The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-03-20

many artists have pronounced the most,
impressive tomb in the world, not even
excepting the mausoleum in ST. Peters,
burg over the tomb of Peter the Great,
the Kaiser Wilhelm Denkmal or the
Prince Consorts monument in Hyde
Park.
The gigantic Doric monument which
stands at the upper end of Riverside
| drive has not only location and archi-
| tectural features in it's favor, but it
| typifeS true Americanism, as Grant,
| springing from seven generations of
ancestors born on American SOIL was
typical representative of American
training and American institutions.
The money for it's erection came from
| the people by voluntary contribution
| and in sums ranging from fraction of
| a dollar to thousands. 1t came from
| men who had fought with the hero of
| AppomattoX and from widows and or
| phans whose husbands and fathers
had fallen in the cause. 1t came from
| the banking house and the workshop,
| from the church and the school, and
| in hundreds of cases from people who
| asked that their names be omitted from
| the lists. All grades of society, all sects,
creeds and denominations contributed
toward the work, and while the object
was to provide a resting place for the
| remains of General Grant, that and
| higher object was accomplished; for as
| long as the monument shall stand to
| please the eye and inspire those who
| look upon it with awe and reverence it
| will symbolic the appreciation of the
people of New York for the services of
their ilustrious fellow citizen.
GOTHAM CHOSEN.
General Grant was a citizen of New
| York when disease laid a heavy hand
| upon him, but still, when the news
came from Mount McGregor on July 2S,
1885, that the victor had been van
quished and that the sturdy soldier had
passed away, many municipalities
asked that his body be intrusted to
their care and that they might erect
| sepulchre of fitting magnitude. Wash
| ington was first in line. There Grant
| had stood by the side OF Lincoln to re-
| view his victorious troops-there he
| had looked upon them as they tramped
down the board avenue thousands
| upon thousands, bronzed and burned by
the southern sum- yet bearing aloft with
| pride the bullet-riddled battle flags
.
There in Washington, he had acted as
secretary of war at a critical period in
| the life of the nation, and there he had
rounded off his remarkable career as
| president. West Point, where he had
received his education, and where the
seeds were sown which in later years
bore fruit in his greatness, advanced
claim for the mortal remains, which
many thought should have been laid
near the historic academy. Chicago,
| where the general had hosts of friends,
wanted the honor of housing all that
was earthly of Grant, and st. Louis
and Galena felt that they also had
| rights in the matter.
But the city Of New York offered the
| site on the river front, the family
| thought well of it, accepted the propo-
| sition, and ten days after the end had
| come in the little mountain cottage,
amid strains of mutiied martial music,
| between miles of dense masses Of ST.
| lent mournerS the body of General
Grant was borne to the temporary
| tomb near the spot where the monu-
| ment now stands,
COLLECTING FUNDS.
A committee was organized to raise
| funds for the purpose Of placing a suit
| able monument on the site, and in the
| course of few years about $3.50 900
was subscribed, but then, possibly be-
| cause the proper methods were not EN-
ployed, subscriptions ceased, and in
1892 some people expressed doubts as
70 the possibility of raising the sum
necessary to erect a structure on the
scale originally contemplated About
this time, at the request of the vari-
Gus military bodies of which he was a
member, and because of his having
| been a member Of General Grants
staff, General Horace Porter was
chosen chairman of the Grant Monu-
| ment committee, and within sixty
days, under his energetic and we'll
directed work, the fund had grown to
100000 and the monument was an as
| sured fact.
Plans had been made by ]. II. Dun
can, and the original designs have been
| only slightly modified or changed A
careful study had been made of all
similar buildings, with view to avoid
ing their shortcomings. The work
proceeded steadily. the officers of the
! committee gave much OF their time TO
the cause, although not one cent of the
| fund was paid either for rent or clerk
! hire, and 1t is believed that much of
| the actual work on the monument has
been done for less than cost.
Although the monument in IT'S pres
| ent condition one as beautiful and