Evening star., 1909-05-07
NOTABLE CEREMONIES
ATTEND DEDICATION
Gift to the Nation Accepted by At
torney General Wickersham.
1HE CHIEF JUSTICE PREsIDEs
Tributes of Praise From Eloquent
Lips Heard by Large and Rep
resentative Gathering-Presi-
dent Unable to Attend.

The nation did honor to Henry Wads-
worth Longfellow this afternoon when in
the presence of thousands of people, cit
izens of Washington, representatives of
foreign nations and American cities. a
splendid bronze statue of the great Amer
lean poet was unveiled. The great bronze
figure representing the poet. seated, and
with book in his hand. Is placed upon
block of Bonacord granite, brought from
Sweden and carved in Scotland. The fig
ure of the poet Is the work of an Amer
ican sculptor. William Couper of New
York city. The statue is on the little tri-
angle of grass at Connecticut avenue,
18th street and M street. The exercises
began at 2:3O o'clock.
grandchild of the poet pulled the
silken cord which broke loose the enfold-
ing flags, revealing the monument AS
the flags fioated upward and remained
suspended In the air and the wonderful
face of Longfellow, carved in bronze, was
revealed. the great throng was silent for
a moment and then broke into a spon-
taneous cheer. 1t was the climax Of a
great labor. occupying twelve years for
its completion, and represented the con-
fributions Of thousands upon thousands
OF persons, from cities and hamlets
throughout the whole broad land.
The nation did honor to the poet whose
works. transplaHted into nearly every
modern ianguage.1 have sung the beau
ties Of American life, have told in most
beautiful word pictures of the distinctly
American features of the birth and up
bringing OF the states Of America. And
as the nation has contributed its mites
as well as it's greater sums toward the
completion Of the statue, so were there
present men who represent the national
government and men and women who as
private citizens stand for the highest
ideals In the communities of which they
are part. The list of those who faced the
statue at its unveiling contains the names
of ambassadors Of great foreign nations,
lawmakers and judges. and chief among
these was Melville Weston Fuller. chief
Justice of the Supreme Court. He pre-
sided over the ceremonies
President Unable to Attend.
President Taft was compelled TODAY
to abandon the idea of attending the
unveiling, owing to badly inf1amed eye,
over which he is wearing a light ban
daee. y Gnat or some other small in
sect flew into Mr.. Taft's eye while he
was horseback riding Wednesday after
noon. The President gave little atten-
lion to the matter at the time but yes
lerday his eye was much irritated. His
physician thought that the glare of the
bright sunlight today would be bad for
The eye, and advised him not to venture
put Attorney General Wickersham, act
Ing for the President, accepted the gift
sn behalf of the nation.
Others present were representatives
from the courts of Europe and the gov
ernments of American republics, citizens
Of Washington whose names are con-
nected with every great event of the
capital, and visitors whom any city would
De proud to entertain.
Descendants of the Poet Present.
Not the least interesting feature of the
hnveiling was the presence of many of
the descendants of the poet. Not every
living descendant was present today but
more than enough to fully represent the
family of the man whose memory was
honored. They were:
Mrs. r. II. Dana, daughter; Mrs. II. c.
ieRham. second. granddaughter; r. II.
Dana, jr.. grandson; H. E. L. Dana
grandson; Miss Della F. Dana, grand
laughter; the Misses Thorp. granddaugh-
.ers; Miss NJ. X. Longfellow. niece Mrs
:. r. Barrett, niece: Miss f. T. Long
fellow, niece; Mrs. NJ. l.. O'Donoghue
iiece: Mrs. Paul Scharf, Srandniece.
The program of music and addresses
opened as 1t was by an invocation from
Die lips of Rev. DIR. Charles Wood and
:osed with a simple sentence of prayer
Poken by Rev. L. G.. b. Pierce. was in
tself tribute to LonGfellow Every
Iord, every thought. and il seemed as ii
zach note of music had for its theme the
,oet who probably every one who heard
Ind saw what went ON in that little tri-
tngle of grass today declares the great
Isl singer that America has for its own
Had there been no statue, and if the
words spoken todav should be printed
lie tribute might he called a complete
me. and the nation of the future might
ook To the spoken tribute of today as
he complete praise tor the author OF
'Evanseline.''
The Marine Band played America" and
tpeued the ceremonies. and when the last
nund had died DIR. Wood asked Gods
Blessing upon the day
Rt. Rev. DR. Alexander Mackay- Smith
nce OF Washington and now Bishop Co.
.djutor Of Pennsylvania. was the tirst
peaker. II was in his house that the
irst meeting in Washington was held at
which the possibility OF erecting statue
the poet was discussed. From that
Meeting grew the movement which swept
ne country and gained friends and pop
Ilarity everywhere and resulted in the
rection of the monument So il was DR.
Hackay-Smith who was asked to recount
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