The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-10-09

=HE historic round tower at Fort
Smelling, the Oldest, most IN
teresting monument of the
earliest North Star pioneers, has
disappeared.
AS far back as the Oldest living Min
nesotan can remember the ROUND
tower has stood at the western angle
of the lower post, or original Fort Smell
Ung-the most striking object sur
mounting that beautiful promontory at
the base of which the earliest explorers
discovered Mendoza, 1.-The meeting or
tho waters" the junction of the Min
nesota and the Mississippi rivers.
It was a small, circular, two-storied
tower with crenelated parapet, several
rows of thin. loopholes on the western
or exposed face, few small windows
and a single doorway on the side to-
wards the protected interior of the
original fortification.
The soft, light-yellow stone of, the
cid tower were roughly cut roughly
cemented. But their color was per-
fected by the exposure of years: they
were overgrown, here and there, by
clusters of red-leaved vines, architc-
tural cobwebs whose very presence
guaranteed the age and value of what
time, less destructive than man, had
undertaken to cherish.
For years the tower had been used
used as a guard house, so that the
iron bars in the windows added to the
semi medieval inspiration of the
whole The interior had been changed
occasionally But it continued primi-
tive, dull tinted in harmony with the
primitive exterior.
How the Round Tower Is Preserved"
That such building might be worthy
of preservation for artistic, historic and
patriotic reasons, has been realized by
cultured patriots at Washington. These
true Americans of the war depart
ment, whose sedulous toll of late has
been to uphold national ideals in the
uttermost parts of the world, have
deigned to order the preservation" of
old Fort Smelling, and especially, of
the old round tower.
AS scientific soldiers they have made
instructive observation, perhaps, at the
Smithsonian institution. They have OBJ
served relics of ancient vegetation ex-
Quisitely preserved in layers of coal;
Egyptian kings preserved in layers Of
linen, bitumen and compounds hard or
sticky.
If, then, the round tower was to- be
preserved, it must be coated over
thickly, said these experts; 1t must be
protected from atmosphere and touch
and observation, like paleozoic twigs
or Pharaohs well put up" And the
cheapest practical embalming coat for
buildings would be Portland cement
or any so-called stucco.
Stucco. accordingly, has now pre-
served the Round Tower All it's ex-
ternal walls, even the lingering pro-
jections of the fortress wall, with
which it was formerly joined, have
been coated inches thick, with dull,
gray cement. Not a glimpse of the old
amber stone can now be seen, not one
separate stone can be distinguished.
The whole tower appears to have
been cast in pastry cooks tin mold,
like a Christmas cake all ready for the
frosting.
"Blue Mass BoIus"
Except that Christmas cakes aren't
as blue and bitter looking as a liver
pill, an ante-bellum blue mass bolus +"
The little boy who was helping his
mother view this marvel yesterday had
the keenest observation, perhaps. He
said simply:
Its made of putty all over, isn't it,
mamma? Yep, a putty house. isn't
You mean a tower" corrected NAM
ma
Yep pretty, putty tower"
All the poetic vines, of course. have
vanished with the stones they deco
rated.
AS if this governmental mummifica-
ton hadn't gone far enough. additional
effects have been made to conceal what
the old tower once looked like.
The windows have been enlarged, and
have been fitted with broad panes OF
plate glass. A new door with plate
glass panes, a door not equaled in al
the West when Col Leavenworth built
the tower, shines gaudily at the only
entrance. And new flagstones with
trim, sharp edges have replaced the
old threshold; lest the cavalry major
whose headquarters, or business Office
the tower win be, might have to follow
In the footsteps of President zach
Taylor or the conqueror of Mexico.
Inside the tower everything has beer
improved by removal. The visitor
trying to conjure up visions of the an
Gent frontier fortress, is dazzled al
ternately, on entering the new door, by
the shining hardwood floors and the
giittering bronze radiators.
Process of Evisceration
Once upon time a single lantern o.
perforated tin was sufficient for tn,
guardians of the tower. This lantern