The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1896-08-29
THE GREAT STONE STATUE.

Tue etOuo uc 10 WOrhiuS vi, anu tud. III
one else has any right to it. The mar
bic was given TO him by an individual.
not by the state OF Tennessee. or by any
official Of that stats. John Currie says:
"Upon my request, Mr.. 7. s. Godfrey
OF Knoxville. Tenn, replied that he
would gladly give the donation upon
the representation made as to the Statue
and where it was to be built and that l
was the party who would carve the
same can be seen ic letters Of the gov
ernor of Nebr. In due time the marble
for the Statue was ready for shipment
to me but l conceived the Idea that it
would be very good advertisement for
Tenn and her famous Quarries OF mar
BILE as we'll as Nebraska i: we could ar
range matters SO that an apparent
official presentation could be made OF
this marble from Tenn to Nebr. which
suggestion was gladly taken up and
acted upon by the owner OF the marble.
In due time l procured from the r
Roads free transportation for this mar
BILE, and it was finally shipped 20 my
name for the state OF Nebr."
Mr.. Currie's meaning hides behind
numerous capitals and incomplete SEN
fences, but the average man would con-
clude from this statement that the mar
BILE had been presented to Mr.. Currie by
q Tennessee dealer in marble, who
wished to advertise his wares. The
Journal has conveyed the idea that the
people OF Tennessee 30 loved the people
of Nebras-a that they gave them sew
eral tons OF marble in order that the
statue of Abraham Lincoln concealed
in it might be revealed by JOIN Currie.
Those who care enough about it to
consult file OF the Journal for the last
two years will find repeated puffs Of the
statue Of Lincoln growing under the
hands Of John Currie. 1t was by means
Of these notices that the stone mason
was enabled to get subscriptions from
people too busy to use their own judg
ment on the matter. By means OF
these notices he secured favorable let
tiers from Governor Holcomb, which he
used to convince the Tennessee quarry
owner that John Currie was an artist
instead of a skillful artizan. Governor
Holcomb has had enough experience
with the Journal to make less confid-
ing man suspicious OF the integrity OF
it's criticism, commentator or blame.
but Governor Holcomb's large serenity
and confidence in mankind is deeper
than the Journals duplicity. and he
wrote as many letters of commentator
and introduction as John Currie de-
sired. Blatant persistence on the part
of John Currie secured the marble from
Tennessee, and neither the governor nor
the committee which he appointed can
take it from its present owner.
John Currie has technica. skill. He
has no artistic ability. His letter shows
how dim his intelligence is, how faint
his appreciation OF the ability and cul-
ture necessary to the man who would
make a statue. He might be able to
block out the statue from the model
under the supervision Of the sculptor.
for that work is done by machine. and
requires only the technical knowledge
OF a stone cutter. A sculptor's creative
work is finished when his clay model Is.
He takes a plaster cast Of the clay
model, which is then thrown back into
the clay bin He then gives the cast to
the marble cutter. who measures it aud
selects block Of marble long enough
and wide enough to include parallelo-