El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-06

, mammoth events. During the week c5
May 81, 1892, the Actors Fund fair
was held in it. The entire floor was
laid out as a miniature village Of one
street in the midst of a plain. The
buildings were models Of famous thea
tiers of ancient London an1 older New
York, and the architectural and pictur-
esque local color of several centuries
and Of places far distant from each
other were cleverly brought into har-
mony On the evenings of May 10 and
II. and the afternoon of May IA. 1892.
Adelina Patti sang, in association with
other distinguished soloists, a chorus
of a thousand volunteers and a grand
orchestra, to three of the largest audi
ences ever assembled anywhere. The
annual circus at the garden is to ju
veniIe New York what the Horse show
is to adult and fashionable circles.
Architects Famous Men.
The architects Of the Madison Square
Garden We're the famous firm of Nc
Kim, Mead & White The latter, Stan
ford White, was especially credited with
the design. In dimensions the building
is 465 feet long and 200 feet wide. it's
walls rising to a height of So feet. Ar
ehitecturally it is a magnificent struc-
ture, because of the simplicity Of the
details in ornamentation- The style is
renaissance, the materials buff brick
and terra Gotta. The roof is flat or
nearly so, but the skyline is broken
by a colonnade which rises above the
roof at the Madison avenue end and
extends along either side for 100 feet;
by six open cupolas, with semispheri-
cal domes, which rise above the col
onnade; by two towers at the Fourth
square tower which rises from the
Twenty sixth street side. with its line
unbroken for 240 feet, and then in a
series of open cupalos, decreasing in
diameter, on the smallest and topmost
Of which is poised the figure Of Diana,
of heroic size, the crown OF whose head
is Ss2 feet from the sidewalk.
The Growing Glory.
But the browning glory of the gar
den is the tower which rises from the
southwest. corner, an Amost exact
replica of the beautiful and historic
Giralda at Seville. Spain. This in turn
is surmOunted by a weather vane COM
posed Of whirling, scarf-draped Di-'
ana in glistening bronze and gold,
designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens.
Thus the beautiful pile. as a whole,
represents the work of two of Ameri-
cas- most famous creative artists
When the garden tower first rose
above the trees of Madison Square
there was only one other lofty struc-
ture Of the kind on Manhattan Island
the dome of the World" far down
town. Within the last ten years, how
ever, poor Diana has been overtopped
and dwarfed on the south by the $50
foot Metropolitan clock tower and bel
fry; on the north not far away, the
I Rn1T17nn+ al Lee
bulk, while down town the Singer tow
er slightly exceeds the Metropolitan in
height Other and momentous changes
nave been going on all around the his
tOr1c site. Fourth avenue, on the east
formerly a thoroughfare of second
hand curio shops and third rate hotels
has lately blossomed out into a new
business street lined with towering
steel structures devoted to various lines
of wholesale trade. All this makes the
site of the garden twice as valuable
as it was 20 years ago. It makes the
great han a losing venture financially,
even on its early capitalization.
But it is to be feared that this
beautiful architectural landmark and
ornament is doomed unless sentiment
and fashion shall prevail over practical
business considerations. The mere
thought of tearing down that beautiful
Giralda with its airy Diana seems
sacreHgious,, and many will mourn
thereat, since the garden is known by
reputation at least to millions Of
Americans-men, women and children
from Portland on the east to that other
Portland on the west. and from the
Gulf to the Lakes. There is lust one
hope; and that is that the whole no.
bic structure may be removed piece
meal to another and less expensive site
further uptown. where future genera
tions may feast their eyes upon its
graceful architectural lines and revel
in those diversions for which its inte-
rior is happily adapted.
Tomorrow-The Dickens Centenary.