New-York tribune. [volume], June 10, 1906, Page 2, Image 18

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
2
J. P. MORGAN'S COSTLY NEW LIBRARY BUILDING AT THE .REAR .OF HIS HOUSE, ON MADISON AVENUE. . TT
FRONT 3 ON SSTH STREET.
NEW IDEAS FOR ARTISTS.
'Gained from Ancient Peruvian Tex
tile Fabrics.
Art students of New York City have discov
ered a new source for fresh ideas. Probably the
oddest drawing cJass about town can be seen at
Intervals In Peruvian HalL of the Museum of
NaturaJ History. The Interest of brush and
pencil pupils In this somewhat sombre depart-
PELL MEMORIAL WINDOW IN COLUMBIA
CHAPEL.
One of sixteen similar memorial windows now
being placed there. Their unveiling will be a
feature of this year's commencement exer
cises. They are the work of Maitland Arm
strong, of New York, and are presented by
various persons in memory of graduates of the
college. This particular one is the gift of
Howland Pell in memory of Philip Pell, of
Pelham Manor, judge advocate of the Conti
nental Army.
tnont, given up to things antiquated, Is doe to a
display of textile fabrics rich in color and full of
Btrange designs. Those wrre dug up from
burial places in Peru and Holivia, and are the
rich rc-mnants In dress of the celebrated Inca
race, which in pre-Spanlsh times had attained to
a high degree of civilization In the New World
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The
Bandelier expedition recovered thousands of
gorgeously colored pieces of cloth. These have
recently been put on exhibition, and open up an
entirely new field for the artist, ***
After hundreds and possibly thousands of
years of entombment this textile work is as
fresh and rich in color as when first deposited
In the graves. The fabrics are decorated In fruit,
animal and geometrical patterns, and are woven
from tlie wool of the llama, alpaca and vicuna.
By a clever method of duplicating and com
bining these ornamental features the art stu
flents produce some striking designs, which later
Bud their way into commercial use, being sold
to purchasers who are on the constant lookout
tor novel effects.
Only the other day Dr. Kafaelle Sorgnac, ooa
JS^VV-YUKK DAlIi-Y TRIBUNE. SUNDAY. 3 DOTS 10. 1906.
of the lecturers at the Sorbonne, tn Paris, de
r.lared that tuberculosis is spread broadcast by
the swathing of mummies. The germs, he said,
retained their vitality In the tomb for ages, and
were as virulent as ever when exhumed, lie
was pretty generally laughed at by experts,
however, and — anyway, the art students of New
York are evidently not frightened by his warn
ings.
FOOLED ONLY HIMSELF.
A dinner was given in Yvette Guilbert's honor
In New York, and the actress mado a little
speech In English.
"My English is not so good." she said, "but It
Is not so bad, either, as the French of a New
York gentleman who went to see Mme. Bern
hardt play.
"This man would laugh when it was sad In
the play, and he would weep when it was gay.
He desired, you see,- to seem to know well the
French, but he was stupid a little.
"At the first act's end a comedian, a great
artist of the company, came before the curtain
and said in French a few words. Whereupon
all the house was silent, but the New York
man, for encouragement, applauded long and
loud.
" 'What for do you applaud said the neighbor
of the man.
"And the man replied In a manner quite
brazen:
" 'So as to make it appear that I understand
French, eh?'
■ 1 thought so much,* said the neighbor with
a great frown. 'And do you know what the
artist you are applauding said?'
"•No, what did he say?' demands the other
one.
•"He said,' replied the first, that the rest of
his part would be taken by his understudy, be
cause that he has Just received a cable dispatch
thai bis mother La dead in a micnt' "
Women at ih N J"^ CONTRACTING DISEASE OERMB FROM IU.MY CCREMEKTST
Women at the New YoH, Museum of IWI Hi«t«, cop^a 4miaD «d t.^ .f —„„ fl4oth from Sotrth A«-rJca.
J. P. MORGANS LI BRAKY.
Massive New Structure for Literary
and Artistic Treasures.
Doubtless many persona passing along Kast
36th street from Madison avenue to Park ave
nue have wondered what was hidden by the
massive marble walls of the imposing two story
structure standing in the rear of the home of
J. Pierpont Morgan. It Is the library building,
the construction of which Mr. Morgan began a
couple of years ago. What it Is like Inside Mr.
