Evening star., 1907-10-24
President Has Conference on
Grant Statue Question.
SHOWN MEMORIAL MODEL
Evidently Satisfied That New Loca.
tion Must Be Chosen.
GENERAL DODGE SUMMONED
Asked to Come to Washington at
Earliest Convenience to Consider
Saving Historic Trees.

Steps were taken by President Roose-
Welt today to secure site for the Grant
Memorial other than the one in the Bo.
tanic Garden. involving the destruction of
historic trees. and the abandonment OF
that reservation park At his lnvi-
| tation Gen. Oliver. acting Secretary of
War. and Capt. Poole Corps of Engineers,
acting superintendent of public buildings
and grounds. visited the White House this
forenoon and spent some time with the
President in the consideration of the sub.
ject, Capt. Poole submitted models show
Ing the site selected for the monument
and the trees that would have to be re-
moved to make .oom for the structure
and showing also the effect of placing
the monument ten feet to the west as has
been suggested.
| These models evidently satisfied the
President that II would be a mistake to
| attempt to place the memorial in any
part of the Botanic Garden without detr.
| ment to either the monument or the
natural beauty of the garden
Gen. Dodge Summoned.
At any rate It was decided that Gen. q.
NJ. Dodge. president of the Grant memorial
| commission. who is now at his home In
Council Bluffs. Iowa. should be asked 10
| come to this city at his earliest conve1-
ience for the purpose of considering the
| entire subject Of the site of the statue.
Gen. Oliver suggested that 1t mgl.. be a
good plan to. reconvene the special conn
mittee which recommended the Botanic
Garden site with the nview OF having
their aid in sdecting another site.
The President thought the suggestion
a good one and requested Gen. oliver
to write to Gen. Dodge on the subject,
with a view to having a reconsidera-
ton Of the subject. The special COM
mittee referred to consists OF Col.
BromweIl. superintendent of public
buildings and grounds: Mr.. II. M.
Shrady, the sculptor. who submitted the
accepted design; Mr.. f. r Casey. the
architect. who assisted him. and Mr..
Charles Mckim and Mr. Frederick L.
Olmsted, landscape architects. The last
two named were members Of the park
commission.
Letter to the President.
Gen. Dodge wrote to the President un-
der date Of Council Bluffs. Iowa. October
21, 1907, follows:
MY Dear Mr.. President: During your
absence the question of the location Of
Grants statue in the Botanic Garden in
terfering with some historical trees came
up in the absence of both Secretary Taft
and myself. the only members Of the
commission, and has created quite dis
cussion and some excitement. and 1 re-
quested the Department of Public Works
and Grounds to suspend work for the
present.
Il see from your dispatch they have
been applying to you also in the matter.
If you remember 1t was the intention OF
the commission to locate Grants statue
south of the White House, and the model
was accepted as fitting that location. but
In discussion Of the matter between
yourself, Secretary Root and others there
was objection made to that location and
the commission endeavored to find an
other location which was suitable for
the memorial. and finally selected the
Botanic Garden as the only place In
Washington that suited the architecture
of the memorial and Congress confirmed
that we should use unoccupied ground.
After we had selected this site. at
the suggestion of Col. Bromwell. supcr-
intendent of public works and grounds.
we called in the experts part of whom
were members of the Senate :ommis-
sion for the Improvement of the park
system of Washington. and they made
the location to fit those plans which
understand you were in accord with,
and at their suggestion we changed
the memorial to fit the location. and
were obliged to amend our contract
with the artists l have requested the
acting superintendent of public works
and grounds to make a study of this
location and ascertain if it is possible
to move the statue a few feet and save
the trees and at the same time fit the
park commission's plans. We certainly
cannot now make any radical change
in the location of the memorial
Many Trees Would Fall.
IF the plan of the Senate commission is
to be carried out a great many trees will
have to be moved from the plaza and
the question raised in my mind is whether
these historical trees could not be moved,
saved and placed where they would be
permanent and part of the Senate COM
mission plans.
Secretary Root took a great interest
in this location and I think woE,d be
of great aid in settling it.
1T will be the last of November before
[ can got back to Washington, but I
would like him to have final decision
made as soon as practicable. so we could
go on with the work. The contractors
are unfs er time contract ana these delays
are liable to bring additional complca-
tionS.
1T is nearly two years since we located
the statue and staked it out upon the
ground and II Is remarkabl that no one
knew of these historical! trees notified
us until we commenced work.
Trusting your outing has been a pleas
ant and beneficial one to you, l am.
Very truly and respectfully. your
obedient servant. G.. NJ. DODGE"
THE REFORMED CHURCH.