El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-15


tinent and the legislature forthwith or
dered the casting Of the statues
Wears Confederate Uniform.
The objections to the acceptance of
the statue of Gen. Lee come from the
fact that he is clad in the Confederate
uniform. rather than from objections to
the man himself. There are several 9TH
er Confederate soldiers in the hall, no
tably McKenna and Curry, from West
Virginia and Alabama, respectively but
there was no serious objection to them
The presentation of the statues Of
Washington and Lee was timely, at
least so far as that of Washington Is
concerned. In recent years, since Illinois
sent the statue Of Frances E. Willard,
the Nervousness of the location of the
statue Of Washington has brought to the
face of the visitor n smile Of amuse-
meIt rather than look of yeneratton-
In the first place Washington was rep
resented by the smallest and most insig-
rificant looking statue there. Secondly,
without malice afOrethought, he was
placed In a position which gave the ef-
feet Of his peeping out from behind the
skirts Of Miss Willard like bashful
boy hiding behind his mother.
The Washington Likeness.
This little statue of Washington IS
nothing but plaster of paris replica
of the HOudon statue In the Virginia cap
itOl. That it is a magnificent likeness is
shown by the fact that Jefferson OBJ
served that behOIding it suddenly gave
the eject of Washington himself stand
ing there. The new statue of Washing
ton is also a replica of the HoudOn mas
terpiece but it is in bronze, on a be-
fitting pedestal, and makes a splendid
appearance.
It is said to have been the ambition
Of Valentine, the sculptor, TO make as
excellent a portrayal of Lee as HOu-
don's statue is of Washington. That he
has failed to do so is asserted by many
who were acquainted with the dead
commander In speaking OF the matter
recently a member of the Virginia dele
cation in congress stated that the statue
could hardly have looked less heroic and
less like the gallant commander than It
does.
To him the poise seems totally unlike
that of Lee, and one arm appears short
er than the other. Another adverse criti-
cism came from camp Of Confederate
veterans whose members made a pill
grimage to statuary hall TO see the new
likeness of their leader Not one of them
thought the statue did Lee full jus
tice-
In Defence of Sculptor
In behalf of the sculptor it is urged
that no one could expect fully to catch
all the subtle shades OF bearing that
made Lee one of the most gallant and
commanding figures ever seen on a field
OF battle. It is also said in defence Of
the sculptor that his work in designing
the celebrated recumbent statue of Lee
at Lexington, in which the great soldier
has gathered the draperies of his couch
about him. in sufficient assurance that
he has come as near TO catching the
noble mein OF Gen. Lee as it can be done
In inpassiTe bronze. Valentine was a
follower Of Lee, and no man in all the
southland was more anxious TO have the
work fitting memorial
The commission created by the state
of Virginia to look after the casting OF
the statues was composed mainly OF
young men. but one or two Of whom had
ever seen Cen Lee. The author Of the
bill providing for the work was Don P.
Halsey, nephew Of senator John ". Dan
tel He and senator Daniel supervised
the placing of the bronzes. which were
given conspicuous places in the hall
Wilderness of Near Art.
With each state the sole Judge of the
statues it presents, including subjects.
size and material. there can be little con-
t1nuity of purpose in the filling of the
hall. The result is that some are life
size, and some heroic in proportion. some
are on low pedestalS and some on high
ones, some are made of weathered bronze
and others of bright new bronze. some OF