The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-10-19

obellsk to Paris. and a Caesar transporter
one TO Rome. Rulers and educators nave
WED with each other in friendly rivalry y.
thus decorating museums and parks anu
CITY plots with the statues and monuments
Of vanished and vanishing peoples
They we'll know the force ana e1ecl OF
an object lesson In education We VIC
dwell at the last fringe OF the great Goa \
OF civilization so lately spread over MOI II
America We who are 10 be the last neigh
bors Of these swiftly vanishing tribes, owe
a duty to civilization and 20 education 20
take the lead in preserving Ter comm :
men tho history and traditions OF the red
men. 49,.
"Some poor souls have fretted in their
shallow tenements for fear tnat "nen 'H. ;
monument of pagan mythology Win us
carven heraldic symbols shall stand IN
selied in this public place straight
way our children viii become idol-worship-
what a Commentary upon the march OF
learning and Intelligence We are living
in the dawning light OF the twentieth cen
fury. We are standing in the great stream Hai
of sple.dor that has depend ana Wideiieo
from the far dim and slender way .thdt
led US up out OF the night or superstition
and ignorance in which our race once wan
ward ever forward. The earth revolves
toward the rising and from the setting sun
1--WE count the gray barbarian lower
than the Christian child.
To Relieve the Timid.
"A few fragile folk of over delicate sensi-
bilities have feared that this monument IS
here as the result Of grand larceny uadgh-
teri and the dissertation OF human ouryinS
grounds. To relieve the oppression upon
their minds. I will say that Neither tribe
nor clan now claims control or ownership
OF the place where this ancestral column
stood. The village has long since been De
serted, and the great columns yet standing
VIII soon all be gone. This was not in
graveyard. nor IS ii a mortuary column.
and the act OF vandalism in removing 1t
is not different from that of removing a
carved and valuable panel from an ola de-
relict being beaten 10 pieces by the waves
when great and enterprising news
paper of our city successfully organized and
launched large excursion of the business
men of Seattle TO the cities and ports o.
Alaska, many of US felt that * was an oc-
cason justifying and demanding the secur-
ing and preserving of one OF the best Speci-
men OF this strange and symbolic archltec-
ture. We canvassed the question on board,
and found not one dissenting voice on the
great ship. A committee OF fifteen was APP
pointed 10 work the VIII Of the excursion
fists. We secured the monument and brought
It here. We have carefully repaired every
sign of decay. We have restored the an
cient coloring. and have brought 1t here as
a present 10 Seattle: not as a head stone
torn from a grave, but as rude. strong
piece Of sculpture. carved by a savage. but
steady hand. tApplause.)
1.-The shadow of the wilderness Is In It's
deep barbaric lines. The wild mans bizarre
coloring adds strange strength To its
rugged outlines 1t was fashioned and grew
out Of his love and reverence for the birds
and beasts and the wallowink ieviathan Of
the deep: out Of his feeling of affinity and
nearness 10 the trees ana brooks ard the
whispering winds; of perfume ana bloom.
and the songs of birds; Of the strange voices
OF the dark and gloomy forests, and the aw
FIJI silence Of the northern nights He toll
ed at it lovingly. and reared IL in perpetua
ton OF his mime and fame II viii here
voice his deeds with surer speech than II
lying prone In moss and fern on the shores
Of Tongass island (Applause.)
These considerations. and others Of equal
strength. induced to make this present
alton. and TO ask that ii he here erected. 10
stand for years and years az a picturesque
and Interesting monument, an object OF
never Ceasfng interest 10 the learned and
wise as we'll as TO the idly-curious sight
seer.
"And now. Mr.. President and gentlemen
OF the common council Of Seattle. In behalf
of the committee and in behalf Of all who
have born part In the labor and expense
of transporting and preparing 1t for erec-
ton here. j present to you this fine her
aldic column. born of the romantic Indian
thought. and fashioned by the cunning of
the Indian hand" Appiause.l