Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-04-30
THE HORSE & RIDER.
ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK OF The LEE
EQUESTRIAN STATUE.
II VIII BE Brought Here Soon ana Dr~""
to the Pedestal by tho
People.

TO the Pedestal by the
People.
The oonas,rlan statue Of General r. Z. Lee ar
rived in New York yesterday on the steamer
othoIIo, which left Hsyre April 1871, ana "iii 10
shipped 10 Richmond as soon as arrahsen0N~
can be made.
II will reach Richmond ia four or nVe Gays
unless unforeseen difficulties present 'noA'
selves. and will arrive ria the PennsyiVAnia
railroad and the Richmond, FrederlcksOufs aH'
Potomac railroad.
FHFE FREIGHT.
Through the kindness and influences ., .drS nj, u
A. Taylor, traf1ic manager OF inc hIcb.iioni, ~,
Fredericksburg and Potomac Ioao, tno e'n-Io ~
will be transported f'es Of freight chetses -
both these roads and will be unioeoeI d;a,,ro y. 20
Elba freight depot. THIS is out h1''o u''''''e'
from the site OF the monument
THE POPULAR WISH.
Tho nuhl,c desiro seems 70 be 70 follow the
precedent set when Weshingions statue WIS
brought mere and when the wagon 'hoI9os 49, -,
Embarrassed and ropes were aiacneu 10 sIe
vehicle and manned by hundreds OF yohnk II.n' ~
A thousand Rfawart veterans and sons oi vS'e-
rsns aro ready 10 perform similar uuty gu
tni8 occasion, aud would lBo 70 draw the wasVh W.,
boaring the statue down Broad street 10 iH,n, IN,
down ftith 10 Frarklin and MP tTanKhu 10 ,Io ,i
u . 81.
hour. The services OF band Cf music "0III
DO appropriate, and Mr. Marx Mittelforter o@leIs @
TO decorate the wagon. IL there ~ 'obu 'so. -.
will be- sufficient volunteering 70 guarantee tnss s
the undertaking will be successful no dcup' 'u'9
course will be adopted.
TWO DIG PIECES.
Two portions Of the statue will arrive IN large
boxes ct least nino fec; square, ana tne-e q.
course will te eexceei ngly incommodious, sh0uld
the statue not bs unpacEed untl. taken 70 sno .lo
20 groat 80 he statue Is hollow tho weight is ap-
parenuy small, being only aoout2 5,WJ poundS
MI. BURGwYS.
No definite news has been received By the Ice
Monument Association from hr. C.. J. l. BUR.
gwyn, fha engineer who visited Paris 20 attehu
TO the packing Of the monument, but mere -
every reason to believe that TO will DO IN hlcn-
Inond very shortly. and IL 10 probable that ne ls
on the seanOT.
THE ERECTION.
In case OF Mr. Bnrgwyn not arriving IN trne
some other skiliul local engineer will attend %
the raising OF the statue upon the PEDESTAL
though this Is not supposed 10 be m opeThtlOh
requiring worry great skill or experience
OF course tho parts Of the statue will have 10
be raised separately and by means OF defIlck-.
These Mr. NetherwoOd, the contractor Tor INC
stone-Work OF the pedestal, already has IN place.
PRECAUTIONS.
The committee In charge Of tho statue has
adopted every measure 20 have IL shipped Win
the utmost celebrity consistent with its safety,
and Immediately upon It's arrival IN RICHMOND
stops Will be taken for its erection as soon as
possible.
Alessrs. Wells, Fargo & Co, express agents OF
New York and paris, and by whom the statue
was brought from Europe 10 America, Will at
tend to its shpment 20 Richmond.
Tho statue IS consigned 70 the Governor OF
Virginia.
The statue in New York.
A special telegram to this paper from New
York saye:
Tho bronze equestrian statue Of General
Robert 4. Lee, the work Of the well-known fari-
elan sculptor, Antoine Mercie, arrived here yes
terday on tho WilsOn line steamship OtheAo
from Havre.
Tho Otheno IN consequence Of her wharf
being occupied by another steamer couli not
oocx yesterday, but will do 20 this afternoon.
Tho statue will then be shipped 70 Richmond,
Va, whore It will be unveiled on May g h.
All the custom-house formslitles about inc
admission OF tho statue free OF duty have beeh
amicably adjusted. and there Will be no delay
iD chipping 1t to its destination.
