Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-07-05

The pure6t ana most imaginative hft anu
the truest interests Of the practical work
of this most practical age.
Coming to the immediate point OF his
address, Mr.. Shorb gave a graphic and
accurate sketchj of the goddess Pomona,
and of the conception the Greeks had OF
this deity. From this he passed en- to
speak of his long and intimate acquain-
tance with Mr.. Loop, the donor Of the
beautiful statue, and OF the warm friend
ship which had grown up between them
grew closer. He closed this
the hope that the presence of SO lovely a
work Of art might here, in land 80 like
that of Greece where the original of this
was wrought, and of Italy where the
antique was found and this figure chis-
eled, fire the am mbition of some modern
Phidias or Rafael to emulate the works
of art OF the old masters, and thus rem
der their own names and that of their
city and State immortal by their crea-
tions.
The statue was then unveiled
by Miss Edith Giffin and
Miss Overton, two very charming
young devotees of the goddess, or who
would have been such in the days when
she was worshiped. The Messrs. John
and Charles Loop, sons of the donor of
the statue, assisted in the pleasing work.
AS the yelling was drawn aside and the
| lineaments of the marble became dis
cernible long cry of applause went up
from the great crowd of people who filled
the entire school-yard.
The Pomona Choral Union, assisted by
the band, proceeded to discourse "Oh !!
Italia, Italia" in very superior manner.
Pomona may well be proud of its musical
talent.
After this W. A. Bell, Esq, City At
torney of Pomona, in behalf of the city,
accepted the gift, and expressed the
deep sense of gratitude felt by the COM
munity for SO valuable a memorial to
Pomona.
At this point Mr.. Cogswell Of Pomona
stepped on the platform and stated that
it was the desire of the audience TO give
three cheers fer General Fremont, and to
hear him say word on this memorable
occasion. The venerable General was
evidently deeply touched at this mani
festation of the esteem of the people and
made very neat address, perfectly in
keeping with the surroundings. Mr..
Cogswell then stated that it was the de-
sire of the people to have
good look at Mrs. Fremont,
Jesse Benton, the honored daughter OF
30 distinguished statesman. Mrs. Fre-
mont, with her own inimitable grace,
stepped forward and reminded the people
that the goddess Pomona was the center
of attraction at this time; and she was
wildly cheered by the throng of people.
Then Mr.. Loop was called for and
cheered; but he said they bad all been
held by these ceremonies for fully two
hours; that all were hungry, and he
would not delay them longer.
A large number of invited guests pro-
ceeded to the spacious and elegant resi-
dence of Mr.. and Mrs. Loop, where they
were royalty entertained, and then sent
to the depot in time to catch the train to
the city.
THE GIFT AND IT'S HISTORY.
| About two years ago Rev. Charles f.
Loop, who has dwelt at Pomona for
about twenty years, sold his fine orange
grove of 100 acres for the munificent sum of
S100, 900. Soon after this with his devoted
wife and their two sons he took trip to
Europe. While sojourning at Florence
and visiting the famous Ufzzi gallery in
that city, the saw the antique statue OF
the goddess Pomona, SO well known and
admired in the world of art. The spirit
and grace of the figure took Mr.. Loops
well-educated eye, and the thought
of his city, named after this goddess,
coming to his mind, he generously con-
ceived the idea of getting copy made to
present to the city authorities. This
statue had been purchased some 300
years ago by the Grand Duke of Tuscany
and added to his collection, where it
has since remained. 1t is a most ad-
mirabe piece of ancient art. 1t was
found in Southern Italy while excavat-
ing in some long forgotten town colon
lied by the Greeks between 1000 and
400 years B. @. Who cut the statue is
point more or less moot in artistic circles,
as has been the case since it was first
found. From the general character OF
the figure and the treatment of the sub
ject, it has been generally attributed
to Praxiteles, who tlourished
about $50 years B. c., or just after the
time of Alexander the Great, of Mace
don, whose victories overcame nearly
all Of Asia. Prsxiteles found that nearly
every subject requiring great strength
and severity in treatment had been taken
in hand by artists prior to his day.
There was the famous Olympic Jove Of
Phidias, and the colossal statue of
Athen6 by the same hand. There was
the group of the La0coon, of the Niobe,
and a multitude of other sublime sub
jects, sublimely treated. Praxiteles
seized ON the only line of subjects left,
and took the softer female deities, the
god of love, fauns, satyrs and nymphs.
and on these he expended all the skill Of
his chisel. Other considerations may
have impelled the artist to this
field of exploit for he was
an ardent admirer of female
beauty, as is evidenced by his devotion
to Phryne, the hetaira of Thebes, who
offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes,
provided slab might be set in the walls
stating the facts that these walls had
been laid low by Alexander, king of
Macedon, but replaced again by
Phryne, the hetdira. This the proud
citizens refused. But Phryne's
beauty was fatal to Praxiteles as to it's
frail possessor. So in love with the
most beautiful woman of his day was
the artist that he told her she might
have any thing of his she desired. She
wished to possess herself of his most
valuable art production, but could not
trust her own taste to make a selection,
and he would not express his preference.
But woman's wit was too much for the
artiet. She had slave rush into his
presence one day and tell him his studio
was on fire. "Run boy" roared the
Il ~