Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-26

| &EnTEYS MIA Freedom has a mag
! kAWxT'SsTN<ZZ nifcent scene before
/ sNSs%T.l Eke1 her. but if the bronze
| ~ ewes were only en-
| rs dowed with the sense
of sight they would
| look out and down upon landscape which re-
| sembles but slightly the one Washington had in
| tended should be spread abroad in that section.
| The father of his country intended that east OF
| the Capitol should be many public buildings
| and private palaces. Time has moderated the
| idea somewhat but some of the notable features
| are visible. More than a mile away. yet de-
! ceptively near when seen from the standpoint
occupied by the statue, are great modern struc-
lures sacred to the CRIMINAL the INSANE. tie
| pauper sick and the vagabond. Across the
| chocolate-hued streak of liquid Maryland soil
| lies Anacostia. In the middle ground Is the
| navy yard and the now thickly populated re-
| gion which within the past year or two has
taken unto itself the more stately title of Capt.
| tol Hill In the foreground hack stand,
| Greenough's ?45, 600 statue of Washington and
| the orderly conglomerate of bricks and der
| ricks-principally derricks-from which is to
be evolved the Congressional Library building.
PLACING THE STATUE IN POSITION.
It took good deal of time and no small
amount of labor to elevate Freedom to her
present exalted position. She is of bronze, is
| 10 feet inches high and weighs IA. 9S5 pounds.
| To have lifted her up in one piece would have
been a big task, but the workmen were not
called upon to undertake 1t. She cast in
| five pieces, the heaviest of which balances
4,740 pounds. The lower four of these sections
were all in place prior to December 2. 1868, and
| on that day the statue completed with
much ceremony. At that time the government
was buying good deal of gunpowder, SO it did
| not mind using little for a purpose that was
as harmless 1t patriotic.
A ROUND OF sALUTEs.
The following document was put in circula-
ton when all things were ready:
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF WAsHINGToS,
I TwENTY-sECoND ARMY CORPS, Dec. l 1868.
SPECIAL ORDER, No. 24s.
At IL m, on the I'd instant. the sta tue of
| Freedom, which crowns the dome of the Ma
| tional Capitol, will be inaugurated In COM
| menoration of the event and. expression
due from this department Of respect for the
material symbol of the principle upon which
our government is based, it is ordered
Flrst-At the moment at which flag is dis
| played from the statue national salute of
thirty-fve guns will be fired from a field
battery Oh Capitol Hill.
Second-The last gun from this salute will
be answered by similar salute from Fort
Stanton, which will be followed in succession
from right to left by sautes from Forts Davis,
Mohan, Lincoln, Bunker Hill Totten, De
Russy, Reno, Cameron, Corcoran, Albany and
Scott
Brig. Gen. w. F. Barry will make the neces-
sary arrangements for and superintend the
firing from Capitol Hill, Brig. Gen. q. A. De
Russy that from the works south and Lieut..
Col j. A. Hoskin that from those north of the
Potomac.
By command of Maj. Gen. Augur
CARROLL H. POTTER, AA.G.
HOSTING FREEDOMS HEAD IN AIR.
At II o'clock on that day the head of the
statue was lying on the ground in front of the
Capitol and in twenty minutes thereafter had,
by means of steam hosting apparatus, been
elevated to its proper place and was firmly at
tached to the remainder of the figure Then
the flag was unfurled and waved over the bronze
presentment, and In response to Its futterings
came salute that made the lives of nervous
residents somewhat burdensome for an hour or
so. Since that time the statue has received but
little material attention. Once i'll every three
or four years Albert Ports, one Of the painters
employed at the Capitol, ascends a series of
ladders, and while the summer breezes gently
sway his whiskers to and fro paints the iron
pedestal on which Freedom stands. Heretofore
| this has always been made the same color as
the statue. In future it will probably be white,
for Architect Clark says he can see no reason
why the pedestal should not wear the general
tint OF the building. The bronze needs no
painting; it is self-preservative.
L
There are some, however, who would like to
see the dull figure metamorphosed
by liberal application of gold leaf Those
who have control of the statue are not opposed
to such a change. The cost for gold leaf and
application, it is said, would be about So, 0OO
Once properly gilt, it is claimed, the statue
would shine with luster barely dlmmed for a
score Of years. and there are number of en-
thusiasts who are certain that the beautiful
| drapery around the figure would be seen to
much greater advantage after such an opera
ton. Then, they claim, there will be light
and shade; now there is nothing but shade
CROWNED WITH LIGHT.
There is one place on the statue where there
is no oxidization, although it is more COM
pletely exposed to the atmosphere than any
other portion. To anyone who will get out of
| bed early enough to watch the suns rays first
touch the statue it will seem as though there
was diamond in the headdress. That spot
shines as brightly as does the aluminium tip on
| the apex of the Washington Monument
NO LIBERTY CAP.
Connected with the headdress is an incident
Of some interest. When Crawford submitted
his first model Of the figure to the authorities
| one of the board was Jefferson Davis, then Sec
rotary of War. On the head of the figure was
that article OF attire commonly known as a
"liberty cap" and to this Mr. Davis made OBJ
lection, because that cap had, in ancient days,
been worn by slavish people. The objection
was sustained and bunch Of plumage. con-
| structed after the latest North American Indian
spring style, replaced the Phrygian covering.
THE MODEL
Away down in the bowels Of the Capitol, be-
meath the crypt Cthe undercroft of ecclesasti-
| cal architecture), is the model of the statue.
The five sections are all there, but some of them
| are considerably damaged. The upper section
has been battered to such extent that Free
| dom is noseless and is without any right ear
worth mentioning. Tenpenny nails have been
driven into various places in the plaster anat-
| omy, but the damage can easily be repaired. 1t
| may not be generally known that Freedoms
| mouth is open, as though about to speak; the
parted lips give a distinctively feminine ap-
pearance to the face. The probabilities are
] that the model will soon be removed to the
Smithsonian Institution and there repaired.
painted to initiate bronze and erected.
THE COST
The statue was not an extraordinarily expen-
| sive one, when its cost is measured by later
| works of art of similar description. Thomas
Crawford was paid S3, 900 for the plaster model;
Clark Mills got $500 for casting the figure in
bronze, and there was expended the sum Of
$40, $780, 50 for labor and metal-in all $23 1856 80
| for 19 feet inches of Freedom.