The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-18
MAKE-BELIEvE ELEGANCE.
Marble That Is Not Marble and Carv-
ed Wood That Is Not wood.
Frcm the New York Trlhune.


From the New York Tribune.
People who live in large cities where the
struggle for existence whets the inventive
genius and stimulates competition, often
learn the truth of the old saw: Things
art seldom what they seem" Shams and
mutations of all kinds are placed upon the
market, and the limitations range in all
branches and lines of business from skim
milk which masquerades as cream to the
piece of glass which has to do service as
real diamond" These frauds are trans
parent TO great part of the population,
ana the sham jewelry, sham fur and the
humDugs generally are palmed off on that
Grass OF the population which would rath-
er have an imitation than nothing, or upon
the rural visitor who lives in blissful igno-
rance of many tricks of the various trades
But some of the great metropolitan build
lngs which have been erected recently
nave within their walls shams in the way
OF decorations which are so well made so
aruslcally constructed that they are
looked upon as genuine by men to whom
the average sham is an open book. In
building which was recently erected in
the residence part Of the city there are
groups and columns which look to the
| casual observer like shafts of highly COZ
ored marble, scanned and veined so ntri-
cately and colored so tremendously that
person with appreciation for the beau
tiful could not help noticing them and
praisng their beauty.
But they are not MARBLE" said one who
knew all about the builders shams. They
are not even stone. The highly polished
columns are made Of iron and decorated
to initiate marble"
but the surface feels like stone and
not at all like metal"
1T is not metal, nor Is 1t stone" was the
experts reply. lover the surface of the
iron column there is a coating. the chief
ingredient of which is powdered marble.
This coating is several inches thick, and
becomes a solid, homogeneous mass, sus-
ceptible to the highest polish; and when
1t has been rubbed down and painted it's
general appearance will deceive most peo-
pie"
In the same building there are cornices
| and panels which seem to the casual oh .
server masterpieces of the carvers arb
| but the garlands and groups of fruits and
| flowers which appear to be stone and
| ivory and polished wood are only plaster
| or prepared paper pulp coated with colo~s
which aid in the work of deception. Cell
ings which represent great areas of carved
| and chiseled stone are only plaster, and
| the fiuted columns surmounted by highly
| ornate capitals which stand near the great
make-beleve monoliths may be unmasked
| with the prick of a pin and shown to be
plain, ordinary wood, disguised and mas
| querading under colors and tints artis-
tcally applied,
The "Altedentsche Bierst tube" the Dutch
tap room and the old English banqueting
| hall, with their dark wood furniture, I'M
finished ceilings and massive carvings,
| have all been reproduced in some of the
| modern metropolitan buildings, and one
| of the most recent of these furnishes an
artistic sample of the decorators ability
| to deceive. over an open fireplace there
| is a hood, which looks like piece of cary
| ed wood, black with age. The general de-
sign is carried along on the top of an
equally dark wainscottong which encircles
the room. The knowing man who shows
| all this to the visitor whom he favors with
| his confidence reyeals the fact that the
| hoods over the fireplace, the mantel carv-
| ings and the ornamental wainscoting are
| not wood at all, but plaster, and that the
| darkness was produced by well-mixeo
| paint and not by time.
but the rafters overhead" said the Wis
itor pointing to the exposed pieces, "they
are of the same color, just as dark and
possessing the same degree of pollsh-how
| about that?"
| why" said the guide. they are made
| of the same material as the fireplace orna-
ments. Sham rafters, and if you could
| get at them you would see that there Is
| no wood about them"
| IT was said In explanation that the plas-
ter rafters were not put in to save money,
| and that hardwood might have been used
without extra expense But by the use Of
| wood the weight upon the frame would
| have exceeded the architects calcula-
tons; hence the lighter material was re-
| sorted to-, and in that instance the decep-
ton was prompted by the builders pre-
| caution.
'In all modern buildings" said decora-
| tor may be found examples of work
| which was put in TO represent something
| which it is not, but the effect is always
| pleasing, and the fact that the work is
SO well done and that 1t deceives people
who know the real things when they see
them shows that the industry has deVel-
| oped artists in that field"