am decided, when it was almost too late to
arrange for any kind of an exhibit, to make a display of the State's
mineral resources by means of a fund raised by popular subscription. The
actual amount of money raised was approximately $20,000.

After considerable discussion the Commercial Club decided, upon a
suggestion made by J.A. Mac Knight, to build a colossal statue of
Vulcan, god of fire and metals, in iron. F.M. Jackson, president of the
club, and J.B. Gibson, secretary, took a deep interest in the matter,
and as a result the work was commenced in October, 1903. Great
difficulty was met with in securing the services of a competent sculptor
who was willing to build the model for such a statue, which was to be of
a height of at least 50 feet. Mr. Mac Knight was appointed special
representative of the club to promote this work and finally secured the
services of Mr. G. Moretti, a sculptor residing in New York, who
undertook to perform the task and to complete it in time for the
exposition.

The model of this colossal statue of Vulcan was first built in clay at
Passaic, N.J., where Mr. Moretti carried on the work under adverse
circumstances and through the zero weather of the winter of 1903-4. It
was then cast in plaster of Paris in sections, which were braced and
stayed with scantling on the inside of the shell, to be used as patterns
in the foundry. The entire model was shipped to Birmingham, Ala., on
seven flat cars, its bulk rendering it impossible to put it in box cars.
As soon as it reached Birmingham the work of casting the figure in iron
was begun in the foundry of the Birmingham Steel and Iron Company.

Mr. Moretti went to Birmingham to keep the patterns in condition during
the process of casting, and it was well that he did so, because the
extreme cold had frozen the plaster casts before they were dry,
rendering them so brittle that many of them were broken in handling, and
the head itself was crumbled into a hundred pieces and had to be
entirely remodeled.

Iron manufacturers from all parts of the world have said in regard to
this statue that it was the most remarkable piece of iron casting they
had ever seen. An agent of the Japanese Government was present at
Passaic to watch the building of the model, and followed the work to
Birmingham to make notes on the methods of casting it in iron. He also
went to St. Louis and remained during its erection in the Mines Palace,
and made an extended report to his G