The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-05-08
sENNINGroN BATTLE.
Finishing the Monument-An Imposing
Observation-Disclosures Incidents.

MISUNDERSTANDING Incidents.
The Bennington correspondent of the
Troy Daily Times, writes that paper UNI
date of May 5th:
The work which W. II. Ward of Lowell,
Mass, contracted to do in erecting the
Bennington battle monument will be
completed in two or three days. The
masons for number of weeks have been
engaged in finishing the cementing of the
interior of the structure and putting in
substantial stone floors. The lightning
rod runs down the inside of the monu-
ment and leads to the bottom of a well
thirty-four feet deep. A stairway is to
be put in, but it is not yet decided
whether it will be of wood or iron. The
Monument Association has sufficient
funds to put in wooden stairway, but a
bill is before Congress and has passed
the Senate for money to build an iron
stairway. The Association will probably
wait while to ascertain the fate of the
bill. A number of acres of land will
have to be properly leveled and graded
and several houses removed before the
monument will be dedicated. The ex-
pense of this undertaking, however, will
be borne by the State of Vermont
When all distractions to the view have
will stand out in bold relief-simple,
graceful, grand. Seemingly it is per-
feet success as work of art. 1t pleases
the eye and produces an agreeable feeling
that leads one to look long and frequent
ly at its charming curve-lines, which con
stantly change the direction of the outline
but so gradually that ii. is difficult to de-
termine their beginning or end. As orig
inally suggested by Prof! Truman Bart
lett, the well-knOwn artist, the right an
gle corners of the shaft where the sides
meet, and also at all windows and other
openings, the stone is finished i'll half
inch draft lines or arTis; that is, it is fin
ished smoothly and along these lines the
stone is pitched off and brought on line
with Joints of ashlar, so that arris and
Joint come to one plane. This device
adds much to the artistic beauty of the
shaft. 1t breaks what otherwise might
be a hardness of lines at the corners and
helps to give the column an airiness and
gracefulness that constitute one of its
most agreeable qualities. The sharpness
of outline is in no way diminished by
this arrangement while it gives an added
ease to the whole structure and what
might be termed graceful movement,
for the eye is carried thereby involunta-
rily from the base to the apex even when
the finished line itself has disappeared,
melting away imperceptablya as the height
increases.
All the fine qualities of the monument
are seen to the best advantage when look
ing at it from the east, just as sun has
sunk behind the high western hills and
the sky is thickly streaked with bright
lines of radiance. The flaming back
ground brings out the wonderful sym
metTy of the shaft and gives it pOise
and gracefulness that has never been sur
passed in any other structure of equal
massiveness and height.
Prof. Bartlett recommended the entasis
of the structure, and it is the first appli-
cation of it in modern monument. The
elongated top is creation of Prof. DIN
l.. Warner, the sculptor. Nearly all the
other points of the structure were de-
signed by Prof. J. Phi. Rim of Boston.
The view from the upper landing is grand
and impressive On one hand lies the
teeming valley of the Walloomsac, with
the shining river rolling to the sea. Bold
hills rise on every hand, crowned with
patches of old and sturdy trees or vast
sweeps of forest, and far off mountain
ranges, outlining their desolate peaks on
the sky, fill out a perspective in which
the grand is seldom more strikingly pic.
tured.
A large proportion of the strangers
who go to Bennington visit the monu'
ment. Sometimes surprising amount
of ignorance is exhibited by them in his
torical matters For instance, one gen.
tleman wanted to know if the battle OF
Bennington was fought during the revo
luton or during the war of the rebellion
/, Another had never heard of Cen Stark
the immortal hero of the battle. Blu
one lady, member of a travelling the
atrical troupe, has borne off the palm foi
ignorance of the true purpose of thu
monument. She supposed the structure
was simply huge gravestone, erected I,
mark the resting places of those W no fel
in battle. The actress was showll,
dressed, and her brass jewery woult
have sufiiced for the ransom of an Afri
can king. Tipping her head back unit
/ it rested ON her shoulder blades, sh'
slowly surveyed the 30S feet of masonry
l from the foundation to the tip of thu
star, and then closely examined tn
, ground around the shaft. 'Why, don
, notice any graves about here. Were tn
soldiers buried under that tall thingP
, said she, pointing three-ringed finge
! to the monument. Some of her com
, panious 'audibly'' smiled at the sim
plicity of the remark, and the color
I the lady's face quickly assumed the hu
9 of an over-ripe tomato.