Florida could take the Palm Room; New York the rather frigid
and formal white and gold reception room; Maine as the leading
cold-water State of the Union could furnish the bathrooms; California
could provide a little cafeteria affair for a quick lunch in mission
style, and owing to her pre-eminence in literature, the library could be
turned over to Indiana with every assurance that if there were not books
enough to go round, any one of her deservedly favorite sons, from George
Ade to George McCutcheon, would write a five-foot shelfful at any time
to supply the deficiency.
"Murally speaking, a plan of this sort could be made historically
edifying also. Florida could supply a handsome canvas showing Ponce de
Leon discovering Palm Beach. In the New Jersey room the Battle of
Trenton could be shown, depicting the retreat of Jim Smith, and the
final surrender of Democracy to General Wilson. Ohio could emphasize in
an appropriate medium the Discovery of the Oil Fields by Mr.
Rockefeller. Pennsylvania could herald her glories with a mural painting
apotheosizing William Penn and Andrew Carnegie in the act of forging her
heart of steel in the fires of immortality, kept burning by a
never-ending stream of bonds poured forth from the end of a cornucopia
by Fortune herself. An heroic figure of Governor Blease defying the
lightning would come gracefully from South Carolina, and Rhode Island,
always a most aristocratic little State, could emphasize the descent of
some of her favorite sons from Darwin's original inspiration by a frieze
depicting a modern tango party at Newport, in which the preservation of
the type, and a possible complete reversion thereto, should be made
imperishably obvious to all beholders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account