Evening Star Newspaper, April 13, 1924, Page 73

: Pu-t 5—8 Pages - MAGAZINE SECTION he Sunday Stae [rearorss | WASHINGTON, D, €, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL a9 3 1 1924 Merchant Ship, as‘- Creator of National Power, Wins Place in Art BY HAROLD K. PRILIPS. N the hallowed halls of art, the long-negiected merchantman— trail blaser of the world's com- merce—has at last won recogni- tion and been given place beside the proud and mighty man-o'-war. All that the fighting ships of his- tory have inspired in painters and mnthors since the days of the an- cient Greek trireme, the sturdy little barks of the merchant marine that first operied the lanes of commerce to the Rations have inspired in Paul ¥arnham, painter, sculptor, author, historian and philosopher. The result has been the creation of one of the most remarkable colleo tions of historic maritime pictures ever displayed, a series of twelve paintings by Mr. Farnham showing the evolution of the commerce bearer from the carlfest days of the Phoenl- «cian mariners, morc than seven hun- dred years before the birth of Christ, ®p to the opening of the golden coast ®©f western America. Where other painters have seen in orn ~war a conquering girded for the fray wherever it | b Farnham has looked | the atively neglected nt trader with the s of the pher, and pictured if as the of nations, the fearless ex- | ger to buffet the wrath of sea from the Arctic Cirgle to the d white wastes of the Antaretic. | the man- nht 2. com! phil ercator: The Pioneer of af fu.sh«.n% its way ac It look the painter fourteen years to complete twelve pictures and they are ne for a limited length ©f ne in the rcoran Gallery of | Art Already they have won Inghi tributes from the critics of many of the larger cities in the country znd( daily Mr. ‘arnham is be: ged by hoth artists and business men. from 211 parts of the country to bring his prizes to their cities for a short show- ing, at least, t on display PO | col- | R. FARNHAM has entitled ] the | lection “Ancient Ships of Merchant Marine That Opened the | Commerce ofsthe World" Most of | them have carved their names for- ever upon the history of progress and civilization. Although the names of one or two of the earliest vessels are not known, each had some prominent part in an ancient legend or myth, | particularly the swift boat of a] Viking prince. 1 ¢ desire to attract the attention of the shipbuilding industries, art connolsseurs, historical Institutions, government depots and financial in- te to some of the vessels con- | d in the old shipyards of Europe,” said Mr. Farnham, by way | of explanation, “induced me to pro- duce these paintings of the wonder- ful examples that teach us what the ehipbuilders of the old world ‘snid% and did.’ “If they are, even in a small way.| incentive for our own governmeut | to develop its merchant marine o perhaps appropriate lines of manufacture, then 1 shall feel that] my message has been heard and my | labor has not been in vain. For, in| the language of the old mariner—'A | ship is a beautiful she.” T hive sailed | the many seas for models. Therefore 1 know what I paint. The shipthat b Santa Maria,on the eve of the great discovery g more Mr. Farnham was caréful to the ex- treme to make sure that every one of the famous ves: he painted was | to the original, even to the| minutest detail of their scale as to| ze. Every gun—for all merchant- ment carried batteries in the early days of trading to protect them from pirates—is placed in the painting ex- ctly where it stood aboard the ves- sel itself; the sails themselves show cvery rope and spar the old mariners | once used As one stands off and admires tha victures, he cannot help but think: What tiny things to dare the furies | the ocean. \Why, even the waves to swallow them up. Surely that must be an error in perspective; the painter must have blundered bad- The perspective is all right; the inter did not blunder. The paint- ings emphasizd the bravery of those maritime predecessors who ath in the hurricanes niniature craft a. modern would not even attempt to true of cem ke Gmm and discoverer i faced.| aboard | sailor ! sail down | ships, rasspme rought Columbus to Ameri of s, Phoenician Merchant Gafley Red Sea in the Seventh Oew.iux(i BC. e ca the de I-Iérmifw"ce'.leb @Tr e ni, . g g e e the most placid, T No mysterious or disastrous ef- | the Continental Army, who captured | ccts are shown,” he says. “The ships Mal. Andre. ure observed from the crow's nest or | fishting top, thereby giving distance ; I_\' the world of art Mr. Farnham had and, atmosphere. They are detailed , X made a name for himself long be- from stem to stern “‘underweigh'—at!| fore he undertook to give the mer- «oa—giving an opportunity to stud)’i chant marine and a small share of its he outline of the hulls, sails and rig- | romantic history a place in the gal- ng. 1 did not attempt to produce lerfes of art. When the American sesthetic or impressionist pictures, us ' people were idolizing Gen. Nelson A. @ ship bow on an indifferent location. | Miles as the national hero, following “In my paintings, the ships are the | his capture of Geronimo. the Indian vorrect dimensions. Smalil in propor-! chief, the government decided to pre- tion they werc constructed to take | sent him a handsome sword'as a tes- one long swell, and therefore able to, timonial of its gratitude. 