Tho statue was for months on exhibition IN
Paris, where it won the admiration OF thOusands
Of Americans. Lee IL represented In me lulI
uniform Of his rank seated upon horse.
The statue is considered by those who saw u
on exhibition masterpiece. IL IS ABOUT twenty
one feet hgh and twenty-three feet across. IL 10
estimated tn8t IL cost about sl"OVO
a Letter from Mr.. Burgwyn.
Under date Of Paris, April 18Th, Mr. c. T. K.
Burgwyn, the engineer employed by the Leo
Monument Association 20 construct the granite
pedestal from plans Of the French architect,
whose sssis lance Mercie eOughtD and TO Inspect
aud pass upon the statue, writes 10 personal
friend hero 6s follows:
received a copy OF an article In the Dispatch,
In which certain criticisms were made on tne
pedestal Of the Lee monument and detcr-
mined 10 post myself thoroughly on inns SUD
fect Accordingly / made a nylng trip ana
noted euuN9frihu
statues in Milan, Genoa. Pisa, Rome + lorenzo,
Venice, Vienna, Berlin, Cologne and faris.
ulso studied carefully Tho siatuary In ouch
palaces "a the Louvre the Luxembourg, mo
Brera, the Vatican, the Capitoline Rome', the
Tmryyi, the Pitt, ana the National Gallery
(Berlln. aud boldly and trntbfuly sfirm lhas
the pedestal OF the Lea monument 10 iar supe-
nor 10 the pedestal OF any equestrian statue In
theee cities, and further, in my opinion, the
statue the horse nnd rider, Of General Lee COM
pares most faVOrably with that OF tredeIick the
Great In Berlin at the head Of the Boulevard
Unter-den-Iiude which IL unlNcrsally con-
ceded TO be one Of the finest IN Europe.
TIE PEDESTAL.
lam icnoran! Of what has been done In Rich
mond about the Lee pedestal except What IN
formation your letter contains and one or two
short clippings. There Is 'his TO be sald; III ihs
northeastern OF the four columns there was an
abrupt change OF curvature at one point Many
people labor under the impression mat the lne
OF a column should go up straight ms - IN
correct The line first curves ouiwards, men
curves inwardS and reyeTses noar the capital
In fhis particular column where the FIRST change
Of curvature should occur the change was 100
much: and 10 was such that when viewed IRON
certain positions Il appeared enormously
exaggerated. Nnen viewed from other po-
sitions Il did not 20 appear A similar
detect II II can DO called by 80 serious name,
exists In Nil tho exterior columns that support
tho dome OF the Pantheon al Paris. Ia Ihcl,
when critically examined, tho columns OF most
% 30 % bgilliu y the Continent eNllllb
very great defects, which must have e1lsiei IN
tho original structures An equestrian statue OF
Napoleon III in hilGn, tho horse ana ridor ap-
proximating the size OF the Lee horse and rlIer,
rests upon miserable brick pedestal not moro
than four feet high. In the statue OF CaNOur,
when Is quite celebrated, ran my nnger IN BE-
tween the lnterstces In the seams OF the courses
OF tbs masonry. Another equestrian blatuo hdu
the masonry beautifully polished In parts OF IL,
but there were large discolorauons IN the s'one
itself ,
Tho statue Of Lee IA good lSoness, but you
must recollect that there are certain mechAnl-
cal requirements in castings that have 70 DO oD-
served.
THE COLUMNS.
All that has boen done by the Lee Monument
Association since the departure for Europe OF
Mr. Burgwyn has been % agree with Mr. Neither
wood, the contractor for tue stone-wors, that
after the unvelling the faulty colilpnS shail 10
removed aud perfect ones substituted.
That there arc imperfecuons dn symmetrV) IN
some OF the columns is now admitted. How II
happened Mr. NetherwOod has already clearly
explained in this paper
The columns are purely ornamental. Iney
are not expected % bear any OF tho weight OF the
statue. Asa whole the pedestal Is very beautl-
ful Nearly every one who sees 1t speaks ad-
miringly OF IT,
OAKWOOD MEMORlAL-DAY.
Arrangements for Its Proper Observance
Being Made
The oakwood Memorial Association mot IN
the brick school house at St Johns yesterday
afternoon 10 make arrangements for the sp-
proaching Decorstiou-dsy-Asy 10th
Mrs. A. y. stokes is president and Mrs c.
Poytress secretary OF tho association Ihere