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 pure architecture. It was declared that White, a disciple of the French and Italian schools, could not have designed many of the buildings for which he got credit as a member of the firm of McKim, Mead & White. One architect said:

"The Boston Public library, the Columbia university buildings, the Villard house, the agricultural building at the Chicago World's Fair, and other creations of the McKim firm were not and could not have been designed by White. All through them runs the genius of Mr. McKim. White ran to the lighter style of architecture, the florid, the modern, and not to the Grecian or the severe and monumental style of purely classic architecture.

"His mood was that of gayety and it expressed itself in his designs. The bases of St. Gaudens statues lent themselves to his mood, and some of his best work was done in connection with them. He was essentially an artist rather than an architect, and his influence in his firm was along the lines of the artistic rather than along the strict standards of architectural expression."

There were current also numerous stories regarding White's private life that were not of the creditable kind. It is not too much to say that he was frequently under suspicion, but there was always something Lacking in a legal way so that no open scandal attached to his name, although evil reports were frequent. No action was taken by the investigators, how