ingness to cooperate when Congress sought to raise his 

 salary, saying that he was being paid quite sufficiently for 

 his needs. 15 



THE GARDEN IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE NINETEENTH 

 CENTURY 



A description published in 1875, during Smith's tenure, tells 

 us that the Garden was open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. There 

 were "two main entrances for pedestrians, one opposite the 

 main central West gate of Capitol Park and the other on Third 

 St., opposite the east end of the Drive. Each entrance con- 

 sisted of four marble and brick gate piers, with iron gates." 

 The Garden comprised ten acres "surrounded by a low, brick 

 wall, with coping and iron railing, and [was] laid out in 

 walks, lawns and flower-beds." Wheeled vehicles were not 

 permitted on the grounds. 16 



The Bartholdi Fountain 



One of the major attractions of the Garden, located north 

 of the Main Conservatory, was the Bartholdi Fountain. 

 Originally, this thirty-foot-high sculpture, the work of 

 Frenchman Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, was designed for 

 the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, where it 

 stood in front of the main entrance. Following the closing 

 of the Centennial Exposition in 1877, the United States 

 Government purchased Bartholdi , s fountain for $6,000 and 

 had it erected on the grounds of the Botanic Garden. 17 



When it was initially cast, the "fountain epitomized the 

 artistic use of cast iron, which had previously been looked 

 upon with disdain by many artists and critics." 18 



The fountain was designed as an allegory of Light and 

 Water, combining the modern technologies of cast iron and 

 gas lighting with the classically inspired fountain. The 

 crenellated mural crown at the pinnacle is symbolic of a 



15 Jarrett, William Robertson Smith, p. 5. 



16 DeB. Randolph Keim, Keim's Illustrated Hand-Book of Washington 

 and Its Environs: A Descriptive and Historical Hand-Book to the Capital 

 of the United States of America, Washington: DeB. Randolph Keim, 1875, 

 pp. 41-42. 



17 19 Stat. 356. 



18 'Also on exhibit at the 1876 Exhibition was a part of one of Bartholdi's 

 most famous works— the sixteen-foot-high right hand of the Statue of 

 Liberty." Robert C. Byrd, United States Senate, "The Botanic Garden 

 and Capital Landscape," Daily Edition, Congressional Record, v. 127, 

 January 29, 1981, p. S803. 



36 



