The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1904-09-06

q riher In his uniform, with his rife
gun in one hand and his tomahawk
IN the other, this dress and these
troops, with this kind Of armour, be.
Ing peculiar 10 America unless the
dress was known TO the Romans"
Another amusing peculiarly of these
shields is seen ia the curious distribu-
tiou Of heraldic fora and fauna The
| lone pine Of Maine and Vermont, no
less than the palmetto Of South Caro-
Ina, Is highly appropriate but it is
hard 20 say why the Wolverene State
has it, shield supported by a stag and
an elk. or why Missouri has approprl-
ated the bear and Indiana the buffalo.
Judged by numbers. the deer is the
most popular OF heraldic animals, sec
ond only TO the ubiquitous eagle. Lou
isiana displays its ingenuity in domes
| tiCatiug the pelican, while Wisconsin
has surmouuted its shield with what Is
probably intended for beaver, but
what looks unCOmmOnly like a lizard
walking rope. Even more misleading
than the fora and faunn is the topog.
raphy of the various shields. These
typical landscapes of the states, and
often tins Is the case. But while we
might approve Of a mountain chain on
shields of the Rocky mountain states 1t
is certainly misleading to find in the
| background OF the shields of Florida,
| Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and Nebraska
series of jutting and precipitous
| fnf ~. H..
| denizcns of Chile or Peru.
In the matter of costume the task OF
our self taught herulds was more than
uncommonly difficult. The timeless
| universally which from the artistic
standpoint Is so great "A rccommenda'
| ton Of the undrapcd human figure for
coins or statues they could not utilize.
Tie unconscious nudlties of sculpture
shocked the pioneer, and even the cul-
tugcd descendants Of the Puritans oh
| jc,tcd to the Bacchante out of doors.
| In consequence of our strong national
feeling which Identifies clothing and
rcspectability the designers studiously
avoided the undraped figure and OF
course found great difficulty in hitting
upon substitute costume at once stat.
ucSque and appropriate.
Free flowing drapery. supposedly
classic. lnfolds the goddesses who sup
port the shields of New York and New
Jersey. Similar divlnites on the shields
Of Virginia and California are supplied
with helmets and coats of mail on
the Maryland shield the human figures
| Of IN for -
OF the Tower OF London, while on the
shield OF Georgia the cooked hat and
knee breeches of the Georgian epoch
lappcar. Then comes the dcluge! Red
shirtcd plowmen, smiths. miners and
the ubiquitous pioneer, with his
trousers tucked into his boots, decorate.
If that term may be so desecrated, fully
"A dozen coats of arms. The approved
style Of hendgear is the derby with n
low crown, known in the vernacular of
n past decade as the gumdrop style.
Variations upon this typical pioneer
costume are found in the traditional
long cape oycrcOat worn 10y our soldiers
I'm the civil war ana occasionally by
our recognized senatorial tOga. Both
OF these variants appear ON the shield
of Kentucky. where two maudlin look.
Ing individuals literally eXemplify the
state motto. United We Stand; Bivid-
ed We Fall"
A certain bathos of conception fire.
qucntly manifests itself either in the
scene portrayed on the shield or in
the appended motto. Thus Nirginia's 5
utttudinizing urmor clad goddess, with
her sword drawn, stamping on a pros
trate figure and eNClalming Sic scmper
tyrlnuis' is rather sophomore, TO say
the least The shield of Arkansas pOr-
trays scene which suggests an I'M
tutorcd darky's picture of the second
advent goddess In heaven surround
ed by circle of stars bears in her
hand a wreath. while below her an an
gel grasps an eagle. who holds in his
mouth scroll bearing the legend, "Po
pull Regnant" ON the shield of Wy
loming are emblazoned two monumental
Ipillars surmOuntcd and infOlded by a
scroll on which one reads in letters
of the same size. Equal Rlghts-Liye
Stock Grain -Mines-Ou." This is un
pleasantly suggestive of an implied
lparity of values
The causes of the artistic failures are
, primarily lack Of unity and simple
ity in design and an attempt TO sur
! charge limited area with a bewilder'
= Ing wealth Of inharmonious detail The
secondary causes have been civic ex'
uborancc that will submit 10 no artis,
.4I. Al M nff tl
o preserve historical associations with
out hrSt idcalizus the symbolism OF
bygonc epochs New York Post