Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1898 — ABOUT GARGOYLES. [ARTICLE]

ABOUT GARGOYLES.

Many of Them were line Works of Let us loolTat ot the old rainwater spouts, or gargoyles. It is only recently that the word gargoyle has found Its way Into our dictionaries, says Chambers' Journal. Even techni cal glossaries of repute passed It over a few years ago. But now It is not only Included, but chosen for illustration, in lexicographical works that are enlivened with wood cuts. This advance in public estimation is probably the result of the exceptional wave in the waters of sanitary science now passing over us, which has drawn attention to the manner our ancestors made provision for the limitation of one of the evils with which they had to contend. We find our predecessors not only contrived a means to prevent the damp that would have ensued if rain water had not been diverted from falling off their roofs into the foundations of their buildings, but so treated these discharging spouts heads from their gutters as to make them give considerable ornamentation. The application of the term gargoyle to these contrivances is said to be due to the dragon-like character that was at first given to them, coupled with the fact that thepe was a particular dragon known by that name that kept the district around Rouen in trepidation. Directly these, fantastic spouts came into use they were treated as works of art,' in so far as two were never made alike. Those who have studied the subject aver that many of them are fine works of sculpture and they are often so adroitly plaoed as to bring out the salient points of a fabric and conduce to its pleasing effect. They were employed from about the middle of the thirteenth century, and were gradually Improved In form and delicacy of design and execution. At first they were somewhat short and thick, but after a time were made longer, to project further, and with more elegant details. Near the Bermudas the sea is extremely transparent, so that the fishermen can readily see the horns of the lobsters protruding from their hidingplaces in the rocks at a considerable depth. To entice the crustaceans from their crannies they tie a lot of snails in a ball and dangle them in front of the cautious lobster.