Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-04

llStlIlGlll lOG uIy SootS sIoiSS- civ Lax
poor girl finally drifted out of public
mind.
Now comes the Topeka, Kansas. Daily
Capital, of March 18th, with the state
ment that instead of speaking great
truths about the resources of Montana,
she is putting in all her time lying in the
dark, in the cellar of a Topeka store.
That paper says:
What has become of the famous silver
statue of "Justice,' which, when last.
heard of, was stored in the cellar OF Bar
NUNS dry goods store? r. IN
This question. is easily answered.. 1t Is
still in the cellar. 20
Two years ago there was a sensation
about this wonderful statue, the estimat-',
ed value of which is all the way, down,
from $50, 600. There was a falling out
among the owners Suit was brought in
the Shawnee county district court by one,
faction to recover damages from another
faction. Judge Hazen appointed Samuel
Barnum receiver for the statue, pending
the settlement of the trouble. W
Who owns the statue nOW? Nobody
seems to know. What has become of the
litigation? Look at case No. 1S,446 at the
office of the clerk of the district court,
and you may find all that remains of it.
But the statue is still down in the cellar
of Barnum'Ss tOre-tWO tons of silver Sc
curely boxed up for future reference.
Judge Hazen of the district court was
asked in regard to the condition of the lit
isation involving the statue. He said:
Wells that's a hard question. l have
not heard anything about it for a long
time. The last / l heard was that the case
wa RI he pnrp nynmiSp6 Init T have not is
sued amy orders concerning it,"
Clifford IIisted, who is in charge of the
case for the plaintiffs, said: 'Everything
is in statue quo. The statue is still where
we put it. I ave not heard anything
about It for a long time"
The statue is insured for a
lively small amount as a work of art, it's
bullion value not being considered.
But there is a great doubt, as ponder
Gus as the statue itself, as to the truth of
the claim that the statue is solid silver.
Perhaps it is plated. Perhaps this awe
inspiring. glittering female is a white
metal fraud. Perhaps her $50, 900 pres
ence had better be made INTO cast iron
frying pans to increase its market value.
The lapse of time is dimming the honor
Of her shining personality instead Of il
Eliminating it with historic luster.
! Is it not time that he Commercial club
investigate the question and clear up
these doubts?
How would it do to rig up a block and
tackle and hoist the old girl up to the top
of the state house dome. to hold down the
lantern" till the legislature appropriates
money for the proposed statue of
Ceres" If the statue itself were con-
suited. it would undoubtedly prefer such
dignity to its present solitary confinement
in a dark cellar.
Or the statue might be sold to some To-
pel1a cigar dealer to be used in lieu of a
wOoden indian. A bunch of cigars could
easily be substituted for the old fashioned
and inaccurate Weighing machiHe with
which mythology has endowed HsticM
Or consider the enthusiasm : which
would be aroused by rafting off Justice"
for the benefit of the auditorium, or ito
raise money to build a dam across the
Kaw river.
1t has also been suggested by Free Sill
Yer partisans that the face of the statue
be hammered into a semblance of Bryan,
and used at the democratic free silver
ha~llelujah meeting to be held here March
81.
Evidently the possibilities of the statue
are immense, ever if it is made of pot
metal, as unkind critics assert.
AS to the history of the statue, it will
be remembered that it was manufactured
by a mpa known as the Montana ST
Yer Statue company. Ada Rehan, the
celebrated actress, posed as the model of
Justice, WIllCn the statue IS supposed
to represent. The figure is of heroic size.
1t was mounted on a solid gold base. the
estimated value of which was 5000, 900. It
was exhibited at the Columbian exposi-
ton. and was wondered at by all.
After'the exposition, the travels of the
statue commenced. It was taken from its
solid gold base, and put on a plated ped
cstal, because the owners decided thai
5000. eco was too much money to be tied up
in an reproductive chunk of gold. The
owners of the statue toured the country
exhibiting it in the windows of stores il
the larger cities of the country. The man
in charge of the statue was Frank D.
Higbee.
q Finally Higbee was accused Of crooked
ness in his transactions with the rest OF
the company. 1t was claimed that he
Withheld part Of the proceeds of the exhi-
billions, and that he defrauded the COM
parry by means of a worthless invest
ment. Moreover it was difficult to keer
within telegraphing distance of Higbee
and the statue, so they claimed, and
when they ascertained that he was billed
to exhibit at Crosby's store during the
first week in December, 1896, a ,suit was
commenced against him by Walter--M
Bickford and -Armistead II. Mitchell il
the district court. :
R~OssingtOn, Smith G. Dallas and Cliff
ford Histed were the attorneys for the
plaintiffs. Hungate and Harvey were tht
resident attorneys for the defendant.
Cash Henderson of Wichita, and others
filed intervening petitions. making cldim:
against the defendants, and the. big bun.
die of legal papers on file waXed still big.
ger.
But the case never came to trial. anG
the metallic representation of Justice
was banished to the cellar where it stands
q laughing stock for the rats in "a lane
f of darkness and the shadow of death.'
I SOLDIERS AS SPENDTHRIFTSe