| OCR Text |
Show l' I JWADS FOR m IMEm. I. n,ii-hli. the Olympl.i, having hav-ing bco provliUI with r colossal ilcurn of Victory to ornn.ncnt tier noble prow, til navy department la contemplating Hterm Ornament of III Olympl. the oilenslon o( this now departure to other warships In Inclo Hnm'ii service, which will be adorned with figiiro- I hoi. I ninl lent worn of metnl. while Hi" rest of the e.'lUy was carve. I o it id bio, ks of wood K"Hl over from the ilrooklyn navy yard. In this way It has come about that tin- Olvrniiia mid Cincinnati have ng-ureheuds ng-ureheuds ni.irh alike. They have excited ex-cited a nrr.it ibal of admlrallm ami II In believed that such heroic iillcgoii-ral iillcgoii-ral bow oriiHincuts n-t ito 1 1 y possess r Mihstanilal 1 1 m.-f 1 1 1 ii r-.K. giving encouragement encour-agement to the warlike enthusiasm of H' lighting men on IiohhI. Taking into in-to view this consideration, as well an Ihe artistic Improvement, tho construction con-struction bureau of the navy department depart-ment In atroiiKly Inclined to go ahead with the figurehead Idea. Soma year ago, whin the battla-ahlpi battla-ahlpi Indian and Massachusetts worn built. It waa decided to pruvldo these and certain other vessels with the busts of historic personages for figureheads, figure-heads, and Bculptnros of Washington and Jefferson worn thin utilised. Hut there ai so much dispute to which Tk Olrmela'a Naw Klmrah.ad A Wlaeed Yletorr. r fceida In many cases, at all avonta much mora bountiful and alaborat j than bava been aupplled hitherto, j Up to the preeent time tho "bow . ornamenta,"aa figureheads are called In naval parlance, uaod on our Unhung vaela have born quite plain, aa a rule, conalatlnif In moat caeca ot noth-; noth-; !ng more than the coat of arma of the i United State aud a hit of acroll work. It waa decided to provide the cruiser Cincinnati, not long ago, with aome- 1 thing handsomer and more lmprcaslve to adorn her prow, and un art firm In ! Tt ! a-' I'M rlanrahaad of TuUr rlnclanaU. New York city was asked to furnish a large winged fl"re holding aloft an eagle, the bird being In auch an attitude atti-tude as to augment the idea that It wna about to take fllKlit The eWgy was Intended to re reent Victory. SuhKeqiiently It was determined to ornament the Olympia with a elmllur figure. r.pnsenMng the .am goddeaa at iiccei.ful .. and this aeulpture. ' Ukewlse. wus iuled by toe New Terk art tim. la wih Instiac. U i I i ,! Amerlcnna of distinction should be selected that the plan wna finally abandoned. aban-doned. Hitherto the figureheads for our fighting craft have been furnished usunlly by the contractor In whoae yards the vessels were built, and In such Instances they have been of metal, aa a rule. When the ships have happened hap-pened to be constructed In the government gov-ernment navy yards the bow orna-monta orna-monta have been of wood. One of the handuomeflt of these now adorn tho cruiser New York, though It constats con-stats merely of the national coat of arms surmounted by an eagle, and waa designed by a very capable artist at 12.50 a day. 'Vint liiav It. i::ln. iiv art:'nl:'hinent when I rr-iirn. d hone on the day on which the rntcit.i.nm.nl w.ia to h nlven. when one of the ladles came to me and enld they hail sold but seven tickets, and that they had nluindoned tile Idea of holding the ent rtatnnu ill at all. The woist of It was they had simply come to the conclusion t lt.it they could make no nioney out of th entertainment and dropped It without communlrntlng with Nye, or Itlley, or w'th their manager. "Of course, in the afternoon they both arrived on the train, and It devolved de-volved upon m to break the new to them. I shall never forget the feeling feel-ing that enme over ma when I entered their room In the tavern at which they had put up. Itiley waa sitting In a chair In an apparently meditative mood, while Nye. with h a back Inward the door, waa unpacking hla grip. Nye did not took tip when I came In, hut kept right on unpacking. o I addreK-ed addreK-ed my remarks at Hiley. I said that but seven tickets had been aold and that the ladies had dec ided to abandon the entertainment. Then Dill Nye turned around and remarked: 'Only seven tickets sold! That funny, because be-cause the people of till towu never heard us.' " |
