The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-03-21

4 GlbItPd iil tbl"b tuiiit! lOI OhENbpi
! skating. While the ever present roller
1uA neei not say more, YOU have
one in the De Smet. 50 YOU know all
about L. y short time ago public sen
tinent vas in favor of roller rinks;
liquor men complained tina. the saloons
were not SO well patroni2ed because the
young men hat, lone 10 the more pep
,iar and enioyalir roller rink. Now
some of the religious papers are begin
ning 10 condemn roller .'batlng, depre'
cate It's delights, and warn young peo-
pie against it. 80 far as car see, the
reason Of this is that some youn,r peo-
pie have been imprudent enough to
carry the sport to excess, thereby inJur-
ing themselves for life. 80 il is over
and over again. We poor human child
rem at The honey pots cannot stop until
We Lave made ourselves sick O, for Il
! little more common sense lii the world
50 that we could use our privileges and
not abuse them.
| The recent 2@d Of February with its
celebration OF the completion Of the
/ Washington monument reminds us of
Il few things in the history Of the tall
est shaft in the world. The capstone
was set in place l0i years and four
months lacking one day after the con
| tinental congress decided that the
father Of his country should have n
memorial of that character. The orig
iDal proposition, however, was for "a
statue, not an obelisk. But the settle
ment of the terms OF peace AMI the
organization Of the new government
left congress no time 10 think of mont
mcnts After Washington had added
eight years in the presidency 10 eight
years as commander in the field, Joint
committee OF congress was created to
report how his distinguished services
c3uld best be commemorated. Tie re-
suit of this WAS that ten DAYS after his
death, Dee. u, 1919, congress resolved
/ That q marble monument be erected to
turv before the subject was again taken
up. In 1888 some citizens OF Washing
ton formed themselves into an aSsoca-
ton To push the matter and invoke the
a.d OF all the people in the United
! States. In 1917 SS7 600 had been raised.
which was sufficient TO commence work
on the monument. In 1Sio congress
authorized the society 10 select from
nl,ii Is f...l. IL.
the monument, which they did, select.
ing a reservation containing upwards
of thirty acres, and which overlooks
M0unt Vernon. The cornerstone of
tie present was laid July 4, ISiS. Hon.
Robt. {. Winthrop, then speaker of the
/ house, delivered the ortltion. Work
went on for six years, when the monl-
ment had reached the height Of lJ2
/ feet. The society had then spent the
! S230,C it had collected and all efforts
/ to get more were unsuccessful Inls7l
/ the approaching centennial directed
public attention to the unfinished mon
ument. AnF"St 2 '~7a lonaress ap-
rropriated $2o0 coo for the WORK. When
the work was again commenced the
plans were altered somewhat i'm order
SO make the height 555 feet, ten times
The base. 1t was then found that the
/ foundation was not sufficient for such
Il weigh, So 20 per cent of the earth was
dug out plecemeal and replaced with
concrete. Tlis work was finished MAY.
( i5o, then the building of the monu-
ment was resumed. The apex of the
monument Is 555 feet inches high
above the sill and 572 feet above {! G
natural surface of the ground. The
Whole Of the exterior is built Of white
marble from MARYLAND. The backing
is OF granite. The marble blocks are
two feet square and four feet long. AT
tie base the monument measures .l5
feet II inches on q side, and the walls
are Is feet ! inch thick at the base
leaving the chamber - feet square. In
the roof there are two windows on each
side. Below the roof there are no open-
ings Of any kind except two doors at
the base Of the structure, each sixteen
feet high, and s,rinounted by the
/ Egyptian emblem of eternity 49, the
winged globe. Each globe bears the
letter ". This ls the only sign of
ornamentation on the monument.
NJ. NJ. o.
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