The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-26
FrGURFREADs ron MorOR cAas.
Ous sansesiisn fsr imppstias Appearance
NJ Ihe tuias,

FFNN " EffWFNfN NFFfF"
Can The artlHi eyef make aRything ~ q
m1t1ri The attempt IN this years Arnd'
einY IL not encouraging That ihefr rally
ia n defcisncy ~ tho lR1sty eide mni1fi''a
arr Ill ~ them uhrHaily ruua'ir'is IN point
~ iFariy tho hureelo~thers IL al lc~s
rhry have always icit thls ~ The hesin-
nlns ihey meet ono w tho franhesi way
SHOW Ne any fufn the motor tan take
that would Ins,t lettef than thH tagfiann
And ipial ahal,rs we're aueges'ed and swan
motors and nshr- Hut fishes and losta on
land would he ~ hlfafrp w. the cell. moving
cpaCh, and swans ashore are not graceful
anyway II could not be done! the horse.
less carriage had 10 he And II remains
not funny nor foolish, NOT necessarily ugly,
but certainty M beauty.
can nothing be done for ~ why not .
nghrehoad9 Why not have something
pretty. something that a. any rate repro
senta something. In the placs where the
beauty ~ the thing. the horse. used 70 bef
what good would II boz Well. no good, 70
a man who haa no eye. What good was a
Rgurehead to a ship Yet for appearance
sake n car wants n hgurehead more than
n ship, for the chip form naturally CON-
vergcp In front To- a beautiful nnish. The
clumsiest ship, even the homely fishing
smack. has none Of the unpleasant ebect
produced by the abrupt, cut on. straight
line that makes a motors front. A motor
suffers from having no physiognomy' But
every ship, "a every locomotive engine,
has a distinct physiognomy. And q figure
head would make up for this deficiency In
the motor. But figureheads, somebody
$3.50. .... mana Nat Fnaralt, AFnaDnantAl In
ships-they helped description and identi-
fcation. Precisely, and they would do the
same for motors, a consideration which will
perhaps appeal more to the public than TO
the motorist.
But think what a field this opens up for
heraldry. Arms and c~rests, which now
have none but antiquarian Significance,
become alive; they might almost be useful.
There would be quite good sense in a mans
motor carrying his crest as a figurehead.
What an opening for the new snob. What
glory to be able to mou a life sized golden
eagle contemplating the sun, or rather the
clouds in England. Or a golden lion erect
rampaging fiercely in the air. There is the
danger. The rich cad would so f1aunt his
fgurehead that gentlemen would be shy OF
showing one. But for once let the decent
people hold their W and decline to be
pushed off the road by the vulgar hustler.
A standard Of good taste would grow up and
become established.
From the point Of view Of appearance
fgureheads, artistioally wrought and fitted,
would be capable Of great things. An
eagle, wings full spread, a brilliant butter
fly, a winged griffin, paradise bird. VAL
kyrie-there is room for endless variety Of
design. The emulation among motorists
would be great. We could have shows Of
fgureheads, Think Of the work for artists
to design them, and the industry their
making would stimulate. Would they in
terfere with sPeed2 That should depend
on their fitting to the car; they should not.
OF course, if a man in his zeal to be con-
s~picuous puts on a colossal golden elephant
his speed will be retarded; but a reasonable
Pegasus, say, with wings drawn back at
the right angle to cut the air, would be no
encumbrance.