Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-08-21
The New Goddess of Liberty.


from the Washington rost.
The silver dollar has suddenly ac.
qulred new interest. 1t has n value
that can no longer be measured by its
mere buying capacity. 1t has history
AK well, the truth of which has been ex.
cavated by Il reportorial Schliemann on
the Philadelphia Record, after eighteen
months of persistent hard work.
When the new dollar came out il was
immediately noticed that something
was the matter with the eagle. Its
broad and sweeping wing was not so
broad and swecping az usual, and il had
somehow missed its customary attitude.
But the reverse side Of the coin fully
made up for all ornithological short.
comings. The figure there engraved
was not the Goddess of Liberty. There
was public sense of relief. First and
last, we have had good deal of the
Goddess of Liberty, and as she il not a
creature Of isfinite variety, ne were
ready for a change. The new woman
who looked across our standard silver
dollar, was of the OK eyed ideal sort.
with Il generous mouth and chin, whose
trm, sweet curves quite cast into the
shade the achievements of the Goddess
of Liberty in that locality. The coin
Of the original design, when one comes
to look at il, is rather slipshod affair,
which seems to be beating retreat
from the rest OF the face. I'm the new
face, the liberty cap is pushed bacl,
from the brow, and her hair, guiltlcgs
OF crimping pins, escapes in great, lux.
urlant waves; whereas the Goddess Cf
Liberty has drawn her cap down so low
over her iaul,css profile that only the
iaintest suspicion of idiot fringe y. yi.i.
and is heavy beside the exquisite draw.
ing ot the latter coin. Bat the interest
OF the dc.isu does not lie 20 much in
the artistic workmanship, as IN the fact
that it Is the portrait OF real live wo-
mnn, with local hnhitalion and a
given name. She lives in Philadelphia.
Her name j. Mis- Anna Williams, and
she was induced ~ Mr.. E4kins, the ar.
tist, to posr for Mr. Morgan, tho expert
designer and cngfAycr, who was i'm.
ported TO this country hy the Treasury
department to do this work. lie came
over in 1876, and Immediately began to
hunt up design. liis artistic instincts
recoiled from "a mere reproduction OF
the monotonoui Greek profile with
which we are 80 familiar. He wanted
his work 10 be American. Art, Of
course, speaks the universal Ian uguage,
but he WAS determined that his design
should talk in dialect. Toiling to pro.
duce something that should startlc the
nation, he went on still hunt through
the schools Of designs and the galleries
OF Philadelphia for typical American
face. The trail Of the antique was over
them all. Not one OF those plaster
women would answer, neither would
the models of the life class. lie made
ideal heads and threw them aside in
despair. In this emergency Miss vii
liams consented TO sIt for her portrait,
without the slightest suspicion that she
would ever, ~ consequence, become his.
torical and be drowned in printers ink.
She shrinks, IL is said, from the pub.
licity which has bcfallen her. There is
no special reason why she should
shrink. II was not a matter Of person.
al vanity, but simply a praisewo thy
willingness to help an artist in his work
10y lending her delicate Greek profile to
tuc bEINlGe ol HtF country. she viii
t.be recognized and annoyed by the
attention of young men who buy photo.
graphs Of celebrities, because Mr.. Nor.
gan has taken certain artistic liberties
which change the expression somewhat
And then dress is Il great transformer,
and Miss Williams probably does not
60 down on Chestnut street with a fold.
cd liberty cap on her head. and typical
fruits and flowers in her hair. The
Greciau brow and lips are Miss vii.
liams', and with these her admirers may
fall in love. Beyond that they must
draw the dead line For there Is
mortgage on the chin. 1t Is in fact the
chin OF Mr. Morgan's wife, and in jus.
ticc he ought to account for this break
in the utter Americanism Of the face.
The young lady whose features have
thus become a subject Of public inter.
est, Is teacher in reform school. is
winning and wise. and it is eminently
ft that this craven image on the dollar
Of the people should be a daughter Of
the people. And a. the silver dollar
tells no tales in regard to complexion.
we will add that this American cousin
Of the Goddess of Liberty is a blonde
of the purest type.