Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-09

naring to receive the man who took trA
Philippines? What could more clearly Inc
d.cate artistic appreciation than the way IA
which the city Of New York met The seul--
tors offer of free work and appropriate
sl.AU Tor material and labor.
OF Lasting benefit
"Deweys coming has a significance which
none of dreamed 1t would have. j..
brings with him not only the lau..t
wreaths Of fighters victories but he has
started a movement without knowing il
himself which will be of ncalculabc art S.
tic benefit to the American peoule (,nr
cities have been by no means as elnvy g.,
such matters as they have been credit
with being. Every American city of size
mas many things to its credit on airs
BOOKS But nothing of the magnitude Of
these Dewey decorations has ever h..u
started on pure enthusiasm in any civ, .t
America. The whole thing viii be an OH
Ject lesson 10 the sculptors: it VIII prove 10
them that the people and those who ara
elected 10 govern them not so whe.'y
out of sympathy with artists and art feel
ing as they have been supposed To be. II
will be an object lesson To he people Ii
will show them how greatly art can add
to a demonstration of this kind. and WI
also prove to them that the artists Of M
York are patriotic as any one is and
more than ready to cooperate with other
citizens in adding to the glory of great
national event"
How the Arch is Being Built
The construction of this arch is much
more interesting than the building OF any
other similar structure has been because
of the great haste with which it is being
done. 1t was ony three weeks ago that
the first Enclosure of pine boards was put
up in the street where the arch now
stands. almost completed At that time the
Scuptors had not entirely finished any of
their models and all that could be erected
before these were finished was the bare
framework Of the arch. At the same time
that this board fence was put up in the
middle of 9Th avenue The basement of Mad
Ison Square Garden was turned into great
ana interesting workshop. II was there that
the scuiptorS' models were to he ENLARGED
from small clay images into heroic figures
ready Tor position on the arch. From TWEEN
ty 10 sixty men were employed in this
work and their manner of going at il was
strange To the laymans eye. First of all,
a small square frame was put over the art
lists model This was notched by inches
and from each notch plumb line of black
thread was dropped until it struck some
important point on the model itself. After
these had been carefully adjusted, a sim
liar ana much larger frame was built and
hung at height somewhat above the point
where the completed statue was to reach.
From this plumb lines exactly correspond
ing to the little ones hanging from the
smaller square We're dropped. and these
marked the relative positions of the meas
tired points in the larger statue.
Vast Studio.
There was no chipping of marble. no
delicate chiseling with fine tools in this
vast sculptors' studio. The mass of the
figures was built up of common excelsior
dipped in plaster White spattered work
men piled handful upon handful of this
crude material up until it appropriated the
shape of the figure to be initiated After
this was accomplished they took any road
to Rome. With chSelS and knives they
Clipped the plaster off: with hatchets they
hacked at it; with saws they sawed it: with
round ended sticks they modelled it; with
brooms they swept ii. Then came the
artists themselves. Sculptor Ward in his
studio, wearing his undershirt and his over
alls. was carefully dressed when compared
to the artists after they began their work
in Madison Square Garden. Attendants
stood with their pans of plaster as the
sculptors jumped about putting the finish
ing touches on their tributes to Deweys
greatness. No man held himself down To
his own figure. They We're all working to-
gether with object in View-the COM
pletion OF great whole to do honor to a
great occasion. Wherever they could be
of use they worked. No spectators were
permitted TO bother them, nor even friends
to visit them.
How closely they have had TO figure in
order to complete the work in time is
not leave Madison Square Garden finished
until the day Dewey lands in New York
city and the day before the great parade
of which the arch is TO be the feature.
BY No Means Certain.
neither or not the enthusiasm which has
carried the plans for the reception Of
Dewey so far with rush will last long
enough to raise the 500. 900 necessary Ia
make the arch permanent is extremely
doubtful. Even if it is said Mr. Ward,
many things will need to be considered
carefully. First, Of course the design of
the arch has been hurredy decided upon
and might be afterward much improved.
Second, it is by no means certain that tho
location is the best that could be selected.
All these matters must come up for dis
cussion later
In view of the trouble New York found
in raising the money for Grants tomb and
the S1uO.oU0 for the Washington memorial
arch, it is by no means certain that this
new and much greater effort viii be takeu
up at all.
.1uyeuiIs,