Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/499

SAINT LOUIS. -153 SAINT LOUIS. marked an influence that tlic residential section lias grown toward it, and its beauties are repro- duced in neighboring private resicU'nee-|)arks, or 'places.' For thesi'. the number nt' which is not included in the total above, the city is remark- able. The principal parks of the southwestern part of the city are Tower Grove and the Jlissouri Botanical Garden adjoining it. Both of these are a gift of the late Henry Shaw, whose interest in plants made the Botanical Garden's collection of native and foreign flora one of the most exten- sive in America. The garden, now maintained for the public by special commissioners, has an arboi'ctum adjoining it, containing specimens of the .-Vnierican forest trees which will grow unpro- tected in the climate of Jlissouri. Tower Grove Park, with an area of 206 acres, ranks ne.t to Forest Park as the driving park of the city. It is highly improved, with an impressive central gateway on the east, 0])ening on a long avenue, which, as it divides the park, has the heroic bronzes by ^^on Mueller, cast in JIunieh during Shaw's lifetime, and by him presented to the city. Carondelet Park (containing ISO acres) and O'Fallon Park (158 acres) rank next in area. Lafayette Park, with an area of 29 acres, is more centrally located in what was formerly the most important residential section of the southern part of the city. Up to the close of 1902. the total cost of the parks, acquired and improved at public expense, was .$4,011,862, inclusive of im- provements and maintenance. This does not in- clude the four parks managed by special commis- sioners. The most interesting objects of art in the parks are probably the bronze statues of Shake- speare. Columbus, and Huinboldt. by Von Muel- ler, in Tower Grove. That of Shakespeare is supported by a pedestal with lironze panels, giv- ing in relief the grave scene in Hamlet. Lady Macbeth in the sleep-walking scene. Queen Cath- arine confronting her accusers, and Falstaft' as impersonated by Ben De Bar. The recumbent portrait statue of Henry Shaw in the Shaw- mausoleum in the Missouri Botanical Garden is by the same sculptor. A bronze statue of Thomas H. Benton in Lafayette Park is the work of Har- riet Hosmer. On its pedestal are the words, "There is East, there is India," which constituted the climax of his speech made after the with- drawal of his opposition to the first transcon- tinental railroad. This statue, erected at the expense of the State, commemorates the comple- tion of the railroad connecting Saint Louis with the Pacific Coast. Lafayette Park contains also a good bronze rejiroduction of Houdon's statue of Washington. Wellington Gardner's statue of Francis Preston Blair stands near the eastern entrance of Forest Park. .L Wilson MacDonald's statue of Edward Bates, Attorney-General in Lin- coln's first Cabinet, is near the southeast corner of the same park. The marble statue of Schiller in Saint Louis Park is a reproduction of the por- trait statue of the poet erected at his birthplace." Marbach. The striking bronze statue of General Grant, first erected on Twelfth Street, now stands in front of the southern entrance of the City Hall. It is the work of Robert P. Bringliurst. Education, Libr.eies. The school .system of Saint Louis is notsible in several particu- lars, chiefly in its application of the theory of manmil training in connection with the work of Washington University, and in its pioneer work in illustrating the practical workings of the theories of Frucbel. The school buihlings repre- sent a total cost of .'f;(i,.'!.'>4.000. Tlio numl>cr of teachers employed at the close of the li~cal year 1002 was 1724. with annual salaries of .$1,()79,- 191. The number of pupils in 1902, including 10,090 in the kindergartens, was 84,774. The annual expemliture of $1,681,907, out of a rev- enue of .$2,li').>,fl00 under the general fund, wa8 for maintenance only, exclusive of expenditures for new buildings and improvements. The city has begun su|)plying free books, and it supports the free public library as an essential part of the system of public education. Among the jjrivate institutions are Washing- ton University (q.v. ), with the Manual Training School and School of Fine .rts. University of Saint Louis (q.v.). Forest Park University for Women, the Christian Brothers' College, the Saint Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Homeopathic Meilical College of Missouri, the Missouri School for the Blind, the Kenrick Theological Seminary, and the Saint Louis Law School, now a department of Washington Univer- sity. The principal libraries are the Public and the Mercantile. Among minor libraries, that of the Missouri Historical Society is most im|)ortant. The Mercantile Library, maintained by private subscription, occupies the upper portions of its own building on Broadway and Locust Street. It has more than 3000 members, and a total of 127,- 000 bound volumes. It is especially rich in Americana relating to the history of colonial Louisiana and the States and Territories formed from it. Among the objects of art in its pos- session are the marbles Beatrice Cenci. by Har- riet Hosmer; the West Wind, by T. 1!. Gould; and portrait busts of Burns and Scott by Wil- liam Brodie, R. S. A. Among its paintings are a series of the Indian studies by Catlin. and the most important of Bingham's canvases illus- trating the life of the early West. The Public Library has 166, .339 volumes (19t)3), with an an- nual circulation of more than a million volumes. Societies. Clubs, Theatres. The IMissouri Historical Society, the .cademy of Science, the Medical Society, the Liederkranz Society, and the Young Men's Christian Association are promi- nent among the many permanent organizations formed for other than social or business pur- poses. The German Turner and musical .so- cieties are important and are characteristic of influences which have atl'ected the city. The prin- cipal clul)S are the Saint Louis, the Mercantile, the University, the Xoonday. the Marquette, the Columbia, the Country, the Oflice Jlen's (social), and others which, like the Commercial, are organized for business rather than social inter- course. There are also the Business Men's League, the Civic Federation, the Saint Louis Spanish Club, the Interstate Commercial Club, and the Manufacturers' Association. Saint Louis has in addition several permanent political clubs occupying their own buildings. The principal theatres are the Olympic, the Grand Opera House, the Century, the Imperial, the Crawford (Fourteenth Street), and the Co- lumbia. The Grand Opera House has a seating capacity of 2200, and the Olympic 2400.