The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-03-26

sacrifice Of individual feeling I make
10 a sense Of public duty
Congress having again dropped the
matter. the people OF Washington took
ii M. and in 1888. at a public meeting.
the Washington National Monument So
rietv was formed. The design for a
monument as originally accepted called
for an obelis1 rising 500 feet. The
site was selected in 1s4S, and the cor
nerstone laid on Independence Day of
that wear But funds came in slowly,
! Mrs Logan says, and the plans were
modified to provide for an obelisk 500
feet high. In 1854 funds gave out.
! The monument was now l56 feet high,
and 100000 expended to date. Con
gress was asked for $500. 900 to continue
the work, but there were too many
political complications hen. Then came
the Civil War and further delay, and
in 1876 congress appropriated 100000
to assist. On the 18th of February,
1885, (fifty wears after beglnnlng) was
dedicated 1.-THE most imposing, costly
and appropriate manument ever erected
in the honor Of one man. al a total
cost Of 42,000,000 Mrs. Logan adds.
''The monument stands in square OF
forty acres. towering 300 feet s inches
above the waters of the Potomac in the
city Of Washington. 1t bears no in
scrption to the memory Of Washing
ton. 1t needs none. 1t could stand for
no 0na else. - But the remains of
Washington are not there. They are
beside his wfe's at Mount Vernon,
where they were finally deposited III
1887, Gin separate marble collins, hewn
each from single block of marble.
The tomb was locked and sealed and
the KEYS thrown into the Potomac
river Mrs. Logan says. And the
Washington tomb, under the dome OF
the national capitol, prepared by con
oress to receive his remains, under the
terms of the resolution antedating
Mrs Washington s letter, is still va
cant.
Speaking of Mount Vernon and the
final resting place of Washington and
his wife, Mrs. Logan says: And vet
he old mansion IN which so much of
! their Young married life was spent,
around which cluster so many patriotic
and halIowed associations. and the
ground wherein the mortal remains of
Washington and his wife were laid to
rest, were utterly neglected for years.
and the old house nearly went to ire
.
national Mecca occurred to the peopl2.
In 1855 John Augustine Washington,
then owner. being unable to maintain
the estate, offered it for sale. Even then
congress could not be prevailed upon
to purchase and restore the old manor,
a this critical juncture Miss Ann
Pamela Cunningham Of South Carolina
undertook the apparently hopeless task
7 tfs.5, ha G,-4l Of
sarv 70 purchase the mansion and a part
of the estate Contributions were So
Iicited from every quarter, and in 1888
, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association
was formed. with Miss Cunningham as
; regent. Nice-regents representing twelve
States were elected, and efforts to raise
the NEEDED money were Increased Ed
ward Everett gave the proceeds of his
! lectures on Washington and of some Of
his writings. and in this way contrib
uted $4,000 as MS personal contribution
to he funds OF the association. Wash
ington Irving gave $500, and thousands
OF school children gave ) cents each.
BY the latter part of $50 the full SUM
was raised. and in 1860, 200 acres Of the
estate including the tomb. the mansion
and is surrounding buildings, became
the property OF the association. Since
then 81 acres have been added. \ fund
was provided for its permanent care
and maintenance The place origin,
ally contained some 5000 acres, of which
| 300 were under cultivation during the
/ lire Of Washingt IN.
This interes ing book Of Mrs. Logan 5
is we'll worth reading by every one, and
especially by the children Of both our
private and public schools, if they
would understand the details of the
workings Of our government, from the
building Of the capitol and the Whit"
House one hundred years ago, the max
ing of paper money and the lives Of
the wives Of our Presidents and other
ladies who have presided at the White
House from the family side,
!. NJ. NJ.