The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-27
FIGURES CAUSES
 GREAT COMMENT "6al in the Fountain" at
 Piedmont faCTOR IN THE CAMPAIGN Importers Say That After All She Does Not Represent Anything In Par ticuar, But Is Creation
 of imagination.
FACTOR IN THE CAMPAIGN

Atlanta, October 26.-(Special) )The "Gal in the fountain" which adorns the Pied mont Hotel Bar, and whose entrance into politics in Georgia has created such a stir not only in this state, but throughout the country, it now devolps, is nothing but the creature of German sculptor imagination.
 All the rife speculation. the glittering conjecture and the deep interest in her generalogy have gone for naught. There Is no significant hidden meaning In her pose, in the muscadines, the smile or the attitude. Her style is neither Greek nor Roman, neither Chaldean nor Egyptian She is simply a statue, and there arc lots more of the same pattern in the elab- crate restaurants and wine rooms of Ber- lin.
 When the New York Sun learns of this, it's grief will be pitiful to behold. That exclusive journal has chronicled tales or the art pilgrims who have journeyed here from the European centers of art to gaze fondly upon the 'gal" and askp them selves, What Is she?" "Whence came she?" and other questions seemingly of grave import
 Indeed. so much interest did the "gal In the fountain create that the manage ment of the Piedmont determined to settit the matter once and for all as to wha1 the "gaf' is, and she certainly has beer settled with dull thud. There will be no more poetic speculation as to her Kin ship with the gods or as to what class of art or what age she belongs, because she was evidently just created by a Ger
 man sculptor who did not take Into con sideration who or what she might be mis
 taken for.
 What the importers Say.
 Messrs Maier & Berkee, well knowr firm of Atlanta jewellers, furnished c statue to the Piedmont, and the hote
 management made inquiries of them They, in turn, wrote to Ferdinand, Bins & Co.'S successors, importers, of No. |
 Washington Place. New York. The follow ing letter has just been received iron 1 them
 "Messrs, Maier & Berkele, Atlanta, Ga. "Gentlemen-We are In receipt of your l favor of the 9th and in reply would say that in order to answer your inquiry cor rectly and to the point. we would have to communicate with the manufacturer of the figure, and he in turn would have to consult the sculptor who modelled the piece in question. We would say, however without waiting for reply, that we are quite satisfied that the statue in question does not represent anything In particular but Is simply creation of the imagin- ation. It appears to us that cleverer heads than we profess to possess have tried to fathom what was paramount In the sculp- tors mind when he modelled the piece | for as we notice by the enclosed clipping i from the New York Sun, the nature and meaning of the figure have given rise to quite some controversy, and nobody seems to really know what it represents 1 We are inclined to agree with the writer of this editorial, that 'Ikhe inevitably re- storer has been at wotK, and has Mud died and marred, as sual.' We agree with him that the igu p, as a whole. is i a experimentation of se yeral others and does not represent either copy of ar antique or has any special meaning II MT. Hoke Smith Is sufficiently interested we shall gladly write to the other side and see whether we cannot get some au- thority to pronounce judgment upon this statue Yours very truly,
 FERDINAND BING x Co.'S SUCCESS
 SORS."
 P. S.-'Maybe, this statue Is made by 1 a German manufacturer. 1t represents a regular Berlin 'Bachante.' such as one runs across in the wine rooms and restaurants in Berlin. The model looks like it.''