Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-04-25


OF the sun, and balmy with the breath OF
spring. 1t was daX OF FILTERED sunshine"
and "etherial mil6ness-" There was general
cessation Of business both public and private,
after the morning hours. All OF the depart
ments OF the general and local government
closed at noon, and the employees generally
joined In the observance OF the day. Along
the line Of march of the procession, f1ag5 and
streamers were displayed both from public
buildings and private residences, and the city
wore holiday look.
THE HISTORY OF THE STATUE.
Its Model and the Work of Casting
The statue which was unveiled To-day has an
interesting history. 1t has been six years since
the award for it was made to Miss Winnie
Ream, now Mrs. Hoxie. The supervision of
the work was placed In the hands OF the Sec
retary Of the Navy. There have been five Sec
retaries who have had to do with 1t. The first
was Secretary Robson. Then came Secre.
taIies Thompson, Ramsey tpro tenn. GoG and
the present head Of the Navy department. Mr.
Hunt. Every one OF these gentlemen showed
great interest IN the work and desire TO for
ward 1t by every means. IG Is strange in tha
history OF country where the names and
deeds OF SO many OF Its naval commanders are
household words, that this statue. should be
the first ever erected by the government to one
Congress made the appropriation for putting
FafiaguJ in bronze,
NO NAVAL OFFICER
OF the United States had been remembered in
that way by his government. The appropTia-
ton for the statue was $40 OOO-$5 600 to be paid
In advance, S.. GOO when the model was finished,
and $l6,o GOO when the statue was through with.
The contract was awarded by competition
Twenty-one artists were in the race The award
was made to Winnie Ream by the commission
appointed by congress, consisting of General
sherman, Mrs. Farragut and the Secretary OF
the Navy. The model which she submitted
was seven feet high. The colossal bronze,
which was unveiled to-day, is the exact coun.
terpart OF that model only In the enlarged size.
nearly three years. She had seen Admiral
Farragut once when he came to visit her
studio. The admirable likeness of the dead
hero which she has reproduced In bronze. was
by which she guided herself particularly Wis
given her BY Mrs. Farragut.
TIE BEST LIKENESS.
This was photograph OF the head and bust
1t was priced above all others by the admrats
widow. She sent it to the artist in the velve;
case In which it had been set Mrs. Farragu
quested number Of times that In her work
this photograph be consulted above all Others,
as II was the best ever taken. The request
was carefully compiled with. That the result
Farragut and Loyal Farragut, son OF the All al
raj. warmly attest Admiral Porter, who kns g
Farragut well. and whose relations with HIN
were OF closely personal nature, wrote leG-
ter before the award was made, saying that
Miss Ream's model was, In his opinion, the best
of any presented. He has since expressed his
entire e, SATISFACTION sat- with the work The secre
be cast at the navy yard here.
CASTING THE STATUE.
1t was the first work OF the kind ever done
there. In fact i, was the first time that any
navy yard in the world had undertaken to cast
anything OF this nature beyond the size OF a
figure head. MI. Shock, chief of the bureau o.,
steam engineering. Navy department. hal
Engineer Brooks specially supervised it. Tn-
foreman OF the foundry. ana a very excellent
workman was MIR. Samuel Gelst0n. The statue
was nine months In casting. Mrs. HoxIe was
given the Dahlgren ordnance building in tbs
yard for a studio The model was erected
there at the exact height that lt now occupies
In Farragut square. There was a platform
beams above. Here Mrs. Hoxie was found early
and late. She had many visitors. Sailors from
the different ships that came to the yard were
always to be found there: Many of them had
terested In the artists work. They entertained
her with stories OF the dead hero. They brought
her shells and other curiosittes they had picked
broidered sailors cap and presented it for her
use In the studio. When preparations for the
casting were put on foot moulder In bronze
was advertised for. A Frenchman named
engaged. He made the mould for the casting
He wanted very fine sand for his work. None
could be had here 1t was brought from France,
casting was In six moulds. The head and Shout
ders formed one section; each arm was cast
separately; the lower part Of the body and the
Me1s ae s%erd and
supplied by Commodore Jeners, under direction
Of Captain HoWison.
A HAPPY IDEA.
At the suggestion OF Mr.. Shock the bronze
metal used for the statue was from the pro-
peller OF the old Hartford, Farragut's flagship.
1t was very happy idea and eagerly adopted.
The carriages upon which the four mortars at
the Hartford propeller metal.
great deal OF interest and no little anxiety
was felt IN the result Of the first attempt at
OF bronze came out Of the m0ulds perfecs.
There was not flaw anywhere. The work OF
casung was as great success as the execution
o. o. the h3lan MODEL While the latter was in the
were taken with several sailors on the
platform around It. One OF these pho
ffeg51;aphs fSs1;sp9s ronna has been given to Frank
The light was not very good. Pho
togIaphs OF the statue as It now stands win be
takeH.
The pedestal nrst put under the statue was
te too a smau "a Congress made an appropriation Of
% 600 to complete 1t and give more elevation To
the statue The original pedestal has been RAISED
nine feet It is made OF New England granite
blocks, which were shipped from Rockland,
Maine: Considerable dif11culty was exoeri,
enced In getting the blocks here. All the ex.
penses OF casting the statue and erecting it
have been borne by the artist. as the contract
place. '-'-N' - A''
DoCUAKNTa IN THE PEDESTAL
Before the statue was raised to its pos,tion
documents containing memoranda recirtng the
services OF Admiral Farragut and giving brief
history OF the statue were placed In a copper
oox which was embedded In the PEDESTAL A
copy OF the Army and Navy Register and q
email MODEL In bronze OF the propeller Of the
Hartford were also placed In the copper box.
The Work on the PEDESTAL
In consequence Of the delay In the arrival Of
the granite blocks for the pedestal ir has only
been BY the most strenuous exertions, and by
employing large force Of men night and day,
that the work has been completed In season for