The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-03

Minnesota girls are the sweetest things
that grow remarked Capt. Charles D.
Sigsbee gallantly yesterday afternoon at
rounded by number of admiring young
women. Minnesota girls are clever" he
added later on when, with the other two
Judges, one of them herself Minnesota
girl, he had examined the twenty or more
designs for bronze tablet that had been
submitted in response to the offer made
by the Commercial club that $50 would
be given for fitting design for a bronze
tablet to be placed on the steamer St.
Paul For. with the other two judges,
the captain had decided that Miss Edith
H. Ogden, a former st. Paul girl, now of
Washington, had submitted the clever
design that won the prize. 1t was short
ly before 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon
when Secretary G. P. Stine Of the Com
mercial club, called for Capt. Sigsbee at
the Aberdeen. The captain and Mr.. Slime,
together with Col. and Mrs. Hunter, drove
down to the Commercial club where the
designs were to be inspected and the
decision made. At the Commercial club
We're the other two judges, Miss Laura
Williams, supervisor of drawing In the
public schools, and Thomas G. Holyoke,
an architect The latter was substituted
for Mr.. Cass Gilbert who was originally
named as one of the judges, but was de-
tanned IN New York by business. Mr.
Gilbert sent a telegram yesterday stat
Ing that he would not be able to be pres
ent, and suggesting the name of Mr..
,Holyoke as competent substitute.
Others present at the Commercial club
yesterday afternoon when Capt. Sigsbee
arrived were: Mrs. A. X. PruGen, Mr..
and Mrs b. F.. Beardsley, Mrs H. N.
Weidman and Miss Chittenden. After
Capt. Sigsbee was introduced the judges
retired to the club cafe, where the de-
signs were on exhibition, That the de-
cision was a perplexing one was evil
denced by the time the judges took to
reach some conclusion. 1t was nearly
o'clock when the doors were finally
| opened, and Miss Edith H. Ogden was
named as the winner.
| 1t was probably the originality of Miss
Ogdens design that had great deal to
| do with the winning Of the prize, al
| though the work is decidedly artistic. The
| tablet, plaster Paris cast, is of the
I
feet. Looking at it one is especially
struck with the admirable selection OF
! symbolical devices. In the decorations on
the tablet there Is not one that does not
| contain a simple beauty, and there is not
line that has not some naval signif-
| icance. For the decorative portion, which
! takes up a little more than a third of
! the tablet, Miss Ogden has utilized the
| important incident in the history of
4 no ch ha lat ttpr
after she has been attacked by the Span
! iSh destroyer, Terror, off the COAST of
| San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the St.
! Paul has succeeded in disabling her op-
! ponent. In the tablet the ST. Paul is in
| the foreground and a little beyond, and
| to the left is the Terror. The coast of
! Puerto Rico with MORO castle from the
background. Capt. Sigspee vouches for
| the historical correctness of the scene.
| The sides of the tablet are broken by a
| design representing a cable. At the top,
| forming sort of handle, Is a representa-
| ton of a torpedo, and there Is another
| larger one at the bottom. Palms, sig
! nificent of victory, form a border at
i either side, and at the left, on the upper
corner of the border, are two flags, Capt.
Sigsbees S flag and the device OF mer-
| chant marine. On the right is a sword.
| A trident separates the decorative por-
| tion of the tablet from the larger por-
! ton reserved for the inscription. A small
| disk bearing the name of the boat, st.
| Paul." with a space reserved for the date
| of the casting of the tablet is at the
! top Of the blank portion. In the lower
left hand corner is the name of the
sculptor
The sculptor's work not only COM
memorates the most important incident
in the history of the ST. Paul, but it
has an even deeper historical significance.
The engagement of the ST Paul with
the Terror was the first engagement of
a cruiser with a torpedo destroyer, and
the outcome of that engagement settled
conclusiyely the ability of boat of the
former type to defend herself in an en-
gagement with torpedo destroyer.
A popularity of Miss Ogden's design is
its low relief. At distance the deco
rations on the tablet resemble more
traced lines than design in relief. This
effect adds much to the artistic beauty
| of the tablet.