Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-02-24
Madison Square Garden
BY FREDERIC ]. HAsklN.

den, which In turn was really the rex
iiiTodeied and f~earranged former stone pas
senger station of the New York Central
and, Hudson river railroad. This name wad
given because of the band concerts given
there for many years by Patrick Sars.
field Gilmore.
Ever since Its opening the great aIiphss
theater has been in use for gigantic mu-
steal and social undertakings, such as
the annual French ball, circus perfor-
mances, REVEALS, political mass meetings,
horse and dog shows, six-day bicycle and
foot races, automobile shows, military
| tournaments and other mammoth events.
During the week of May 2-7. 1892, the
Actors Fund fair was held in 1t. The en-
tire floor was laid out as a miniature VIII
lage of one street in the midst of a plain.
The buildings were models Of famous
theaters OF ancient London and older
New York, and the architecture and pic
turesque local colsr Of several centuries
and Of places far distant from each other
were cleverly brought into harmony. On
the evenings of May 10 to IL, and the
afternoon Of May IA, 1892, Adelina Patti
sang. in association with other d,stin-
guished s~oloists, a chorus of a thousand
volunteers and a grand orchestra, to three
Of the largest audiences ever assembled
anywhere. The annual circus at the gar
den is to juvenile New York the
horse show is to adult and fashionable
circles.
The architects Of the Madison Square
Garden were the famous firm of McKim,
Meade & White. The latter, the lament.
ed Stanford White, was especially credit
ed with the design. In dimensions the
building Is 465 feet long and 200 feet wide,
its side walls rising 70 q height OF s5 feet
A obifnoft,ra Tvs IL fc a on0ntGnnnf Gtrfyn.
ture, because of the simplicity Of the con.
struction and the absence of trifiing de-
tails in ornamentation. The style is Rem
aissance, the materials buff brick and
terra Gotta. The roof is fiat, or nearly
so, but the skyline is broken by a colon
made which arises above the roof at the
Madison avenue end, and extends along
either side for 100 feet; by six open cupo-
las, with s~emispherical domes, which rise
above the colonnade; by two towers at the
Fourth avenue corners; and by a magnif-
cent square tower which rises from the
Twenty-sixth street side, with its line un.
broken for 29 feet, and then In a series
of open cupolas, decreasing in diameter,
on the smallest and topmost of which Is
poised a figure of Diana, of heroic size.
the crown of whose hea is S32 feet from
the sidewalk.
But the browning glory Of the garden
is the tower which rises from the south
west corner, ar almost exact replica OF
the beautiful and historic Giralda at Sc
Vile, Spain. This in turn Is surmounted
by a weather vane composed OF a whirl-
ing, scarf-draped Diana In glistening
bronze and gold, designed by Augustus
S~aint-Gaudens. Thus the beautiful pile
as a whole represents the work Of two of
Americas most famous creative artists.
When the garden tower first rose above
the trees of Madison Square there wa
only one other lofty structure OF the kind
on Manhattan island-the dome Of thu
World" far down town. Within the
last 10 years, however, poor Diana has
been o~vertopped and dwarfed on the south
by the 550-foot Metropolitan clock tower
and belfry; on the north, not far away,
the Belmont hotel raises it's lofty square
bulk, while down town the Singer tower
slightly exceeds the Metropolitan in
height. Other and momentous changes
have been going on all around the his
toric site. Fourth venue. on the east,
formerly a t~horoughfare OF second hand
curio shops and third-rate hotels, has
lately blossomed out into a new business
street lined with towering steel structures
devoted to various lines Of wholesale
trade. All this makes the site of the
garden twice as valuable as 1t was 20
years ago. It makes the great hall a los
ing venture financially, even on it's early
capitalization.
But it is to be feared hat this beautiful
architectural landmark and ornament is
doomed, unless sentiment and fashion
shall prevail over practical business con-
siderations The mere thought of tearing
down that beautiful Giralda with its airy
Diana seems sacrilegious, and many will
mourn thereat, since the garden is known
by reputation at least to millions OF
A~mericans-men, women and children
from Portland on tha east 70 that ctha.
Portland on the west, and from the gulf
to the lakes. There is just one hope; and
that is that the whole noble structure may
be removed piecemeal to another and less
expensive site further up town, where flu
ture generations may feast their eyes
upon its graceful architectural ines and
revel in those diversions for which it's