Omaha daily bee., 1911-06-17
LINCOLN MEMORIAL BRIDGE
Estimated to Cost Two Mill
lion Dollars.

Over the graves of the heroes of the
North and the South tho hands of their
descendants have been Joined in harmony
and reverence and peace, and 1t is now
proposed to erect a lasting memorial to
that reunion Of a great people, once d.
vided, by linking the north and the south
with memorial bridge across the Poto-
mac, joining the Old Dominion with the
District OF Columbia, on direct axis
between Arlington and the capital, q
structure the beauty and durability of
which shall prove a lasting tribute to
the lives which were sacrificed in the
preservation OF the union and to the
peace and harmony which have ensued.
The last congress created a commission
composed OF President Taft. Speaker Clark.
ex-speaker Cannon, Senator's Cullom
Wetmore and Money and Representative
Mccall, TO select both place and design
for suitable memorial 70 Abraham Lin
coln to be erected in washington. the
limit Of cost being placed at g. 10000
Senators Martin and Cullom, with O large
number OF others interested in the beau
tification Of the national capital as well
as in the memory of President Lincoln,
have urged the Fine Arts commission and
the Lincoln Memorial commission to select
bridge to span the Potomac as the most
appropriate monument TO the martyred
president whose benign and charitable
policies laid the foundation for the har-
mony since achieved.
While none OF the many designs for
such bridge have been accepted finally
the plan most favored calls for bridge
Of stone, elaborate in design. with two
towers in the middle. The bridge win,
as has been said, provide a direct route
from the national capital TO Arlington
National cemetery and Fort Myer Within
view of the site proposed for the Wash
ington terminus OF the bridge has been
erected a grandstand for the Marine band,
which, at Mrs. Taft's direction gives
concerts every Wednesday and Saturday.
To mark the approaches to the bridge It
Is purposed to erect heavy Dortc columns
in two quarter circles, thanking each side
Of the bridge proper and incloslng q half
circular plaza. A corresponding archi-
tectural feature is TO balance II at the
opposite end of the bridge.
The Fine Arts commission appointed by
President Roosevelt favored the erection.
as a memorial to Lincoln. OF a portico
OF Doric columns arising form an IN
broken styiObate on the axis between the
Washington monument and the proposed
memorial bridge. the bridge TO be, of
course, symbolioai OF the union OF the
north and south. The portico proposed
1 consisting of columns 40 feet in height.
would occupy a space $50 feet in length
and 20 feet In width. approached by
flights OF stairs on the east and west.
! embellished with appropriate groups of
sculpture and surrounded by a central.
/ GROWING group Of statuary. At the head
OF the canal at the eastern approach to
the memorial, II was proposed TO place
a statue OF Lincoln, while surrounding the
memorial and framing Il linden trees
would be planted four rows deep, to form
pgristyle OF green, from which would
radiGts various avenues centerinR upon
the memorial itself
! Sentiment Is growing In favor of the
erection OF the memorial bridge In tbs
event the Lincoln Memorial Commission
ana the Fine Arts commission decide on
the erection OF the portioo OF Doric col.
umns in addition to the memorial bridge
the Doric columns WITH which Il Is now
proposed to mark the bridge approaches
will be eliminated.--New York Tribune.