The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-05-08
hh h,aRONCE .l' OYER
Introducinr Mr. Hermes. ef PxNxlteles }

Introducing Mfr. HermeS, Of EENxkteIes s Meet Mir. Hermes, of Praxiaeleat. You know Hermes,i don't you? No? Well, you should by all means. He Is coming to the United States on tour. Very big man in his home country. Comes from Greece. Praxiteles is not his native city, however, as many think. The Hermes in this case is q statue. Particles is the name of the sciup- tor. Europe, having sent every other kind of visitor to America, is now to send statues, Which is not SO bad. Statues can't knock the country. a5 ls Everybody should read up about1this here Hermes. He was pretty big gun in his day, handsome as q collar model,s an all around athlete like Jim Thorpe and aperson- age of great influence as well as Grade A. trained nurse.
 Hermes was message bearer of the gods. He also travelled under the name of Mercury and known by the police as Joe Hermes, alias Webster Mercury. He is the patron saint of the Western Union Telegraph Company. In ancient Greece Hermes was the god of Commerce, Athletics and Invention. He had
 
 baseball, big business and new devices and was sort of Judge Landis. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford rolled into one.
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 E In the Hermes of Praxiteles he. is shown carrying the infant Dionysus, alias Bacchus, god of wine. tIf the statue is brought to America as proposed the child will be re- moved and a statue of the infant William Jennings Bryant put in Hermes' arm1 :
 Dicnysus was the son of Jupiter and Sc mele. Jupiter was the god of rain and snow. Semele was the goddess of umbrellas and galoshes. They were e very unpopular cou- pie. They spoiled too many ball games They gave Dionysus to Hermesgto bring up. Meeting Hermes, who was very un- sophisticated young man, in front of an Athens department store they asked him to hold the baby for moment Hermes fell for the trick and was still holding Dionysus at last reports. saE Still Dionysus was no bad bargafn.s Being god of wine, there was a big advantage in having him with you. Hermes, although very fleet of foot, never had to run t6 sa- loon in his life. When he craved glass of wine he would mention the fact to his adopt ed son who would borrow a silk hat, make three passes with his hand and produce pre- war stuff, labels and everything.
 Tn the Hermes of Particles the right arm is missing. Enough of the shoulder is left to indicate Hermes was holding something aioft in that hand and that the infant Diony- | sus held in his left arm, was reaching out for it. There is much mystery as to what this right hand held. An umbrella. bunch of grapes, Hubbard squash, full house, pic ture of Charlie Chaplin or green balloon have been suggested.
 It probably held the silk hat with which Kellar--beg pardon--Dionysus did the wine l trick. k# The famous work shows him leaning against tree or sumpin' as he holds the Home Brew Kid His winged feet are miss | ing as is his "cadeceus,' f which indicates he was not delivering messages that day but had day of and was airing the baby in the park. This "caduceusr is an essential part of messengers equipment even today. No messenger boy can go any place without it. It is Greek for wrong address.
 We'll, anyway, the plan is to bring Mir Hermes here from Greece this year and ex- hibit him throughout America to raise funds for Greece.
 After few weeks travel on American rail roads he will look like statue of Humpty Dumpty after the fall. a American freight handlers never did a statue any good yet. The chances, are that before the HeEmes of Praxiteles reaches Pittsburgh the infant Dionysus will have been knocked out of his arm and taken home by a freight handler and used as {. Ford radiator ornament. p
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