The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1910-03-10

NAN ioeNN VI hpi ONRiOhN
ton. The rear admiral was hero OF
the unfortunate Jeanette expedition
which was led by De Long nearly so
years ago II was Rear Admiral Mel.
vile, then an engineer officer of much
lower rank. who commanded one OF
the three whale boats when the eX-
petition retreated II was due to his
care, foresight and self-sacrifice that
the boat was saved and his crew came
out alive. while the crews of the 9TH
er boats all went down to their
death.
Melville found himself finally with
his boats crew on the storm-swept
barrens in the northern part of ST.
IBERIA. There II was that the crew
rested and recuperated as well as 1t
could in the midst of great privations.
for some time. and then led by Mel
Vile the men found their way back
over hundreds of miles and succeed
ed in recovering the records of the
Jeannette's journey
Congress promoted Melville for his
great work, and the fact that he was
an engineer officer, holding a commits
sion in the staff. did not prevent his
receiving signal honor. The engi-
neer to-day has the rank of rear ad.
miral.
1t was in the Fifty-frst congress
that the senate naval committee, in
reporting the bill for Melville's pro-
motion, said:
In view of such a record the COM
mittee feels that the proposed promo
ton so long after the deeds which 1t
is intended to recompense is an act of
tardy justice and hardly adequate"
The promotion was given in "recogni-
ton of his meritorious services in sue
cessfully directing the party under his
command after the wreck of the Arc
tic exploring steamer Jeanette, and
OF his persistent effort, through dan
ger and through hardships, to find and
assist his commanding officer, and
other members of the expedition, be-
fore he himself was out of peril"
1t has been proposed to give Peary
gold medal and the thanks of con-
gress. 1t should he said that Mel.
vile was given gold medal In add.
ton to his promotion.
National ValhaIla Wanted.
A movement is gathering force in
Washington to establish real ma
tional Valhalla. There have been so
many adverse criticisms of the stat
ues of the great ones which are now
In the keeping of Memorial hall, the
old room of the house of representa-.
uves in the capitol, that it may be
In the future separate building
! VIII be provided or a great room set
aside in one of the existing buildings,
IL which the statues sent by the
states as memorials to their famous
dead may be placed In a proper set
ting.
Representative Mann of Illinois has
called the present statuary hall in the
capitol "a hall of horrors" Another
member of congress says that he al
ways shuts his eyes when he walks
through the hall where the statues of
the great are placed, Men who make
no pretense to possessing artistic In
|
fully Wien they look on the marble
and bronze memorials in this hall of
fame. Artists, also, many of them
without any prejudice in favor of this
sculptor or that sculptor, say that the
collection OF statues is little more than
grotesque.
Some of the figures in Memorial hall
| IF ola ~ ar
to be cwarfed by their proximity TO
the others and to give the impression
that the men whom they represent
were absolute physical pigmies. Some
of the statues are of men who died
comparatively recently and of neces-
sity they are represented in the mod
ern garb, and there is nothing in a
frock coat and pair of trousers to give
enthusiasm or an imaginative chance
to the artist 1t is an invidious task to
point out the differences, artistic and
otherwlct, between some of these me-
MORALS in this hall of the capitol II
can be said, however, that only a few
of the states are in any way worthily
represented in an artistic sense and II
is not going too far to say that some
of the states have picked out men for
honor who certainly were not their
greatest citizens.
One ventures to be bold, and to pick
out Illinois. The great prairie state
claims both Lincoln and Grant, and
yet neither one of these men are rep
resented in Memorial hall as son OF
the state. There is a bronze figure OF
Gen Shields, a fine soldier and good
deal of a statesman, but sadly enough
nine people out of ten who look al
the figure of the soldier have to be
told who he was, and the guides are
in a large measure the sole authorities
on the subject in the capitol The 9th
er memorial which Illinois has put il
the hall is statue of Francis E. vii
lard. the great apostle of temperance
Miss Wizards memory is worthy Of
honor anywhere, but even her friends
in life and those who remember hel
lovingly and tenderly, do not go 81
h. IL h.,,y