Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-05
QUEEN VICTORIA MEMORIAL.
The Preparations That Are Being Made
in England for It.
From the London Telegraph.

From the London Telegraph.
Quite transformation has already been
effected in front of Buckingham Palace nv
the preparations for the national memorial
to Queen Victoria. With the approval of
the king, the committee intrusted with the
arrangements adopted the design Of Mr..
Thomas Brock for the memorial and the
plan of Mr.. Aston Webb for the general
treatment of the space upon which the
memorial will stand. AS the dimensions
originally suggested for the memorial I'M
derwent some alteration, Mr.. Webbs plan
was also subjected to modification The
fundamental idea, however, remains I'M
changed There will be a screen of low
columns between the palace and the mon
ument, and a semi-circu1ar screen with a
radius of about 100 feet between the mon
ument and St James Park The central
point will be occupied by the memorial it
SELF and the remaining space laid out as
ornamental gardens. The opening in the
mall will be widened, while broad and spa
cious roads will lead to Buckingham gate
and Pail Mall. 1t is intended that the re-
constructed mall shall eventually be
adorned with four groups of sculpture,
those opposite York steps representing In
dia and Africa, and those contiguous to
Marlborough gate showing Canada and
Australia. At the end of the mall an OPEN
ing will be cut into Charing Cross, to the
north of Drummonds Bank. The mall will
tnuS become great renew
ing Pail Mall and Piccadilly of a portion
of their traffic. The price to be paid for
this is the sacrifice of at least one row of
trees before the two carriage ways with
the great professional road between Them
are complete
The operations are being expeditiously
carried out by the contractors. The circu-
lar plot of ground on which the monument
will stand has been raised and is being
turfed. The curved road at the side of st.
James Park having been finished, the sus-
tanning wall is now being built At the
other end the old houses in Spring Gar
dens are in course of demolition for the
opening up of the Mall with Trafalgar
Square The value of this improvement is
already manifest. So rapidly is the work
| in front of the palace progressing that the
ground will soon be ready for the monu-
ment, but some little delay Is expected to
occur before proceeding with the execu-
ton of Mr. Brooks elaborate designs The
memorial, it will be remembered, is to be
sixty feet high, rising from platform
about eight feet from the ground. The
platform, more thar 100 feet in diameter,
| will be approached by steps guarded by
winged lions and f1anked by basins with
copious streams of water flowing into
them. A wall of bronze will probably be
ornamented by friezes illustrating the
progress of mankind during the queen S
i reign, as well as by groups representing
| the army and navy on the one hand and
l the arts and sciences ON the other The
| central structure will be pyramidal, the
| seated groups below carrying up the eye
f, to a winged figure of Victory on the sum-
| nit Below, facing the mall, the queen
| will be seated, while on the other side of
the squared column will be groups symbol
| ical of Justice Truth and Love. The plan,
| at once simple and dignified, will tell its
| own story.