New-York tribune., 1921-08-09

Those who have inspected the dollar
sign sarved in stone over the bride
ooor of st. Thomas's Protestant Epis-
copal Church, Fifth Avenue and Fifty
third Street, the sculptured portrayals
of monocled snobs, sneering cynics and
smiling men -about-town on the arch
over the main entrance to the edifce
and the caricaturc of fat choir boy
on the frieze in the choir room. pro-
fessed yesterday to have found an
other joke perpetrated by f. Donald
Eobb, the architect who designed the
church.
The new architectural jest is declared
to consist Of three money bags in
scrbed with the initials ~. P. NJ" and
may be found, according to those who
claim to have seen it, hidden in the
carving on the front rail Of the choir
stall. The conclusion was imm mcdiately
reached by some that the initials we're
intended to be those OF the late J.
Pierpont Morgan, and the money bags
companion piece to the dollar sign
over the brides door.
Symbolic Carvings Revealed
The attention which has been concen-
trated upon the carvings in the church
by the discovery Of the caricstures that
already have achieved publicity was
rewarded yesterday by other carvings,
not caricatures by intention, according
Goodhue, who was member Of the firm
OF architects in charge of the church
work.
These carvings. symbolic of events
of public interest at the time they
were made and Of individuals connected
with the church had the approval of
the Rev. Or. Ernest NJ. Stires, the pas
tor. Mr.. Mayors said. They are more
recent than those in The stonework
outside the church, some having been
completed only two years ago.
Some Of them are on the miserere
seats. high up behind the altar. One
portraying the advent of prohibition,
shows paunchy Bacchus tumbling
from his kes, still clutchng a bunch
of grapes in the face of a vigorous
attack by woman who wields sp,ar.
1t was said that the original intention
was to balance the picture by having
two punches Of grapes, but a lemon
now occupies the position assigned to
the second bunch Of grapes. The sub
stituton was made at the insistence
of a woman Of the congregation, it was
said, and the lemon was intended to
indicate the triumph of lemonade over
its stronger adversary.
There is another carving which
shows the Russian bear being fed with
spoon by two monkeys. This has
nothing to do with the preceding cary
ing. According to the architects
chart. the spoon contains "sovict medi-
cine and the solicitous apes are none
other than Lenine and Trotzky.
in the reredos, the rear wall of the
altar, IS carved tree which represents
O: Nations, in the branches of which
roost the various nations, among them
being the American eagle, for which,
at the time the carving was made,
Woodrow Wilson was whittling out a
perch in the League of Nations.
There is row OF inches behind
the choir seats, each occupied by a
Ii tie wooden figure One Of them is
that Of DR.. Stires; another, that of
MI. Goodhue and another that of
Charles H. Steele, a benefactor Of the
church. Other OF the figures repre-
sent DR.. Noble, the organst Of the
church and the two wood carvers who
did the work
Another symbolic carving shows
the struggle between capital and
labor. The former has been backed
against the Woolworth building and
that tall structure is topping be-
meath capitals efforts to retreat
farther.
Persorages in the public eye during
tte war are immortalized along with
wood carvers in the series of 1S-inch
statuettes above the choir seats These
statuettes, owing 10 foreshortening,
have somewhat the appearance of car
features, but the effect was uninten-
tional.
Among them are King George, King
Albert, Clemenceau, Poincaire lloyd