Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-04-06

served from afar, both north and south
its white granite dome rising in stately
dignity above the trees. the most CON
spicuous object on the northern end OF
the metropolis of the New World.
While the Grant tomb. as a BUILDING
| is practically complete today, after an
expenditure of over half million dol
| lars, the free gift of our citizens, it by
no means realizes the complete ideals
of those who have had it in charge.
Five years hence il will be grandel
| than it is today. Ella borate pieces OF
bronze statuary are to be placed about
| the outside, its top is to be graced with
q large allegorical group, and the gar
dens and surroundings are to be gradet!
and developed.
| But much more imposing than thess
additions to the Grant monument as il
stands today, is the magnificent fiigh'
of steps. with triumphial arch. leading
| from the river clear up the slope to thu
Riverside drive. This when built vii
| give the tomb a finished aspect from
| the river and will add an element OF
permanent dignity which the RiVersid
| drive now lacks.
| Equally important with this. in {;
consideration of the last resting plac,
Of the great captain of the war, is th'
| fact that it is directly in the pathway
| of the city's northward progress. Thi-
monument has been built for all time
A generation hence the Riversid,
drive will be in the center of com
| pletely builtup residential section
| Fifty years from now it may be in the
centre of New York
| The story Of how this tomb was built
| how the site was selected and just VIII!
| General Grant should he buried in New
York is interesting and instructive
He was essentially a Western man an(
! had spent his youth in one Of the Ohio
! river counties. to which he was &C
credited when he went as n cadet t.
| West Point After his retirement from
| the army he settled in the West. an6
| the opening of the war found him il
| Galena, in one of the extreme north.
western corners of Illinois. His famil,
connections through his marriage Were
mainly Western.
! Yet when General Grant retired from
| public life he unhesitatingly adopted
New York City as his home, and it ha!
remained the home of the Grant family
even since.
| General Grant had given careful
! thought to the place where he should b.
| buried. He was essentially soldier
| fond of the military life and of military
| friends and surroundings, and he Otter
| spoke with affection of West Point, the
| place where he imbbed the principles OF
war chat he afterward put into operation
upon a gigantic scale. Here, at the
| school from which every great soldier
in the war on either side had been grad
uated it was his first desire that his
bones should rest.
| But curious story is told in connec-
| ton with this 1t is said that while Gen
| eral Grant and Mrs. Grant were in Eu-
rope they paid a visit to the tomb OF
| Ferdinand and Isabella. The thought of
| the ashes of the royal couple sleeping
| side by side through the centuries APP
| pealed to the devoted husband. and. turn
| ing to his wife. he said: Julia that is
| the way we should lie in death"
Upon his return to the United States
General Grant investigated this subject
| He found that there was a regulation
governing the United States Military
| Academy which would prevent the re-
mains of his wife being placed beside
| him. Otherwise there is hardly a doubt
| that the Grant tomb. instead of being in
New York City today. would be in the
grounds of the great military school on
the Hudson. Here is the memoranda on
! the subject left by General Grant for the
+. guidance of his family in the selection of
his last resting place:
west Point prefer this above others
! but for the fact that my wife could not
| be placed beside me there.
''Galena or some place in Illinois-Be-
cause from that state | received my first
generals commission.