The New York herald., 1922-04-30
ROUGH GUY ON VIEW
REVEALS WEAK CHIN
Mayor Finds Also That Mer-
maids, Posing as Sirens,
Have Got No Tails.
OTHER CRITICS DIVIDED
Some Of Fair Sex Shocked by
Nakedness, While Others
Call Statue a Beauty.

IO-uay Snould De a. DfS uay" An thc
Rough Guys Iife- To-day he 10 placed on
trial before the good tmore or less> peo-
pie Of New Amsterdam. and upon their
verdict, SO the Bursomaster opineth, der
pends his fate. II the thumbs are turned
up he stays put TO Keep his back turned
upon the city Han. supposed haven OF
that abstraction referred to as Civic
Virtue" and which,, indeed, Mr.. Mac
Moanfes destined the Rough Guy to
represent II the. thumbs are turned
down he too may come down. or again
he may not, because there would surely
be a grand row between Mayor Hylan
on one side and the Art Commission
and Henry Smith, Deputy Comptroller.
on tho other, and the law seems to
lean away frsm Mr.. Hylan.
Anyway the show begins with the
rising Of the sun this morning, for the
Brothers Piccirilfi have sremoved from
thes plump. torso of the Rough Guy the
ugIvs tarpaulin which enveloped his
abund ant curves all of last week. More
over, &the Brothers Piccirill have
Clipped away from the ponderous legs
of the Rough Guy the plaster of paris
that had enveloped them for safety's
sake. and he 10 alleready to be looked
at by friend or foe. Unquestionably.
therefore, thousands OF, people will head
for city Hall Park to-day If the weather
is fair and the sun buys a shine, and
probably the Mayor will have flock
OF stenographers hidden m, the shrub
bery,Ato take down the impulsive criti-
cisns OF the hoi polloi.
The Burgomaster himself (non-e other)
and axcompanied dSa3y his vizier Johnny
Sinnott, the secfetarial son-in-law, got
his. first close look at the Rough Guy
yesterday good, long studied scru-
tiny. But Just what he thinks of the
Rough Guy it is hard to say. for he can
control his Feelings at times and make
his amfable countenance a perfect mask
for thought concealment. The two things
he actually said seemed to contradict
each other.
ReveaIed insAlI It's FulIness.
With >Sinnott at his side. the Burgo-
master, came briskly from the Hotel de
Vile about p. NJ. and caught sight of
the. big cleaning white figure, now fully
revealed. He stopped for a moment to
consider the really remarkable view
presented by what one might call the
south central exposure of the statue, and
he shook his head over that bit. Then
heNwalked across the esplanade and
over to the fountain site and began to
pace slowly around the Rough Guy as
he gave the Rough Guy what is known
In Bushwick as the up and down. Ordi-
nary citizens. keeping at respectful
distance, keened their ears for any
syllables he might care to let drop.
What do you think of 1t, Mr.. Mayor"
asked Secretary Sinnott.
THAT fellow has got weak chin,"
said the Mayor refectively. IT'S very
weak chin.'
He again made the round trip and
shook his head In palpable annoyance.
''They told me that these were mer-
maids" he said, indicating the Sirens
that are clutching at the disdainful feet
of the virtuous Rough Guy. Where are
the merma.ds? Mermaids have tails,
haven't they? don't see any tails"
His face was quite bleak, really, with
distaste.
Thousands passed through the park
and paused long enough to get good
look Their comment was various and
often naive, and on the whole, If truth
be served. the comment was not par
ticuIarly fiattering to the manly beauty
of the Rough Guy.
Gee. he's a weak lookin sister," said
one young man. Hes an awful lookin'
boob, + you ask me. Look at that
mouth and that chin. He's poutin' as IL
somebody had taken chocolate drop
away from him.
'.You said IL, Joe," agreed another.
Hes not all there. He's the kind that
20 over at a push--none of the stuff
they string violns with He's overweight
about couple of hundred pounds,
should say"
Calls Nakedness Too Plump.
An elderly woman who said she ran
q typewriting office was outspoken.
I'm no prude. said the lady. ''but
can't gee the good Of showing so much
nakedness right out in public like. This
figure is such a plump nakedness that 1t
seems to me he's worse than the ordi-
nary kind. IT, you know what l mean"
That is not the way civic virtue APP
peals to me-" said one man. 1T ought
10 be represented by lean. starving
figure of some sort. not by plumpish,
cupid looking person"
Where are the dames?" asked a
young man. Where are the skirts this
guy. is supposed to be kicking aroundY'
They were pointed out to him,
Don't he know a good looking girl
when he sees one? They're lot better
looking than he is. I'll Say
''Oh. Name! VIII you take a picture
of that home with you. Say. he liz
a peach, all right wouldn't mind
havin' a fellow who was as good lookin'
as him, ch Name? He's got curly hair
though and they say that's a bad sign.
Shows a mans vain or something like
that"
Looks like a purity good statcher,
was another comment. "Must have cost
an awful lot OF jack. How much? Sixty
thousandl Oh. boy! Not me! 1t may
be a crackin' fine piece of worl-I amt
no judge-but can't see no $4,000 in
that chunk OF plaster. The city doesn't
care what It does with our money, does
it7"
These are fair samples OF the running
chat through the crowd. but there were
instances of more thoughtful. more cu-
tivated criticism. and almost invariably
the persons who revealed a certain
knowledge Of sculpture and the tradi-
tlons Of art agreed that MacMonnies
had done splendid piece OF work. It
does seem, though as if the Rough Guy
might not be any too popular with the
common people There's something
about him. something -
Last night the little boys In the City
Hail Park we're throwing stones at the
Rough Guy. When they were asked
why they stoned him they said: "'Cause
he amt wearin' clothes enoughv'