ILLUMINATED CLOCK DIAL, ON THE END OF THE TRAIN SHED OF THE ORLEANS STATION, PARIS VICTOR LALOUX, ARCHITECT It gives one a joyous, hopeful sensation to know that a smoky train-shed may be fitly embellished. It is encouraging to feel that the most utilitarian materials are ductile and susceptible to arttreatment, and, above all, the presence of a 20th-century creation like the above, surmounted by the emblem of Paris, proves the possibility of producing indigenous landmarks, and emphasizes the folly of duplicating, for instance, the Bell Strikers of St. Mark's, in New York, where they can never ring quite true while vibrating to the incessant printing of the suggestive motto, "La nuit porte conseil." |