Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14

with y. s. She wears the famous helmet with
an eagles head and q horizontal sheaf Of
feathers on the crest. The helmet fits closely
over her long curls, which fall to the waist. On
her forehead is the circlet Of nine stars which
jefferson Davis said indicated her endless
existence and heavenly birth.
The goddess. carries an olive wreath, indi-
eating peace, in her left hand, which rests on a
shield In her right hand Is O sheathed sword
indicating that war Is over but she Is ever ready
to tight If necessary. Despite the fact that the
of1cial name of the goddess Is the Statue Of
Freedom, she Is often called the Greek Goddess
because of her long, flowing robes, and the
Indian Goddess because Of the feathered helmet,
and the Goddess of Liberty for no apparent
reason at ALL
After being stared at for two years in the
House Of Representatives the plaster statue was
removed to the Crypt much to the regret of
the public. The Crypt is the room under the
Rotunda, which was originally designed for the
tomb Of Washington. Many years later Craw-
ford's plaster model was moved to the Smith
Sonian Institution in Washington, where it now
occupies the central position on the main floor.
AS has been previously stated the several
large sections of the model were so cleverly
assembled by the cunning italian that the
joints and bolts were completely hidden with
plaster. At last, however, the time came to cast
the statuary in bronze, and the artist en-
phatically refused to take it apart except upon
his own conditions, which were an exorbitant
sum of money and a contract for art work
the Capitol for prolonged period of years
His demands were refused.
But what was to be done? The Italian alone
knew where the bolts we're hidden and any one
ignorant of the Jennings would be likely to ruin
the model in the attempt to diSconnect the
sections. The commission to cast the statuary
in bronze had been given to Clark Mills whose
foundry was about three miles from Washing
ton on the Bladensburg road. The founder
Philip Reed. With pulley and tackle con-
trivance Philip undertook to take the model
apart. He first inserted the pulley into an iron
eye affixed to the head of the figure then he
gently strained the rope until joint by Joint
became visible. The inside bolts were then
located, scraped of plaster and carefully re-
moved
Thus the model was again reduced to sections
and made ready for the foundry. Soon after
the casting was started the Civil War was de-
clared and all such work was ordered suspended
but the casting activities must have been re-
Sumed few months later, for it Is believed that
the cast was completed some time in 1861 or
1852. In the Summer of 1861 the Capitol was
used as a hospital and the western part of the
old building was turned into a bakery for the
soldiers. The Crypt was stored with flour. In
the Fall, however, before Congress met, the
1900 hospital beds and the baking parapher-
malta were moved out to make ready for
Congress.
in this agonizing period of our history little
thought was given to statues. But despite
the thunder of war Clark Mills worked pains
takingly and sometimes without the promise of
pay until he produced perfect bronze cast of
the statue. 1t is truly an all-American work of
art; before this time the most important casts
were made in Europe. The completed statue
won immediate favor with a great many people,
and it is stin thought to be the greatest work