The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-10-27
FLORIDA SCULPTOR AWARDED
CONTRACT FOR STATUE
OF GORRIE

CHARLES Adrian Pillars, the sculpto,
VINO recently secured the award Of
e"e heroic statue of the late DIR. John
uorrle, has returned from Tallahas
See where he met the special com
lni'tee and competitors last Sunday
Inc meeting of the special commit
tee' which had been appointed bv the
.esisiature to make the award, was
neid at the Hotel Leon, and was open
10 the public. The session lasted from
~ o'clock in the morning until G
CLOCK in the evening, the several
members OF the committee giving the
luiiest attention to the claims OF
scuiptors and most carefully consid.
erlng the models presented. The con.
testants for the award were allowed
all time desired to give their views
regarding the statue, and when the
cholce was made Mr.. Pillars was told
that II was on account of the absolute
accuracy of the proportions, natural
ness and ease of poise in the model
submitted. The excellence of Mr..
Pillars model so appealed to the
committee that an unanimous vote
was recorded in his favor at the first
ballot. Naturally Jacksonville may
take pride in this success also. for
sculptor Pillars has resided here for
the past eighteen years, and is iden-
tined with the growth and progress of
the Florida metropolis.
The statue of DR.. John Gorrie was
authorized by the state legislature at
lts last session, to perpetuate the
memory of the distinguished Florida
who in endeavoring to al
leviate the suffering of fever patients,
worked out the plan of artifcially
congealing water; the problem of re-
frigeration that is now universally
as solved The statue is
to be one of the two allowed to Flor
ida in Statuary Hall, Washington, d.
c., and will be cut by Sculptor Pillars
from a single block of Carara mar
BILE. The figure will be seven feet
high and represents DR.. Gorrie stand
ing in an easy position and wearing
the frock coat and loose-fitting trous-
ers of the average practitioner of his
time and locality. The figure is to
stand upon dignified pedestal about
three feet eight inches high, made
of polished pink southern marble or
granite. The total height will be
about eleven feet.
The pedestal will be carved, also,
from single block, and the inscrip-
ton will be on tablet at the front.
At one side there will be a bronze me-
dallion on which the coat of arms of
Florida will be represented in relief.
This medallion to be surmounted by
a wreath. On the other side of the
pedestal there will be a medallion on
which will be represented, in relief,
DR.. Gorrie demonstrating the opera
ton of his machine before a commit
tee at the Mansion House at Apalach-
icola in 1850. These medallions will
be Twenty-Five by twenty-four inches
and the scene mentioned will be duly
explained on a pennant of ribbon be-
meath.
The statue of DR.. Gorrfe was made
possible by the securing of Capt
George H. Whiteside of the only
known existing portrait of the distin-
guished Floridian, who was born in
1903 and died in 1856. more than half
a century ago. The sculptor is said
to have gotten wonderful results
from meager information and mate
rails, and in the model, which was
made to one-quarter life size, a man
was shown whose face revealed fine
benevolence, conserva-
tism and carefulness. The high fore
head, regular features and wide-set
eyes clearly suggest the student,
philanthropist and thinker who spent
many hours of his all too short life in
a quest that meant relief for millions
of sufferers, in the years to come, as
we'll as those of the past.
Mr.. Pillars was given his own time
in which to finish the statue and will
do the work here. His studio is at
% West Adams street, where many of