Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-02-19
CANAL GREATER
Than mere ART
That Fact Realized In Debate
Over Fitting Decoration
VARIED PLANS SUGGESTED

One Great Monument at Continental
Divide Has Official Approval-Light-
house and Statues of Columbus, Bal
boa, De Lesseps and Others Are Also
Advocated.
With the digging nearly done and the
'ortlhcatlons we'll under way, the dec
Grafton of the Panama canal is a sub
Jcct OF renewed attention, aroused par
flcularly by the suggestion from
France that the early work Of Ferdi-
n2nd de Lesseps, the French engineer,
be commemorated by a statue to him
at some conspicuous point on the ca
nal. This is but one of many ideas,
however, II the whole question OF
embellishments of the waterway Is still
open.
Artists generally agree with engi-
neerS that the canal is q monument to
itself, but at the same time there has
been no lack of suggestion for beauti-
fFlng the waterway. One proposal is
FOR colossal pillars at the outermost
points Of the Atlantic and Pacific en-
frances, ~surmounted by statues of he
roic proportions of Columbus and Bal
Ioa. Another proposal is for a statue
to the late Senator Morgan Of Alabama,
one OF the pioneer advocates of 18TH
milan canal construction.
The government commission Of fine
arts, made up Of many Of the leading
sculptorS and architects Of the coun-
try. has studied the problem Of beautd-
Tying the canal, but its report, which
Is awaiting action by congress, has
only n specific proposal for a COM
memorative monument. This is pre-
sented as follows:
The commission of fine arts be-
ileVes that q memorial record of the
building Of the canal should be made
IN the form OF an impressive inscrip-
ton upon u great monument surface
at some point Of prominence. and &
careful examination OF the whole
length Of the canal led TO the choice
of the east wall at the point OF deepest
cut 342 feet. ut the continental divide.
While the size and design of tins mon
ument should be the result of careful
study. we are inclined To believe thar
1t should be approximately lM feet in
height and somewhat more in width.
that it should be severely simple in
design. that the lettering should be
done in Roman V shaped letters and
that the material should be concrete,
applied as a massive facing to the IT.
regularly fractured trap rock of the
cliff. We strongly recommend this
and regard it as one Of the most Inn
portant matters to be considered. We
suggest also the possibility of mark
ing the highest point of canal cav
ton Oh Gold hill. Immediately over
the proposed inscription, with some
form OF monument This should be
considered carefully by the designer
Of the principal monument"
Oppose Anything Elaborate.
This report. which is based on per-
sonal inspection Of the canal route by
Daniel G. French. the sculptor, and
Frederick Law Olmsted. the landscape
architect, suggests that n further
ornamentati0n Of the waterway should
be undertaken only after serious con-
sideration. bearing in mind that III"
outstanding feature Of the 'ninI Is
utility rather than adornment-
The canal" the report adds, like
the pyramids or some imposing object
in natural scenery, is impressive from
its scale and simplicity and directness.
One feels that anything done merely
for the purpose of identifying 1t would
not only fail to accomplish that pur-
pose. but would be an impertinence.
In such a work the most that the artist
could hope to do would be to aid in
selecting. as between alternative forms
Of substantially equal value from the
engineering point Of view, those which
are likely to prove most agreeable and
appropriate in appearance"
If the foundation difficulties are not
too serious the report suggests it might
be advisable to erect a monument in
the form OF a lighthouse, specially de-
signed for the purpose Mt either side
Of the canal at the Atlantic entrance.
Hundred Ships In Opening Procession.
The navy department expects about
100 warships. sixty-eight of them un-
der foreign flags, will be in the pro
cession ext year, which will start
at Hampton Roads and cruise by way
of the Panama canal to the Golden
Gate. The powers having great navies
are invited to send each four ships
and those with lesser naval establish
ments to contribute two each.
Some countries have indicated a pur-
pose to send officers to participate in
| <h~ 1>11Ir,%s~ To- 80 %ho 1ooxi~- 80 $h~
canal. although they are not able to
send ships, among them being Guate-
mala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Sam
Salvador and Switzerland.