1t was Mr. weather the changeable storms in all Farnhem who was chosen - from .all waarters of the globe, and are repre- dther artists to make the saber. Later, sented in these different climates. In| when Admiral Dewey, the conqueror, the shipyards of the east they were|of Manila, became the herv of his built of fir, boxwood, cedar, oak and | timé, Mr. Farnham was selected . to cypress; in the west of oak timbers| make the handsome gold sword that and knées, elm and:beech planking, | was presented to him. msh blocks and throats, pine masts Mr. Farnham tells an interesting and spars.” and amusing story in that comnec- | tion. . When the hilt had been. com- pleted and it came time to select a blade worthy of such a masterpiece, the whole nation was searched, but in vain. Every acceptable blade that could be found had stamped upon it in bold, outstanding letters, “made in Germany.” “What will you do?” asked a mem- ber of the committee, in despair. “Do,” replied Mr. Farnham, himselt thoroughly angered. “Why, damn it, I'll make a blade myself." land-locked stream. * ¥ k¥ * ok Ok ¥ 3O anxfous was Mr. Farnham to con- vey the real story of each vessel this picture novel of maritime romance that he painted his ships not upen canvas but upon planches of wood from which the different com- rce carriers were themselves built. fhe planches are reinforced at the vack by architectural detail, such as vraftsmanship in the days of the zuilds, and with charts and inscrip- tions on the reverse side which are accurate guides of the period. Before undartaking a @escription of each of the paintings, perhaps it Would not be remiss to introduce their author to those who do not know him £ well, Paul Farnham was born in New Tork city'and comes of a family that 1as lived in America since revolution- ary times. In fact, it was his great- &réat-grandfather, then an officer i ' o own hands forged the shining blade that adorns the handsome sword given Admiral Dewey by the Ameri- can people to show their gratitude for his valorous services during ‘the Spanish-American war. In his travels collecting data for the maritime paintings on exhibition had fiad many experiences to rival that one, but on each occasion he rose ‘to the emergency and won. Mr. Farnham really tells a story with his paintings. It is the story of the evolution.of the merchant marine, a.history of those primitive . craft around which have been built the maritime leviathans of. today. Each picturé is a chapter in the Lok 6f ocean ‘romance, and. the first Chapter apéns with the earlieést sall- ing craft -—u Phoenlician merchant galley, which pliéd.the Known seas of the ancient World about 700 years be- fore the Man of Galilee came to be. Scarcely “as lohg as the average pleasure yacht-of” today, ‘those gal- leys were ‘considered ‘the‘marvel -of time. - Although" they hbvered close to. shore, they carried - silver, ‘iron, lead, tin, wheat, oil, frankincénse, spices,” wine, ‘glassware and a score of_other things from port to-port. It is interesting to note, too, that al- though every other ship Mr. Farnham painted was strongly armed either | with spearmen or artillery, these| primitive trade bearers went thelr| way unarmed and unafraid. The Phoenician galley of 'Mr. Farn- ham’s brush is shown in the blue, purple and olive hues common §° old Phoenicla. It is seen, just at!sun-! rise, In the gulf of Alkaba, along the Red Sea, bound east to Cathay. The| view along. the shore line is overj the hills of Hejaz towards Mecca and | And he did, too. He took the next ! Arabla. Two flamingos, thé birds train for Springfield, 11L., and with his ! el sl e Rl =% are flying inland from the vessel as it pushes its way in silence toward its destination. * The length of the vessel was but sixty-five feet, its beam twenty feet, A blue and purple awning served to protect crew. and cargo from the rays of' ‘the ' scdrching sun. Its benchés at the Corcoran Gallery, Mr. Farnham were madg of boxwood; inlaid with per! ivory: planks of fir trees, oars from Bashan oak, and its single mast and spar from cedar, brought from Leba- non.. When the wind failed, sixteen oarsmen served to propel the galley across the sea. The picture is one of a calm, a solemn _ fllustration of the constant plodding methods of those anclent mariners in thelr primitive system of carrying “on trade with their far separated neighbors.. The general effect in colors is the blending of Dbuff, rose, white, azure and tale. In such small craft the Phoenicians ex- tended their trade beyond the Pillars of Hercules to the Azores, Britain and the North sea, and for 1,500 vears they were the foremost traders of their time. * ¥ k% "TWO centuries have elapsed before _Mr. Farnham brings the visitor to_h]! next picture, a Greek war tri- reme, convoying a merchantman bi- reme across the Aegean sea. The merchantman may be distinguished from the man-o'-war by topsails on the mainmast. - Maritime architecture has - progresséd since the.days of Phoenician sailors. The trireme is 120 feet long, with a beam of 36 feet and a capacity of 400 tons bur- den, a veritable leviathan of its pe- riod. - Back on the forward-deck is a fighting arch, upon which are shown | warriors of “two classes, with their philosophers in white robes reclining upon golden couches. Times have changed and the days of undisputed commercial prestige have passed for- ever. Each of those early men-o'-war re- quired 174 men, and the merchantmen they convoyed almost as many. The foarsmen, most of them “slaves cap- tured froth _enemy. armies, and.soms haps, noblemen in their owa lapds, er in he were lashed to'the thwart seats. Time in those days was marked, says Mr. Farnham, by the sounding ot flutes; today it -is tolled by bells on ;modern ships. The ‘planche - upon which the picture is painted is of elm. From those early days Mr. Farnham passes many centuries in time, but steps backward in progress in order that -he . may depict the ship of an- other land—the land of the Vikings. It was constructed in the time of ; Prince Ragnar Lodbrok, who, tradi- tion says, was a_son of King Sigurd nine feet long, is seen sweeping out of a tjord near the Ladir Cliffs of Norway, the golden dawn reflecting countless hues on the sea eddies. There is a story told of that an- cient ship, says Mr. Farnham. Ragnar, disguised in tarred leather, trescued King of East Gothland, from a dragon. ‘While he was slaying the monster 2 disgruntled workman hacked the gun- wale with a hatchet and upon inspec- tion Ragnar mistook the mutilation for the head of a dragon. Thereupon he ordered that the head of a dragon be carved upon all of his ships, and it may be remembered that most of the ships of Vikings pictured today show such a figurchead at the bow, Ring. The little vessel, only seventy- | the Princess Logerda, daughter of the| A Spanish Gatleon | | Remarkable - Collection. of - Historical Marine: Pictures Placed on Exhibition at Corcoran Gallery of Art—Fourteen Years Required to Com- plete Twelve Works, Which Show Evolution of Commerce From Early Phoenician Days to the Opening of the Western Coast of This Conti- nent—Large Proportion. of Craft Had Influence Upon the History of America and the United States—Paul Farnham Produced Series. A Greelz was- treasure bear avy weathet i an Antatctic Sea Departing for a moment from the strict term of his subject, the painter shows the ships of the Crusaders clear- ing the harbor of Dartmouth on a moon- lit night in 1190. They are the first three ships of Richard Coeur de Lion. Although they plainly show they were constructed for fighting pur- poses, Mr. Farnham included them because it was the war of the Cru- saders that opened up much of the world to commerce and Christian progress. * * % x HEN Mr. Farnham advanced rap- idly in time. His next picture shows the Great Ha ry at sea. The Great Harry was ore of the first of the English galleon type of vessels and was built in the time of Henry IV, 1399 to 1413 A. D. She is shown entering the Mediterranean sea at the Pillafs of Hercules, now known as Gibraltar. The art of shipbuilding has progressed rapidly and the Great Harry is 175 feet‘long, 36 feet beam, has a capacity of 800 tons burden, carries 36 guns, has 4 masts and 12 spread of canvas. The Great Harry introduces the period of ‘rich ornamentation on ocean-going craft. The rails and bow- works are partly castellated for the protegtion of the crew ln the event of ime trireme, éla,tmq From fifth century B.C. con- voyind a Greek mercilantuan) a fight with pirates. The spars are tipped with gilt spikes in the shape of fleur de lis and even the sails are decorated. The Great Harry occupies a conspicuous place in old world maritime history and she opened lanes of commerce in many parts of the earth during her career. Up to the century of “the great discovery,” Mr. Farnham has led h visitor and now he is ready to show his painting of “A Spanish Carak, which is nothing less than the Santa Maria, the tiny craft in which Chris- topher Columbus blazed what wa destined to become the world's great- est lane of commerce.. The time of the picture is the afternoon of Thurs- day, October 11, 1492, The Santa Maria is seen buffeting her way due west in the Atlantic ocean, the Pinta just ahead on the starboard bow and the Nina immediately astern. Mr. Farnham has pictured the three craft, the Santa Maria omly 63 feet in length over all, at their happiest moment—just before the moment of their great discovery. History says that just when the hour seemed darkest the sailors began to notice weeds floating past their little vessel and a dove was seen to Toost on one of the spars. Then the sailors knew land was really near and they would win. The dove is seen just in the act of alighting. * K K % ROM that time Mr. Farnham's paintings deal with ships that had muclf to do with the discovery of new parts of America and their de- velopment. most celebrated French vessel of the galleon type, was one. It discovered the Guif of St. Lawrence and carried the first settlers of the now thriving cities of Quebec and Montreal to those sites in 1534. The Grande Hermine was 125 feet long, 40 feet beam and had a draught of 15 feet. She was commanded by Jacques Quartier of St. Malo. Her position in the painting is on the Newfoundland banks, the sky cold and gray, a perfect' northern atmos- phere. The hull of the ship is fur- nished in natural wood with gilt poop deck and ornamental gilt traceries on stern hip and bow rail. The standard' of Frances flies from The Grande Hermine, the { | the mainmast peak and the personal drapeau of Francis I snaps in the wind | from the stern. 