The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-01-19
MASSIVE MONUMENT
IS RECOMMENDED
Government Commission of
Fine Arts Made Up of
Leading Sculptors and
Architects Of Country,
Has Formulated Report,
E.mbodying One Specific
Proposal.
by ASSOCIATED PRESS.

u
Washington, Jan. 1S.--With the dig
ging nearly done, and the Notifications
we'll under way, the decoration OF the
Panama, canal is q subject of renewed
attention, aroused particularly by the
suggestion from France that the early
work of Ferdinand De Lesseps, the
French engineer, be commemorated by
IA statue. to him at some conspicuous
point on the canal. This is but one of
many ideas, however. and the whole
question of embellishments of the wa
teGway is still open.
Artists generally agree with engin-
GERS that the canal is a monument to
itself, but at the same time there has
been no lack OF suggestion for beaut1-
flying the waterway. One proposition is
for colossal pillars at the outermost
points of the Atlantic and Pacific en-
frances, surmounted by statues of he
Soic proportions of Columbus, Balboa,
and others whose names have been in
tielibly connected with the discovery of
America and the development of the
canal. Another proposal has been for
a statue to Senator John Morgan of
alabama, one OF the pioneers In this
country for iSthmian canal construc-
fion. De Lesseps, by the way, has not
altogether been forgotten for the house
still preserved. In front of it stands
a monument TO Christopher Colum-
bus.
The government Commission OF Fine
Arts, made up Of many of the leading
sculptors and architects Of the coun-
try, has already studied the problem
OF beautifying the canal, but its re-
port which is awaiting action by con-
gress, has only one specific proposal for
a commemorative monument. This is
presented as follows:
'The Commission of Fine Arts be-
1ieves that a memorial record of the
building OF the canal should be made
in the form OF an impressive inscrip
tion upon a 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, 492 feet at the continental divide.
While the size and design of this
monument should be the result of care
full study we are inclined to believe
that it should be approximately 100
feet in height and somewhat more i'll
width; that ii should be severely sim
Pile in design; that the lettering should
be done in Roman V-shaped letters
and that the material should be con-
sCrGt6 appl13d as a massive facing 10
the irregularly fractured trap rock of
the cliff. We strongly recommend this
and regard it as one of the mast i'm
portant matters to be considered. We
also the possibility of mark |
ing the highest point of canal excaVa-
tion on Gold Hill Immediately over the
proposed inscription with some form
OF monument. This should be consid- |
cred carefully by the designer Of the |
principal monument"
This report, which is based on per- |
gonai inspection OF the canal route by |
Daniel C French, the sculptor, and /
Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape |
gardener suggests thatsany further or |
of the waterway should |
be undertaken only after serious con- |
bearing in mind that the |
feature of the canal is |
utility rather than adornment.
.',rhe CANAL the report adds, like |
the pyramids or some imposing object |
fin natural scenery Is impressive from |
its scale and simplicity and directness.
one feels that anything done merely |
for the purpose of beautifying it would |
not only fail to accomplish that pur-
pose, but would be an iInpertinence. In
such a work the most: that the. canal
Continued on Page Two)