This group of figures was commissioned for the roof of the New York Herald's two-story headquarters on 35th Street and Sixth Avenue.

Athena (or Minerva), goddess of wisdom, holds her shield and spear with her left hand as she gestures commandingly at the two men named Stuff and Guff, below. On the hour, the men swing back their hammers and pretend to strike the bell, but stop three inches short. The hour is actually struck by a mechanism tucked behind Stuff and Guff. Originally, it was hand-wound, and each winding took 240 turns and took two to three hours to set Minerva for a week. Now it is electric. On top of the bell sits Athena's bird, the owl, whose eyes blinked green when the owl and Athena were on top of the Herald's headquarters.

The inscription below the figures notes that this is a memorial to James Gordon Bennett, founder of the New York Herald in 1835, and his son James Gordon Bennett, 'through whose vision and enterprise the New York Herald became one of the world's great newspapers.'

James Gordon Bennett, Jr., moved the headquarters of the Herald from its original location on Park Row (near 'Printer's Square,' where the Benjamin Franklin statue now stands) uptown to a Renaissance-palazzo-style building designed by Stanford White. (The Building was demolished in 1921.) Before working people owned watches, the Herald Tribune's tolling clock was relied upon to tell time in the Herald Square area.

The artist was the Beaux-Arts trained-sculptor Jean Antoine (Antonin) Carles (1851-1919). The figures and bell were cast in France by 'SIOI - Decauille, Foundeur Paris' and shipped to New York.

Bennett arrived early, stayed late. He was a Democrat and he revolutionized newspaper publishing. He was opinionated, independent, a stickler for detail, and as a result, he was reviled by the competition. Once, he was physically assaulted by two targets of his criticism. His newspaper covered finance and politics, crime and scandal, and national and international news. He delivered abrasive opinions on everything, and declared himself the 'Napoleon of the newspaper.' He made the New York Herald one of the most successful daily newspapers in the United States. It was said that 'Bennett displayed his eccentricities in print, and for a purpose; personally, he was quiet reticent and irreproachable. Bennett retired in 1867, but continued to write for the Herald until he died. The pallbearers were men from competing newspapers. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn with his youngest son, who had preceded him in death.

Bennett Park in northern Manhattan is named for him. In 1901, his son, James G. Bennett Jr., permitted the Sons of the American Revolution to erect a monument on his land to commemorate the Battle of Fort Washington. Sculpted by Charles R. Lamb, this bronze and marble stele is located on the eastern perimeter wall of the park. Although he was said to have intended to donate the property for a park, the younger Bennett died in 1918 without putting it in his will. Consequently, the property was divided for sale, while honoring the request of the American Scenic and Historical Preservation Society to preserve that portion of the land where Fort Washington once stood. In 1928 the City of New York acquired the site of the fort and additional land and assigned the property to the Parks Department.

Unfortunately White may best be remembered for his death. He was murdered by Harry K. Thaw on the Madison Square roof garden because White had had an affair with Evelyn Nesbit (Thaw's wife). The affair had ended before Nesbit's marriage to Thaw, but Thaw was an insanely jealous man who beat her on their honeymoon until she revealed all the details of her former affair with Stanford White. The murder was a scandal. Thaw (a Pittsburgh railroad heir) was twice tried for murder, but in the end he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. In 1926, Thaw (d. 1947) wrote a book called 'The Traitor' in which he attempted to justify killing White. Nesbit (d. 1961) returned to Vaudeville and married, then divorced and finished her life in obscurity. White's reputation suffered for many years because of the circumstances of his death.

White had a special four-car funeral train that left Grand Central Station for St. James, Long Island, where his funeral service was held in St. James Episcopal Church. Present at the services were his old partners. Arrangements had to be made to avoid the curious crowds. So hungry was the public for news of his scandalous death that a false rumor went around that a strange woman dressed in white had fainted in the church and caused a scene. His servants were reported to have wept. He was buried in the cemetery next to the church.