The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-11-06
AWARDS RECEIVED
 FROM EXPOSITION
DIPLOMA AND GOLD MEDAL GIVEN ON VULCAN, THE IRON MAN, WHICH REPRESENTED ALA BAMA AT or. LOUIS.

Secretary Babb of the Commercial club
 has received the diploma of award and
 gold medal from the Louisiana Pur-
 chase exposition for the statue of Vulcan.
 The diploma is handsomely designed and Is signed by David R. Francis, president
 of the exposition; Walter P. Stevens, sec-
 retary; r. J. Skin, director of exhibits,
 anN J. A. Holmes, chief of the depart
 ment of metallurgy.
 The following is a description of the
 diploma which will be framed and hung
 in the rooms of the Commercial club: The central figure of the composition,
 robust. clear eyed maiden in her first youth Columbia, looks forward with un-
 clouded brow intent upon future be- yond the act which she represents, plao- ing one hand in sign Of possession upon
 the globe. typifying the territorial acqui- sition, which Is offered by her sister France seated at her right. Smultane- ously from her other hand passes on
 the torch of progress to her messenger
 the youth of her country who with wing
 ed feet stands ready to depart on his mis- sion of civilization towards the western sun which irradiates the sky. Columbia | is draped with the flag, chosen as the | symbol above all others, which Is recog
 nized to the farthest limits of the world
 and denotes the country where was the exposition that issued the diploma. France wearing the costume of the period of the
 cession of tho Louisiana territory is by a voluntary anachronism depicted with the .l.II 70 sion was accomplished in the interim of | the consulate it was a step in the pro- | gross of Napoleon, and imperial France remains in our memories today as relin- qulshing the territory which our younger
 nation has so notably developed. The | border of a classic-empire design encloses the names of the states of the Union,
 prominence being given to those compris-
 ing the territorial acquisition. while the
 fourteen stars in the tablet below still further emphasize their importance. | The diploma Is 16x18 inches in size; it
 was designed by Will H. Low and repro
 duced by Gilbo & Coin a sepia tint upon
 imperial Japanese paper 21x24 inches in | size.
 ! The gold medal Is handsomely design
 ed. It weighs about three and one-half
 ounces The dies were engraved and the medal struck at the United States govern
 ment mint at Philadelphia. The alloy
 for the medals were made especially for | the St. Louis exposition after samples
 were submitted and passed upon by ex-
 perts.
 | In the composition of the obverse of | the medal are shown two figures, one of which, Columbia, tall and stately, is | about to envelop the youthful maiden by
 her side, typifying the Louisiana terri tory, in the flag of the stars and stripes. ] thus receiving her into the sisterhood of
 states. The other figure is depicted In
 the act of divesting herself of the cloak
 of France, symbolized in the emblem of Napoleon, the busy bee, embroidered
 thereon. In the background is shown the
 rising sun, the dawn of a new era of
 progress to the nation.
 The reverse of the medal shows an architectural tablet bearing an inscrip- ton giving the grade of the medal Below | the tablet are two dolphlns symbolizing our eastern and western boundaries, the whole surmounted by an American eagle,