The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-08-30
THE DEWEY MEMORIAL ARCH.
A Magnificent Testimonial. The
Work of The SculptOrs and Ar
lists of New York.

f. Wellington Ruckstuhl, the secre-
tary OF the Dewey committee of the
National Sculpture Society, has an
nounced that the work on the arch and
colonnade TO be placed at Madison
Square is going on rapidly. The
workmen INSIDE The big nine-ioot fence
in Madison Square have already begun
to make the foundation for the arch,
and in few days the structure will
rise above the fence. The arch proper
will be seventy-fve feet high, and it
will be surmounted by work of the
sculptors that will bring the total height
up to ninety feet.
Inside one of the big rooms in the
basement of the Madison Square Gar
den fifteen men are working every day
under the Gree lOu OF Carl Bell on the
heroic figures which will adorn the arch.
Each workman has at his side the
small model which was carved by one
of the artists. Then q wooden frame
is built up as a sort Of skeleton for the
heroic statue. Around this frame Is
nailed quantity of wire netting, to
which the staff, or plaster and excelsior
mixture, clings. The mixture soon
hardens, aud when it is applied by one
of the skill III workmen the huge frames
soon begin to look like statue, of mar
BILE. Each is about ten feet high.
Several ol the large statues which are
to be placed at the top of the arch are
almost completed. The workmen are
nearly ready to put the finishing
touches on the statues of Commodore
Decatur, from the design executed by
George L. Brewster, Commodore
Perry, from that of j. S. Hartley, Com
modore Porter, from that of John J.
Boyle, and Lieutenant Cushing, from
II. H. Lukeman's design. The work
men have begun on the statues of
John Paul Jones, by E. c. Potter, and
Admiral Farragut by w @. Partridge.
The designs for the statue of Commo-
dore Hull, the work of H. X. Bush
Brown, and that of Commodore Nc
Donough, by Thomas Shields Clarke,
have not been completed, but work on
them will be hurried.
On the south side of the arch the
spandrels will be decorated with de-
sign representing the North and East
rivers, and intended to be symbolic of
the commanding position of New York
in commerce. This is to be the work
of Isdoro Konti. On the other side
the spandre decorations will represent
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The
eight medallions on the inside span
drels will bear the likenesses of the
naval heroes, John Barry, Esek Hop
kins, Prebe, cambridge, Lawrence
Worden, Foote and Dahlgren. Cas-
per Buberi, the sculptor, finished the
design for the Dahlgren medallion just
before he died few days ago. Among
the other pieces Of work which will be
finished soon by the modellers is j. @.
A. Wards "Victory," which is to sur
mount the arch. In this group, Vic
tory is drawn in boat by six sea.
Martiny; "The Combat" by Karl Biz
ter; "The Triumphant Return" by
Charles H. Niehaus, and the group
"Peace," by Daniel G. French, will
form series symbolical of the spirit of
the nation.
The models for the groups which are
to be placed in the colonnade are near.
ly ready for the workmen. At the
southern end of the colonnade, oppo-
site Twenty-third street, will be two
groups, "The Army" by F. w. Ruck-
stuhl, and 1.-The Navy" by George E.
Bissel. At the northern end the two
groups will be 1.-The East Indies," by
Charles A. Lopez, and "The West In
dies" by Isidore Konti. William
Copper has designed bas-relief for
the east side of the arch. 1t is called
"The Protection of Our Country" On
the west side will be the bas-relief,
progress of Civilization" by Johannes
Gellert. The models for these designs
are finished and the work of enlarge
ment has begun.
Somebody has suggested" said Mr..
Ruckstul, "that the arch remain in its
position, or rather that permanent
arch of the same design be erected.
We are of course perfectly willing to
have that done, if the people are salts
fed that the arch is worthy of that
honor"