1t is painted on | planche of etm. | The Dutch laid a just claim to share of the world's commerce | the sixteenth century and Mr. Farn ham has recognized their contribu- tion toward developin world com lmer:‘» by including a Dutch galleos { in his collection It Dutch E: | Indian trader. fighting to round into the St of Malakka typhoon weather. The galleon is supposed to be the Dordrecht, out of He Holland. At that period the were seriously incumbered b influence and thi the elaborate carving the Dordrecht The Cacafuego, meaning Spitfire a splendid example the galleon of its The owned by Francis and Mr. Farnham depict. ing out of the Strait upon her memor: v | Pacific coast Am captured by n is a t in o stuis, Dutch time, Don age up the ericas. She Sir Franes of the cargo of gold. silver and preciou. { intended for the 4 on s ham's splendid paintin en Hinde without | the gay partie. in sumptuously de | aquarters. Whenever the Golden Hind entered port the reigming monare entertained Ler naval heroes and the stern quarters { urious as the { finest castle IN©! I eigh and Sir Franc { masters at different t in the made world. On | Drake capture { his queen, treacherous & discovered C: tered Drakes’ harbor of Sa W Alb! . what are n and Wash Mr. Farnhan en Hir world the stat migh | No efm to spare orateness of detail and color on sh the painter has followed the scheme of her builders faithfull 1 even including her golden stern 2 blue masts. But she rides with grace of champion e bosom «f a hurricane semi-tropical turquoise green sea The Arl Royal, ence the flagship ¢ the British navy, and an Elizabet {an merchantman, completes the lection. For the next week the pic tures will remain on view in the Cor { coran Gallery of Art. What will b come of th after that cannot b determined just now It under stood that several offers have bean made for them and some prominer persons are interesting the a movement to have the ¢ | lection placed in the n States Chamber of Commerce. whi is being built 17th and H streets = o— its lavishi as lux wers tinseled suites of Sir Ham Sir Walter R personages than Drake we rich prizes f navigated Magellan shig a was made and selves | ire col Unitec w Feather Farms. AT an ostrich feathe plume-picking d: crowd stands outside the watches a young man cz huge birds He does it srasping a bird and bending with one hand, while with | he claps a black hood over its head When the birds kave thus been blind- | ed he easily pushes them into a small pen, where other men cut the “ripe plumes” from their bodies. The plumes are picked every nine | months at the farm, where hundreds of birds are corralle trich | first picked when L year old | and then every nine months through {out its life. The older it is the bette | the feathers, and many of the bird {live to be seventy or sevemty-five { years old. The most valiable plumes come from the wings, which yield twenty- four feathers each, Sometimes twen- ty-seven inches long. The tail yields about seventy-five smaller feathers. All the snow-white plumes come from the blackest birds and always from the males. On the particular farn visited by the writer, which is the largest and probably the oldest in the United States, there are ostriches of two distinct species, the South Afri can ostrich, which has bluish-black !flesh. and the Nubian ostrich, whici! ! has pink flesh. The birds have re lmarknble strength, a tremendous stride and speed, and, though some- times cowards, they often fight one another furiously. Kicking forward, they strike their opponent in the ] chest with a thud like a shot in & | barrel. Of course, the fighting os- | triches must be separated at once, but as no keeper dares risk his life among them at those mad moments, some one rolls a dozen oranges into the inclosure. The entire flock fly at the fruit and the quarrel is quickly forgotten. Fights occur only in courting pens, for at all other times the birds dwell in their separate small inclosures. There are no domeetic difficultief for these statsry stepping creature! They mate for life. Vegetable Sponges. IN Algeria an extensive Industry had been developed in the cultivation of what are known as ‘“vegetabia sponges.” The chief market for the product at present is Paris, although specimens are not uncommon in the United States. They have come into extensive usec for the toflet, the bathroom and vari- ous other domestic purposes. Prior to maturity, the fruit is edible, but when the stage of ripeness has been passed the fibrous matter becomes separated from the pulp and forms tough, spongy mass. The material is prepared for the market by being |bleached in & weak lime bath. ___ .