Morgan has studiously sought to keep secret.
A few days ago a representative of The Trib
une gleaned these facts when he endeavored to
secure some information abcut it.
"I would like to learn something about the
library," said he to a workman seated in a
passageway leading to the adjoining house,
which is being remodelled for the use of Mr.
Morgan's daughter.
"I am afraid you can't get in." said the work
man. "Not unless you have an order from Mr.
Morgan's secretary or the architects. Why, the
painters when they were working there were
not permitted to take any of their own friends
inside."
"This is such an Imposing building that one
would think Mr. Morgan had the public in mind
when he planned it. That broad flight of steps
leading up from thos^ gates on the sidewalk
suirgrsts that he ..intended it for the use of
others than himself."
"I shouldn't be surprised if in the fall he did
open it a couple of days a week. There have
been two librarians In there for four months,
calaJoguinr the books. They might have the
work done by that time. It's a great buLiiing.
You wouldn't think to look at it from the out
side that It cost $2,000,000, wooM you? Why I
■would be satteftP'l tf I coold Save the money
that that bronze fence cost.- He pointed to the
fence which shut off the plot from the sidewalk.
"That's not hollow bronze; that's solid bronae.
It took six men to lift one of those gates. The
pates aren't any higher than a man. and they
look lt<ht, but they're heavy. Every one of those
bars In the fence was twisted by hand. That
costs money, but Mr. Morgan wanted It made
by hand. I know it co3t a good deal, because
the bronze doors, with twisted bars, whi*h he
had make for the bookcases cost $SGO a pair,
and one of the panels of that fence would make
three pairs of those doors. There are forty or
flfty pairs of the bookcase doors in each of the
three rooms. You can see that they alone cost
something.
"The building Is entirely fireproof.- he con
tinued. "The wall 3 are about four feet thick.
There Is a heavy wall of Tennessee marble, and
then a space of fourteen inches between it and
the Interior brick walL Inside is a vault of IV
lnch steel, In which to keep the most valuable
of the old manuscripts, some of those Mr Mor
gan picked up in monasteries, etc. Th ■• Circas
sian walnut bookshelves and four or fiv. doors
are the only things in the building made of
wood. There is a sliding shutter of asbestos to
cover each window. The shutters are hung on
counterbalancing weights, so that or.c man
could raise them all in a few momenta. They
slide down into grooves in the wall.
"There are four marble pillars in that building
that cost $60,000 apiece."
"What made them so costly?"
"Mr. Morgan bought them in Europe. I think
they were dug up somewhere. There were on!y
six of them altogether. Mr. Morgan got four of
them. When they came they were dingy look
tng, but they wera cut down and polished. They
are beautiful now There are some pieces of
stone in there, however, that I wouldn't pay 10
cent 3 for. although they cost a great amount.
There is a ceiling that came from some old build
ing in Europe, that is a!l in pieces. It was
backed with cement, so that it would stay to
gether and nothing fall out. Two stones came
from Jerusalem. The bronze doors with the re
lief work wh:<-h are in front look smooth from
the street, but if you got closer to them you
would see that they were rough. They arv- sev
eral hundred years old. Mr. Morgan gut them
from some old Italian building."
"I suppose the books are old manuscripts and
valuable editions?"
"Some of them are wormeaten things. A great
many of the books Mr. Morgan has had bound
In an expensive style. There are book* of
pictures so heavy that you can't lift them.
There are lots of old Bibles. There is one book
that cost $00,000. You must have he^rd of that.
The covers are studded with gems. Among them
are 110 pearls. A photographer spent two weeks
taking photographs of it."
"Taking pictures of the contents, I suppose."'
remarked the Tribune rran.
"Xo— just the covers. Yea see Mr. Morgar. was
having all the gems reproduced in that way. so
that if any were taken from ttu» covers they
could be traced. An artist has colored the pict
ures of < h » eems to look exactly like the orig
inals. He spent a month at it.
"You see where the ground is raised." he con
of i»>- tv look csaci l
He spent a m.>nth at it.
HI see where the ground is ral-- '
tinued, pointing to a slightly elevated terrace
between the western exid of the library wi the