Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-07-08
m. G.t,v,bur< aenument.

The correspondent OF the n. L. Times
writes from Gettysburg of the Soldiers
National Monument:
The monument now approaching COM
pletion and 10 be dedicated on the LIST of
July, is the most imposing memento OF
the civil war anywhere in the country,
and will not be finished at a cost of less
than $50, 900, although the original esti-
mate was but $25, 900. 1t is from designs
byJ. G. Batterscn, of Hartford, Conn.,,
who also furnished the clay models of
the statuary, which were worked out in
marble at Rome, by Rudolph Rogers.
The superstructure is sixty feet high,
consisting of massive pedestal, twenty
five feet square at the base. and the die
and cap crowned with q three-quarter
globe, on which stands colossal statue
Of the Genius of Liberty, holding in her
right hand the victor's wreath ofiaurel,
and clasping with the left a sheathed
sword. Projecting from: the angles of
the pedestal are four buttresses, support
| ing the same number of allegorical
statues, representing War, History.
Peace and Plenty. War is personified
by an American soldier, who, resting
from the conflict, relates to the History
the story of the battle the monument
commentaries, while History, with
STYLUS and tablet, is chiseled as record
| ing the achievements of the field. Peace
is symbolised by statue of q cog-wheel,
hammer and chisel, while Plenty is rep
resented bya female figure with sheaf
of wheat and fruits, as emblematic of
peace anu abundance as the soldiers
crowning triumph. The buttresses on
which these statues-which are all CO.
lossal-are seated, have the sides orna-
faI haS-roliofs m m nnienn with
the idea embodied in the statue. The
upper die and cap of the monument are
circular. and. on the die is circlet Of
bronze stars, made up of one for each
State having dead in the cemetery. The
eornice and plinth above the main die Of
the pedestal are octagonal and heavily
moulded, and on the plinth rests an
octagonal moulded base, bearing upon
| its face the national arms in high relief.
The panel of the main die, on the west
side, between the statues, has engraved
on it:
GETTYSBURG,
July l, 2,S,
1863.
While the corresponding panel on the
opposite side has the following frGm
Lincoln's dedicatory address: ut is for
us, the living, rather to be dedicated
here to the unfinished work that they
have thus far SO nobly carried on. 1t is
rather for US to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us-that
from these honOred dead we take in
creased devOtion-that we here highly
resolve that the dead shall not have died
| in vain; that the nation shall, under
God, have new birth of freedom, and
that the Government of the people, by
the people, and for the people, shall not
perish from the earth. GLineoln Nov.
Is, 1885,
The monument itself is executed in
granite and the five statues in marble,
SO that when completed it will have the
same general effect as the cemetery in
which it stands. But it is not yet I'm
ished. nor win It be by Thursday uext,
for Peace and Plenty have not yet al.
rived from italy, and of the materfais
now on the ground only the pedestal
with the buttresses and the statues OF
War and History have been put in
place. Mr.. Wills, however, Is sanguine
/ that, except the two non-arrived statues,
all will he finished in time for the
final ceremonies, and as he is giving his
personal attention to the work, there is
reason to believe that he will not be dis
appointed. 1t is impossible, of course
to indulge in ally minute criticism o.
the monument in its present unfinished
state, but it can be said that in the ex.
preston of eager recital thrown into the
face of War, and in the absorbed listen.
ing aspect and attitude of History, the
sculptor has commercially worked Out
the idea of the designer. 1t is lament
able, however, that the marble of both
these statues has been badly disfigure6
during the passage across the ocean, in
, consequence OF gross earelessness OF
package and stowage. and, unsightiy as
they now appear, it is feared that sems
of the stains can never be wholly eradi
Gated.