Mann, who is director of the zoo
and who looked on admiringly while
Jax splashed paint upon a purple
sky. "We are solicitous of our
snakes," he added.
Jax was solicitous of Jax. He
waited until the keepers had removed all the Gila monsters from
his studio. Then he went to work
to make the Gila monsters' dwelling homelike.
Dr. Mann said he did not believe
the scenery made much difference
to the reptiles.
A snake, it seems, doesn't give a
hoot about art. He is interested only in his breakfast. While waiting for
it, he scorns artistic endeavor.
Passes Up Blue Eagle
Jax was as nonchalant as the
snakes. He was separated from them
by thick plate glass panels. So was
J. Lee Funk, artist who was a bus
boy last week, and to whom the $40
weekly from the government looked
like manna from the heavens.
Funk was daubing in steamy
greens and the glaring yellow of a
jungle scene for the cobras.
The PWA assigned five artists
and sculptors to Dr. Mann. As soon
as they finish the snake house, Dr.
Mann is going to put them to work
painting dodo birds and other extinct feathered creatures on the walls
of the bird house. He even toyed
with the idea of having them dye
his biggest eagle blue, but dropped
it when some one suggested it might
be interpreted as a publicity scheme.
Dr. Mann is a little worried over
whether the CWA appropriations
will last until the zoo is entirely re-
decorated. If the money runs out,
he has one last hope. It is a glistening black bird with a red beak.
Whenever an important looking individual like a congressman approaches, the bird demands in a
deep, bass voice:
"How about the appropriation?"