Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-10-29
Shall the 0belisk go Home7

The erection of monument oven
I the grave of Commander Gorringc, the
/ engineer whose skill and genius achey-
ed the difficult feat of transporting
Cleopatra's Needle from Egypt TO this
/ country, renews the apprehension IN
/ the public mind that the obelisk cannot
be made by art or skill To withstand
the disintegrating effects of our severe
winters. Indeed should the famous
monolith continue to stand in Central
! Park. there is little doubt that long be-
fore the beautiful memorial reared
above the bones of Commander Cor
ringe shall have begun TO show the
stains of time this grand tablet of an
unknown time and people will have so
far succumbed To the inevitable decay
that it will be but a sorry monument of
the forgotten civilization of which it
is one of the few remaining records
the centuries have left us. Crumbling
and decaying as ii is, the Obelisk, Il
stranger in strange cline, stands now
a mute and melancholy instance of
modern thoughtlessness and modern
vandalism. When it was torn by phil
istine hands from harmonious sur
roundings to become the object OF Il
few day 5 wonder in Il sOrdld ANA I'M
sympathetic city of new world, no
one paused to reflect that the change
meant the quick destruction of work
that not even the centuries could af-
feet in its home by the Nile. But,
aroused 10y the futility of the attempts
to stay the disintegration, few men
have begun TO consider the belated
question of whether in justice TO our
selves as well as for the preservation
of the stone it would not be wisdom TO
transport Cleopatra's Needle back to
the land of Khedive. Among other
reasons why this should be done, Col.
Charlie Long, in the current number of
the North American Review, presents
one that is probably new to the general
public.
Col. Long aflirms that the obelisk did
not come to us rs a free gift from Tew-
fix Khediye. but was obtained 10y the
free use of gold and the exercise of
other powerful pressure. The people
of Alexandria and all Egypt, he says,
were reused to indignation 10y the pro-
pOsal TO remove il. and were restrained
from violent opposition only in defer
ence to the wishes of the Egytim gov
eminent. The United States govern
ment was kept not only in ignorance
of the hostility of the people, and the
state of public feeling, but also of the
of the khcdiye himself, |
which was clearly shown i'm his reply |
to the interested consular agent, who !
lid not scruple to employ the authori- |
~ of his Office to force the khedlye To |
Tewfk said: MI. Consul. |
take it; my people complain; am de-
lighted to see that they appreciate |
-hese antiquities: ! agree with them |
hat they are of great historical value
% us. but | do not wish to offend the |
treat Republic. This is not the
language, remarks Col Long, "of one
Who makes voluntary gift. but one
made under compulsion, and its acqui-
,ition was neither creditable to our na-
ion nor To our day. In arguing in
behalf of the return of the obelisk
Iol. Long says:
This would be an act worthy of a
generous people. 1t would he in the
way of the eternal fitness of things,
md rebuke To that insolence of mon
y which seeks notoriety and place 10y
ttaching its name to enterprises which
ttract the attention and applause of
he populace.
All the circumstances seem to point
he fact that the national glory now
to us in connection with
leopatra's needle lies in the prompt I
ess with which we may anticipate its
bsolute decay and retuun it to its !
astern home. 1t would indeed be IAN ]
ct worthy of a generous people. -
)CtfOi T,iJitaf. ,,