Evening star., 1934-12-23

Of interest b one Of the first Photographic pan
Dramas ever made It shows San Francisco Bay
crowded with nfeless ships that had been
deserted by their crews and officers in their
haste to JOIN the gold rush.
There was Q time when the Capitol was
crammed with curious mementoes and keep.
sakes when the congressional page boys, sky
Iarking in their free time. could find old guns.
Civil War uniforms and discarded suit cases q
the bygone great hidden in garrets and store
rooms. Modern housekeeping has cleared out
most Of the stuff. but the permanent halls ana
walls still contain discreet memorials to human
foibles.
One of them is tied up with the Greenoueh
statue OF Washington in q Roman toga whicn
outraged the proprieties of its time and which
Just recently was tucked away behind some
printing presses In the Smithsonian Institution.
In the first half of the nineteenth century
America had few competent artists, particularly
in the fields Of sculpture and murals. Thus
many foreigners had to be hired to work on the
Capitol and its decorations Local artists raised
a great cry over this and so. when Congress
voted money for q standing figure of Washing
ton for the Capitol rotunda friends pulled down
the job for young Horatio Greenough, who Was
studying in Rome.
After endless difficulties the statue arrived IN
Washington and the front doors and part of the
masonry Of the front Of the Capitol were re-
moved to admit It. When 1t was unboxed Il
was found. to the horror of the Congressman,
that the artist had made q sitting figure with
half-bared breast
There was great dither raised. After wrathy
debates the statue was removed to the plaza:
later is was discarded completely.
The expenSe-counting the artists fee. cost
of transportation. and alEran to $4,000.
Meanwhile one of the foreign artists had
been watching the proceedings When the anti
foreign propaganda had begun, he had cannily
slipped out and taken out his first citizenship
papers. BY the time the first American product
of the campaign had been kicked out in disgust
he was q full-fedged citizen. He was finishing
a great picture for the walls of the new House
wing at the time and he signed it with trt-
umphant flourish that stands today-"C. Bru-
midi, Citizen of the United States"
COME of Uncle Sans relics play sad tricks
- on their original owners
At one time it was decided to immortalize the
succeeding mistresses of the White House by
having them donate some elegant costume they
had worn in that place to the Smithsonian.
These dresses are put on rough statues of the
owners and displayed together.
Gentle Mrs Coolidge had the misfortune 10
play her hour at one of the most freakish
periods in the history Of costume, when women.
fat and thin, were considering disoarding skirts
completely. Those they still wore were brief ss
ruffles, without their grace. Mrs Coolidge, Q
conservative SOUL wore frocks considered un-
fashionably long at the time; today the rose
velvet dress she gave to the museum has a conn
ical look among those of her staid sisters.
Any one given q free hand to rummage in
Uncle Sans attics and cellars could unearth
many more oddities, serious and gay. Most
of them are hidden through ignorance. only .
few deliberately. Among that few is an article
whose disputed existence has been the subject
of wild family brawls. There are still people
who would fight duels to back their contention
that Jefferson Davis escaped in . cloak and
not in Q W0man's dress.