There's something missing from the carved marble figure of Jim Bowie on the 60-foot shrine to Texas heroes that stands in front of the Alamo. It's the tip of his nose. The disfigured face of Bowie, among the best known of the 189 defenders of the Alamo, was discovered Monday when members of a wreath-bearing procession took part in an event known as the Pilgrimage to the Alamo. Repairs are expected to begin in two weeks, after a grandstand is removed from Alamo Plaza, officials say. The solution? Glue. Although vandalism is considered a possibility, officials also say the marble might have flaked off. ``After 50 years, if that's the only damage, that's not too bad,'' said Alamo Curator Emeritus Charles J. Long said. Long, a sculptor and curator of the Pompeo Coppini-Waldine Tauch Studios, where the Cenotaph was made, discovered the damage Feb. 12, while walking by the Alamo on his way to eat lunch at a nearby restaurant. ``I saw his nose was missing as I walked by, and I looked around and found pieces of it on the ground,'' Long said. Long informed officials of the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department and current Alamo Curator Steve Beck, but the damage did not become public knowledge until Monday. ``The tip of the nose is in good shape. It just needs to be glued back on,'' Long said. Long said the tip can be glued with ordinary epoxy cement. Marble dust will be mixed with the cement to fill in gaps.
