Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-02-10
The Famous Washington Monument.

III tle CITY Oh w asIlnglOn, HlOHu-
ment to the memory of the Father of
his Country" is one ofthe most singu
lar to be found anywhere in the annals
of the republic.
The subject opens in 1888, when con-
gress unanimously decided that an
equestrian statute to be erected at the
national capital, and inscribed as fol-
lows:
'The United States. in congress as
sembled, ordered this statute to be
erected, in the year of our Lord 1888.
in honor of George Washington, the
illustrious commandeI-in-chie of the
United States of Anne erica during the
war which indicated and secured their
liberty, sovereignty and independence"
Our minister at Versailles was in
structed to engage the best European
artists for the work hi 1896, five years
after the foundation of the present cap
ital, General Washington, at the solicit
tatlOn of L'Enfant, engineer of the city,
and some personal friends, designated
as an appropriate site for "a monument
to the American Revolution" mot to
HIMSELF the spot directly south of the
Executive Mansion, at the western ex-
tremity Of the Mall. His death in 1899
revived the question, Mr.. Macon, of
North Carolina, called the Gather of
the house" urged in congress that to
provide for such a monument would
be establishing an injudicious prece-
dent.
However a monument was agreed
on, and President Adams requested
Mrs. Washington to permit the remov-
al Of her husbands body thereto. To
this she replied: Taught by great
example have had so long before me
never to oppose my private wishes to
the public will, / must consent to the
request made by congress- and in doing
this, | need not, | cannot, say what II
sacrifice of individual feeling l make
to a sense of public duty"
The next monumental manifestation
Is feeble. 1t is a speech by Buchanan,
then young member, trying to arouse
his associates enthusiasm. Then follow
a series of abortive efforts to disinter,
inter and renter the body Of Washing
to III score of places, one of them he
ing under the capitol. AT last some
citizens Of Washington, headed by
Chief Justice Marshall, organized a
society for the erection Of Il suitable
monument, and by 1917 they had ac-
cumulated enough funds to justify a
beginning. Calls were issued for de-
signs, and finally that of Robert Mills
was accepted. A rotunda of vast pro-
portions, wherein 4 labyrinth of mas
coin
with allegorical relieves; on its walls,
historic paintings; in its inches ashes
of American patriots; above magnifi-
cent galleries, rich in architectural
beauty; whence, gazing into the crypt
beneoth, should be described with its
mysterious art, the colossal statute of
the great hero-white and silent-sur-
rounded by the men who having in
life drawn their inspirations from him,
stood to pay eternal homage; and over
all, crowned with a star, emblem Of his
glory in sublime grandeur. the obelisk
was to lift its superb bead six hundred
feet in the sunshine and moonlight.
Such was the monument designed to
portray to coming generations three
elements of George Washington's char
acter-maiesty, simplicity, plainess.
On the 4th of July, 1913, the corner
stone was laid, and the ceremonies
correspondent to the Importance of the
occasion. President Polk, his cabinet
the supreme court judges, congress,
diplomats, political, literary and social
celebrities, military and naval officers.
state delegations and representations
hn ( In oh 10 M
Creek and Sawbridge Indian tribes
formed part of the glittering procession
that filed under the triumphal archie ss
and waving banners making gay the
streets
The cornerstone of the m0numt Mt
was block Of marble weighing 24,500
pounds, quarried and presented by
Thomas Lymington, of Baltimore, Md.
Robert c. Winthrop delivered the ad-
dress, and b. b. Master, of the Gre nd
Lodge of Freemasons in the district, Il
world-famed Mason, replied. He wore
the apron and sash, and used the gavel,
worn and used by Washington when he
founded the capitol, Before separat-
ing, each guest was presented with a
piece of corner stone.
In the thirty-two years which have
elapsed since the magnificent beginning,
eighty-one memorial stones to be set
as panels along the interior staircase
have accumulated. Among the most
notable of those from abroad may be
mentioned n block of granite AleXan-
drian Library, Egypt, an ancient Egypt
ian head in relief, a block from the tenn
Pile of Carthage, block from Mount
Nesuvius, block from the temple of