Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-28
COLOSSUS PROPOSED
FOR LINCOLN STATUE
Designed to Indicate How the
Martyred President Tow
cred Above Men.
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
Taken as a man. g. citizen and as the
| chief executive of the republic in its
greatest struggle for existence, Abraham
| Lincoln towers like veritable colossus
| above the men of his time. He was a
| colossus in his convictions. in his intense
spirit OF humility and self-efacement. in
his steadfast endurance and patience
| with the men about him who sought to
| belittle him and his faith: who kept up a
constant snarl of backbiting and criti-
cism And in all those great attributes
which set him apart for the mission of
saving his country from its enemies
within and without.
| Most of the best and most enduring
memorials of antiquity were cast in colos
! sal form. for the evident purpose of APP
| pealing to the eye of the beholder, on
| the theory, no doubt that more members
| Of the human family can be reached
| through that organ than through any
| other. Note the almost innumera BILE
colossi Of Egypt; the many that still ex-
list in the orient, and the frequent ap-
| pearance of such figures in classic
Greece, and among the later inhabitants
Of Europe.
Effect of a Colossus.
Millions Of the citizens Of the republic
who have come here from other lands
know little or nothing of the life and
| character Of Lincoln, or of the significance
| OF his services to his country, and no
memorial will appeal to them and lead
them to study this theme like colossal
| figure representing the man himself-a
| thing that will excite their wonder and
cause them to inquire diligently as to the
| reasons for thus distinguishing him from
| all other sons Of the nation. This effect
| will operate with the alien population that
| is already here, and with all generations
| Of imported citizens who are to come
after them. Hence, / respectfully submit
that there is no other form for me-
| mortal to Abraham Lincoln that is worthy
| to be considered except a. colossal figure
being lifelike counterpart of the man
himself, and standing at least 100 feet in
| height.
This figure can be built at a cost no
greater than that Of an ordinary statue.
| | speak advisedly, for I have gone into
architects and engineers. all of whom
| were deeply impressed with the idea and
who gave it their unqualified approval
from every point of view.
An Educational Factor.
Simply as an educational agency this
colossus of the great civil war President
| would be worth many times it's cost 1t
| would enable the people to remove and
put aside some of the Nightmares that
| have been built in times past to repre-
sent this man whom the nation can
never know too we'll. The building of the
colossus would take from two to three
years, and all through this period 1t
| would be one of the leading topics in the
newspapers and in the conversation of
all men. not alone in this country. but
an almost incalculable spreading of the
| real life history and fame of this most re-
markable man and could not fail to do
a great deal OF practical good in the
all the people to the higher levels of pa
triotism and citizenship, thus resulting
in a positive gain to the nation out OF
all proportion to the expense and effort
put forth in the matter
Artistic and Practical.
You will ask if such figure can be
made an artistic success.
l reply on the highest authority that
the Colossus at Rhodes, a little harbor
town of ancient Greece, was 1O5 feet in
height and was counted as one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world, for
the very reason Of its artistic and appeal
ing beauty. Our artists today are much
better prepared to undertake such
work. Does any man question the artistic
symmetry and beauty of the statue of
Liberty in New York harbor? Will any
American doubt that We now have a
native-born sculptor who can achieve as
grand a work, with our greatest modern
citizen as its subject? One of our sculp
tors, who bears the honored name of the
present chief executive of the nation. is
now completing a colossus of an Indian
chief the famous Blackhawk, in the state
Of Illinois. Another has recently COM
the soldiers and sailors of the Union at
Syracuse. n. Y, in which the heroic fig
ures are almost colossi
There Is nothing visionary, impractical
or dubious about the proposition. The
figure can be built in a material which is
practically indestructible, that Is, re-
inforced concrete-a material which is
nodded now in statuary as readily as
the legendary clay Of the potter itself
and which will stand as long as the pyra-
mids or the Sphynx, or as any work
made by the hand Of man. The figure
can be sustained by steel skeleton that
will enable it to withstand all the storms
that will ever beat on it in this latitude.
Crypt Beneath the Statue.
There should be a crypt beneath the
statue, to resemble an Egyptian tomb,
from all sides, in which should be re-
corded the principal events in the life of
the first martyr of the republic, upon i'm
perishable sheets of bronze. And in addi-
ton to these records the history of the
colossus itself and the names Of the men
who are responsible for its adoption and
erection.
Upon the base should be inscribed the
most characteristic utterance of the man
in whose memory 1t is: with malice to-
ward none; with charity for ALL And
on another side Of the base this inspiring
thought: Let every American aspire to
the measure Of this man.
These letters may be ten feet in height
SO that HE who runs may read them
And yet with the colossus, they will not
be out OF proportion. Let us build a me-
mortal like this If we desire to make a
fitting representation of the most unique
man that the human family has produced
Do not, in heavens name, obscure this
free and untrammeled spirit in the
meshes Of some conventional monument,
of which the capital and the country al
ready has enough.