Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-04-19

WASHINGTON, April IS. - For
more than a half a century thous-
ands of Washingtonians and thous-
ands of tourists visiting the Nation
al Capital walked heedlessly past an
artistic gem Of antiquity. exposed 20
the full gaze of anyone who wanted
10 see it. Today it nc longer is Tisi-
be to the public and, therefore. has
become the object OF much curiosity.
II is a statue, carved 500 years be-
fore the birth of Christ, by the great
est of all sculptors. the Greek Phi
dias. Its story is unrivaled for ro-
nance.
Phidias flourished in the Age Of
Pericles, the Golden Age of Athen-
ian ascendancy, when Socrates was
expounding his disturbing phileso-
ply and when the Parthenon was
being built. Phidias was the sculp-
tor of the great statue of Pallas
Athene and of many other works of
art in the plastic form. His work
for $500 years has been held up as
the marvel of all time.
As every n knows, Athens de-
clined and had about reached its
lowest pitch when in 1914 the
seventh Earl of Elgin induced the
Greeks to sell some of their priceless
treasures. The British peer gather
ed up numbers of the carvings which
decorated the P~arthenon. the great
temple which stands on the Acropo-
lis at Athens, as we'll as many other
statues in various parts of the city,
some of which were attributed to
Phidias and some to Praxiteles, a
sculptor of almost equal merit and
fame.
These were purchased by the Earl
for a considerable sum of money and
brought home by him to England.
Later they were sold TO the British
Museum where they 10Y are to be
seen, being known all ver the world
as the Elsin Marbles.
The task of transporting the un-
wieldy marble statues and reliefs
was no light one. This was in the
heyday of the American merchant
marine when the fast sailing ships
of the Yankees were making sailing
records for speed and reliability. So
the Earl OF Elgin chartered an Amer
lean ship to transport the priceless
treasures to the British Isles.
The transportation was accom-
plished successfully and the time
came to pay the shipmaster for his
services and those of his 5taunch
vessel. 1t seems hat he was a man
of artistic tastes and asked the Earl
to give him, in part payment OF the
ship charter, one Of the statues from
the Athenian collection.
The supply OF marbles was gener-
Gus and the Earl was well pleased
with tho care and expedition, SO he
agreed. The American Captain OBJ
tanned a life-size statue of a woman
believed to be nom the chisel OF tbs
immortal Phidias-
Phidlas Came To Tho Potomac
He sailed back to This country
with his statue and, conscious Of tat
| beauty of tho masterpiece. reInod'
elled the facade of his colonial man
sion on the banks Of the Potomac
River. making a special niche owe
the doorway in which to place th'
marble figure.
Time passed and the Civil Wa
came along. The region In which
the ship masters house stood De
came a battle-ground traversed agail
and again by the armies Of tn
| Union anu OF the NOHlSdci aNSs III
mansion was taken first by one sid
and then by the other and frequent
ly was the target of grilling fire fror
musketry and ordnance. In IA
course OF these v~iccissitudes, III
statue of Phidias was hit by bullet
and Clipped in many places. ri
nally, it was thrown down entire
ly.
Peace came, leaving Nirgini
planters poor. Old houses wer
abandoned in some cases and
other cases neglected as 20 repai'
Perhaps ten or fifteen years afte
the war, the heir of the old 2hiI
, masters mansion found funds wit
which to repair it. He brought
stone mason from Washington to r.
pair the damage of time and IL
war, patch up the walls and MAJ
the old house habitable. The stor
: mason was a master of his craft an
did a good job. While workir
| around the place, he discovered, ha
!, covered by grass and weeds whic
. had sprung up, an old statue. Settir
a II erect, he was struck by its beaut
: When the work of repairing the o
house was completed, he told u
owner he would like to take. in pa
payment for his work, the old staff
The had found in the grass. Rath'