Evening star., 1925-09-28
Proposed Fountain for
Lafayette Square

! To the Editor OF The Star:
In Lafayette Square. just south of
the jackson monument, racing Penn-
sylvania avenue, opposite the EXecu-
tive Mansion, is a plat of ground 80
| feet square, more or less. This would
| be an ideal location for a fountain;
the same to consist of basin about
20 feet in diameter; the basin in
height should be about 20 inches,
| similar in style to that of the Dupont
Circle, and should be composed of red.
white or blue granite, polished.
I White marble is subject to stains,
| etc. In "a continuous girdle around
the basin there should be introduced
plaques. either oval or round, each TO
/ contain in bas-relief, portrait of one
! of the Presidents, in bronze. The bas
relief portraits of Col. North and Maj.
Walker on the rear of the pedestal
! of the Won Steuben statue would be
excellent patterns. On the face OF
/ these medallions, around the portrait
| bust. should be an Inscription, thus,
| Andrew jackson. President of the
United States, 1925" that being the
! year in which he became President
| There should be no other inscription
on the face of the medallion. The
| date on that Of Harrison would be
! l841 and the same date would appear
| on the medallion of Tyler, he having
succeeded Harrison few weeks after
! his Inauguration. The plaques should
! be SO attached to the face of the basin
i that they may be readjusted. as for
| instance, every four years there
would be an addition. There is
| at the United States Mint at Phila-
| delphia series of medals containing
the portrait in bas-relief of all the
Presidents from Washington down to
! the present day, consisting of 20
medals, that is, of individuals who
| had been President of the United
! States at some time.
/ Verde antique would make an eN-
/ cellent background for these bronzes,
! but this stone is not durable. After
a while it integrates, and the color
! fades. There is quarry in St
| Cloud, Mimi, that produces a beauti-
! full pink granite, susceptible of high
polish.
The brim should be about inches
in width. projecting about inches
! on the interior of the circle. Under
| this projection there should be "a con
! tinuous tube or pipe TO contain row
Of jets set at such an angle that when
discharging water and on falling in
| the center of the basin il would form.
| a canopy. There might be introduced
/; into the center of the basin u bubbllng
| fountain. discharging water not over
| s inches high.
x * x x
! Now this fountain being on d level
! Of not over > feet and half from the
! ground. il would not interfere with
| the view of the White House or the
| vista up Sixteenth street. 1t Will be
remembered that on this spot ii was
IproDosed 10 place the Lafayette monu-
! ment. and a foundation was con
structed, but this plan was changed
for the reason that a view of the
White House from the Square would
be somewhat obstructed, and 1t was
| decided to put il in the southeast
corner of Lafayette Square. over
the original foundation there was IN
troduced a bed of flowers, but as 1t Is
supposed that the flowers that bloom
in the Spring might interfere with the
view, this foundation was removed,
after considerable drilling and blast
| ing Ii was leveled to grade, and
sodded down so that il now conforms
to the surrounding ground. The
water supplying this fountain should
be introduced by hydraulic ram, or
electric pump. placed in a subter-
ranean cavern in close proximity.
| The object of this electric pump is
| that the water from the spillway or
| overflow returns to the pump and
j
| after the method used in the Dupont
| Circle. thus saving great zeal OF
water from waste.
i In the basin there should be placed
! water lilies, yellow, white and pink
, There also is a hybrid water lily of
! blue. purple. red and Nariegated col
ors. which on the surface of the water
would produce a Kaleidoscope effect
1t is possible that in frosty weather
! IL ,,.sa Nt,iI-
nected with the pump the tempera-
ture of the water could be raised, say
| TO 80 degrees or more. The water in
! the basin should be permitted TO rise
! so that the surface would be but
! few inches from the brim, affording
a grand opportunity for the pigeons,
doves. sparrows and other birds fire.
quenting the park an opportunity to
/ drink which would be a great boon
| to these birds. AS it is, there are not
| ample facilities in the square for
these creatures. This feature, which
would add greatly to the beauty of
! the landscape. really could not be OBJ
| jected to on the ground that 1t OBJ
! sCured the view in any direction, as
/ the elevation, including the water,
would only be a little over feet.
| 1t is to be hoped that this sugges-
ton may be considered. as it would
add greatly to the beautiful attrac-
| tions of this square. Furthermore. IL
! is suggested that there be no further
establishment in bronze or otherwise,
than the plaques themselves, so that
there could be nothing to detract from
/ the artistic appearance. Surely they
| would prove a great attraction, as
well as being of historical interest.
This unique and original idea should
meet with general approval.
FRANKLIN STEELE.