New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-05
WAR CORRESPONDENTS MEMORIAL.
THE MONUMENT IN CHAMPIONS BATTLE GAP
soVTH MOUNTAIN MARYLAND.

THE MONUMENT IN CRAMProN's BATTLE GAP,
soVTH MOUNTAIN. MARYLAND.
The Army correspondents and artists memorial
monument Is up to the battlements forty feet from
the ground. and the tower. nine feet higher. is to
be finished by the last Of this month flagstaff
Will then be permanently built In the tower and
vane into the capped buttress at the other side
tie vane representing a pen which has fractured
a sword.
Arrangements are well forwarded to dedicate the
structure probably in october. Two OF George AL
fred Townsend's houses. the Lodge and Askelon,
lave been altered to entertain the correspondents
These houses only few rods from the monu
ment. which is at the crossroads summit in Cramp-
tons battlegap. South Mountain. Maryland. The
Lodge has been made into a refectory. with
veranda seventy-fve feet long and twelve feet
wide. only 200 feet from the memorial On the
opposite side OF the gap. near the memorial, are
Askelon and Mount Gath. with twenty sleeping
In the Hall and the Den other houses at
Gapland. are more than forty rooms. The VII
lagos Of Burkettsville and Gapland Station. each
one mile down the mountain. have also accommo-
dations
The signal mountain overlooking Antietam battle
field shows Its bald summit five miles from the
correspondents monument. From a rock over
hanging the gap can be seen on clear days the
Mansanutten Mountain Sheridan's battlefield,
OF Cedar Creek The picnic tower Cetoctin
Mountain Is in clear view overhanging the Monoc-
field; electric railroad to be opened this fall
winds over Cetoctin Mountain from Frederick City
to Middletown. The latter place is the perspective
Of the memorial arch The lofty eyrie of Elk
ridge, running out to Harper's Ferry. conceals
John Browns rendezvous for his band. which is
only five miles from the memorial, and Harpers
Ferry is eight.
At two miles from the monument South Mountain
dominates the while country. reaching its highest
level Of LOO feet. The spot where the monument
stands is about 1000 feet high. and the roads are
piked with stone from both valleys. The Bati-
more and Ohio train at Il 80 a. from New-York
connects and reaches Gapland at the same even
ing, allowing hour In Washington city.
The Army Correspondents Memorial for celebrity
and cheapness has no rival 1t conceived last
December and was begun April IA. 1886 Though
effective the Washington Arch In NewYork
City, only $500 Of which nearly all has been
paid in.
The memorial is a double-stoned feudal gateway,
with one arch on the ground Of sixteen feet height
and span and OF horseshoe shape. constructed OF
red Hummestown stone. each stone three feet
through
The three Roman arches above. each nine feet
high. of blue limestone from Winchester or
Cedar Creek battlefield quarries, Virginia
As Pennsylvania and Virginia supply the cut
stone the body of the monument is OF Maryland
or South Mountain rubbIe stone in large blocks. the
whole pointed red.
In the spandrels of the large arch shields
containing the words Listen and Hasten"
which are heads of Mercury and Poetry.
Panels Of rose brick halfway up the gate contain
,he carved words war Correspondents IN large
letters. Above the upper arches are two horse
In niche nine feet high abreast of the upper
arches Is white figure Of Orpheus. nearly six
feet high, sheathing sword and playing a Pan
The dates of the battle in this gap and of the
me Are on cornerstone September T.
bronze are expected to be put in the upper arches.
presented ted by their friends
the red from South Mountain east OF Harris
Inc rear OF the gateway contains two tablets OF
whitish-gray Bedford Indiana stone. OF which
ern correspondents: the other contains the
names Of Confederate correspondents and Of the
sketch artists Of the illustrated newspapers In the
4 few names Of literary men and artists honor
Colonel John \. COckerl, drummer boy in the war.
afterward writer: Porte Crayon." who made plct
artist in the Western armies. though soldier and
General Charles G. Halpne or Miles OReilly." The
torian. Is also enrolled
Reporters who went out to do local battle work
from adjacent newspapers are not generally IN
serted Henry VI. Stanley probably not cor
immediately at the close and developei It 50 forcby
that he is particularly inscribed. Part OF tablet is
M oT 5 norm r1r any end of thu fonwed by
a from war correspondents ballad, IS the
artists 1915. whose. tolls cheered the campa
thrilled the freside. educated provinces OF rustcs
into bright nation Of readers and gave incentive
to describe distant and explore dark lands.
Erected by subscription. 1896.
The south end contains extracts to show the
from the times of Joshua. Thucyddes and Keno
phon through Froissart and Philippe de Commines
down TO J. Franklin. John Trrmbull and MacGahan.
The lettering Of these tablets cost nearly 500 The
most extended list Of writer's represents New-fork
newspaper which has not given one cent to defray
the expense
This is the only memorial OF its kind to immortal
lie the activity Of Letters amid arms. While build
ing IL several OF the eminent correspondents such
as Thomas ". Knox and Charles c. CONN ("Carle-
toni have died With few exceptions the cor
respon, ents and artists. North and South. have
aided the task with hearty encouragement.
The effect Of the structure in the only natural
gateway Of the long mountain FOR space OF twelve
miles Is already striking. Its riEidity. originality
and simplicity in the mountain pass and It's open
ings which reveal distant mountains and lovely
valleys and the movements OF moon. stars and
clouds have the apparition Of A grim sun dial or
stonehenge relic as the frequent traveller comes
suddenly upon II. s,.
About a hundred cubic yards Of filling were re-
uuired TO give the memorial the fun elevation or the
gan as the roadway In the summit was not a. lowed
70 be ofstrcted by 1t. and had 20 he placed upon
an extended terrace at the pitch or the mountain