The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-09-30

A more beautiful. more expressive
monument to the memory OF man has
rarely ever been built than that one
or Monument hill. known as the Nc
Kinley Memorial raised by a Borrowing
% ople In memory OF one whose name
will forever shine brightly among the
great men of America.
The idea Of raising memorial TO
President Mckinley came 10 some OF
his most intimate friends at the time
OF his death and shortly after his fu-
neral steps were taken which resulted
in the formation Of memorial asso-
citation.
This met with a liberal response and
the cost Of the memorial. $4,000. was
raised without difficulty. though the
great majority Of the donations were for
small amounts Since ,hat time the
association has bent its efforts to rails
Ing an endowment fund Of 100000. and
this work is practically completed.
The monument. built after designs by
II. Van Buren, Magonigle. Of New York.
nno under the direction OF Benjamin
Cutcliffe, the superintendent for George
w Maltby & Sons. Buffalo. y. Y,
was begun June IT. 1906. Except for
a short interval the work has progressed
steadily until now the Beautiful me-
mortal Is a lasting tribute from a CRATE
ful nation
Nearly Hundred Feet High.
Some Of the dimensions OF the monu-
IIient are rs follows The outside
height, from the platform 20 the dome
NJ the rnasn n; en-. structure, Is ninety
eight feet and six inches. From the
floor TO the skyline inside Is seventy
eiglTs feet eight inches. The outside
diameter OF the memorial is seventy
eight feet nine inches, and lis inside
diameter Is fifty feet, though This d.
! nension reaches ffty-eight feet in SOME
OF the receSes.
Among the many beautiful sculptures
which the memorial shows are the four
| large eagles. surrounding the four in
terror keystones of the mausoleum- The
| sarcophagl. where rest the bronze cas-
/ kets which contain the remains Of Pres
ident Mckinley and his wife, are located
exactly IN the center Of the tomb At
, the four points of the compass and
| seemingly guarding the sp>t the great
stone eagles rear Their majestic proper
lions Prom the entrance 10 the tomb
each fierce beak seems to menace the
/ intruder, yet from the spot where lie
/ the remains there is 20 be seen a droop
I Of the mead in the four guardians, in
! dicating sorrow at the fate Of him
j whose shToud was prem Aturely made
| The wings OF the eagles spread nine
! feet and their heads and bodies are
I in perfect prOportionA
/ The eagles were carved under tn,
/ direction Of Ira Lake, Of Buffalo, q
S iulptor whose work appears in con-
necIion With some OF the finest samples
] OF architecture in the land. The as
sistants in this work were Thomas
Dudgeiey. Suegi De Plato. and Giovanni
I Ferronto
Children Rest There, Too.
Besides the booiss Of the President
and Mrs. Mckinley. the memorial holds
! the remains OF the two children which
were buried in the West Lawn Gene
terry. but transferred into the inches II
the monument which had been provided
for that purpose.
About the sarcophagi aEe stationed
the four great arches which support
the massive upper structure Of the
monument
! A fight Of steps leads from the rnau
I soleum floor TO the crypt underneath
Here one views with wonder the slender
ness of the REINFORCED concrete worl
( which is the basic principle OF th'
: structure. The posts leading 20 the hOoi
are not more than ten Inches square
Directly beneath the sarccphagi a square
bAlCk Wall SApppANS NlLr 81 uNAAAc dupfe
! This incloses an air chamber which Il
accessible from above but which vii
never be opened unless the mOnumen
| should get badly out OF plumb. The eN
act center OF the structure can be 10
Gated by a post in this space.
! The outside diameter OF the dome 4
fifty-eiSbt feet eight inches. One thou
sand seven hundred blocks Of marbl
have been used in the interior construc
ton OF tho monument Nineteen car
loads OF trick were used in the con
| struction OF the arches and were places
In nineteen days Thousands OF tons o
the most costly granite were used an,
/ the total weight of the memorial Is es
timated IT 1900 tons. David Robinson
! a genial Scot has set practically all tn
l.r-r,-.-l hIn-f-- q I'D "a