Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1894-01-05
A PATRIOTIC SHRINE.
W!A!sHiNGToN's gRgHrl4AcR 1p
NHAvE A M6N0MENT.

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" WAsHlNGTON's lkR,THpAAotp Tb
NHAvE A 1I6N0MENT.
Two lea. d rs s:s Under considefstlccs-
One is q Building of Graniytss tteee
Thers is to BIZ anSshsr iAkSa shrine - On III Il.
historic; Potomac s!ThS birthplace OF
Washington, aas Wake6eld,' 'WSjSStmo;rrei'::
land County, Va, istinally, to be marked
by an, appropriate monMment,.>ssaSvakt-
/ field 10 seventy. miles dawn the river
from this city, stys a Washington letter
to'the New York Times. All that re,
mains Of the house in which Washington
was born 10 ruined hearthstone and
chimney. Old maps Of Virginia call at.
tention to the site BY the. inscription:
"The Birthplace Of Washington ,;...,t
The idea Of erecting 4 memorial on
this historic spot was advanced many
years ago, but for. q long time the Con-
gress displayed the utmost indifference
to it. Finally, in June, 1879, an ap.
the erection of a suitable monument,
and the Secretary of State was authorised
to see that the money was properly ex-
pended.
1t appears that nothing was done to
carry out the wishes of the Congress un-
til tho following year, when Mr.. Evarts,
then Secretary of the State, made q visit
20 Wakefield.
Mr.. Evarts submitted five drawings Of
the proposed commemorative. structure.
These plans contemplated a building of
granite with q tiled roof and q bronze
tablet bearing an inscription, bronze
doors, and windows SO arranged with
bronze screens that the interior of the
building might be plainly seen from the
The neglected burial place of the i'm
mediate ancestry of Washington, close
to the homestead, suggested to Mr..
Evarts the protection of their remains
from further exposure and dishonor. He
provided in the. plans for securing in the
outer walls of the structure the ancient
tablets and hcadstones to be taken from
the neighboring burial ground.
Nothing more was heard Of the matter
until February, 1881. when Congress
appropriated $50. QUO for the purpose of
marking the birthplace. The act. pro.
vided that this sum was to purchase the
old homestead and to erect suitable
monument theron. Under this stimulus
the State Department brought about the
transfer of the property to the Govern
ment, and also obtained the right of way
for road to suitable landing place on
the river.
General Casey of the Engineers, who
had not then attained his present position
as the head of the Engineer Corps, main.
tained that, in the interest Of tie public
generally. a landing place on the river
was an absolute necessity, Without
such a landing plaoe the materials for the
monument would have to be hauled over
q very iufcrior road for ut least six miles,
and the cost Of this long haul would, Of
course, be included in the cost of con.
etruction.
Surveys we're made and estimates fur
nished, but nothing was done toward
constructing the memorial. In April,
1884, General Casey submitted plan for
wharf, to be constructed of cast iron
screw piles. with a timber deck. The
plan provided that the dock should be
1850 feet long by 16 feet wide, the head
to be 40 by GO feet. This great length
was made necessary by the shallow con.
dition of the river opposite Wakefield.
Nine weeks of inactivity followed upon
the preparation of this plan. At its last
session Congress approved the plan and
authorized the OK penditure of $11. 1856
for the construction of the wharf, out of
the original appropriation of $4,000.
The uncxpended balance of that appro-
priation is Ss4,7l2. SO, by deducting the
amount specifically allotted to the wharf,
there remains $l5.516 for the monument
proper.
Colonel John NJ. Wilson, United States
Army, the present Superintendent of
Public Buildings and Grounds, 10 now in
charge of the undertaking, and proposes
to push it to completion. The contract
for the construction Of the wharf has
been awarded to /. II. Hathaway s Co.,
of Philadelphia. The contract price 10
$3.50. Work on the wharf must begin
May next, and be completed by August
Nothing will be done toward the con-
struction of the monument until the
wharf. 10 completed. In the meantime
the plan of the proposed memorial will
be decided upon. M
So far as can be learned, the ideas ad-
vanced by Mr.. Eva,ts thirteen years ago
do not meet with general approval.
Colonel Wilson is of the opinion that
the proposed building would hardly be
appropriate. To his mind more rug
ged memorial, befitting the character Of
Washington, would be more appropriate.
He said to the writer that If the matter
were left to his judgment, he would lay
In the space occupied by the ruins of the
house solid foundation of cement, and
on this place monster piece of granite,
to be transported from some quarry. On
this stone he weuld place the proper in
scriptions.
''such memorial" said Colonel vii.
son, "would last for ages and would
never require any oare. It would be q
common sense memorial, and have no
doubt of its acceptability to the massea
Of the people"