Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1916-01-27
The Worlds Greatest Sculpture.

| n NCLlOlldl " MOfCllCHl ID OulLOH
Borglum's own name for the biggest sculp-
tlral undertaking in the history OF the
world. II requires granite mountain,
across the face Of which Mr.. Borglum
will carve great frieze 1000 feet long
and so feet wide. The work will con-
sumo most OF the sculptor's thought and
energies during the next eight years.
Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, Ga, is to
be transformed by him into the "Great
Confederate Memorial" at an expense
OF s., 900, ,000-a memorial to the South
of "a, built by the South of today.
The great characters of those days are
to be reconstructed out of the side OF this
mountain. They will be carved in high
and full relief in action, mounted and on
foot. Following the mountains contour,
they will be moving across the face Of it
naturally toward the east in The arrange
ment Of two wings OF an army.
Because they will be in scale with the
mountain, which is 700 feet high, the fig
ures will be colossal, reaching, including
tile horses, IS TO so feet in height, or about
five times the size OF the Lion OF Luceme.
The first sculpture TO be carved in a
mountainside, by the way, was this same
Lion of Lucerne, and il is interesting now
to remember that the man who did il,
Thorwsldsen, was, like Mr.. Borglum, a
Dane.
MIR. Borglum's groupings will repre-
sent the official heads OF the South, in
cluding officers, also cavalry, artillery and
infantry. The foremost men in the dif-
ferent branches OF the service from each
State will be represented. Mrs. c. Helen
Plane, president OF the Monument ASso-
citation, and honorary president of the
Daughters Of the Confederacy, and Will
liam H. Tenill, lawyer of Atlanta, have
received the credit for the idea Of erecting
a memorial to the Southern cause. The
mountain was owned by Samuel Venable,
OF Atlanta, and he and his heirs have
given it for this purpose.
"What interests me in this monument"
said Mr.. Borglum few days ago, sis
that it is not statue OF Lee, or Jackson,
much as admire those men. The reason
am so keen about it-and ! am keen
about it's not that if is the biggest thing
that ever has been attempted in the world.
ut is what the Egyptians tried 10 do, and
the Grecians wanted 10 do; neither had
the time nor the place. II represents
the first effort in this country to build
memorial 10 cause, without singing out
an individual. That is what the Greeks
always did, and they were so conscious
OF doing il that il was against the law TO
make statue TO an individual. They
were always building TO the ideal. That
is why this thing interests me; it is the
first effort in America 10 build monu-
meht 10 nation, to movement OF a
hundred thousand or ten hundred thou
sand persons.
at is a monument TO two or three mil
lion women who worked just as hard and
suffered much more than their brothers
or husbands. That is the thing that in
terests me. II is a memorial 10 move
ment. My great hope is that before the
thing is half done, this country shall have
decided to stop sticking up statues TO a
Doctor Cooper or Bill Smith. The per-
petuating of a battle, of defeat, of a
movement-that is what is needed"
Last spring Mr.. Borglum was asked by
the Monument Association if he would
compete for the honor OF doing the me-
mortal. He replied that he would not
compete, asserting that there was no
great monument extant, no masterpiece,
at least, which was the product OF COM
petition. In the early summer he was
asked to 90 down TO Atlanta and look
over the mountain, which is 10 miles from
the city. The Reception Committee took
him out in limousine, showed him The
mountain, and inquired, "What are you
going to do with it?"
1.-The mountain" said Mr.. Borglum 10
his visitor, "is great unit. 1t is solid
granite. An attempt had been made to
blow il up, but it was irresistible. 1t is
below the frost line, and consequently
free from any great expansion or con-
traction. II has not stuffed off any OF its
stone. Two or three inches below the
surface you strike pure granite. q
"Iwalked over and around it, examined
its face, and finally came TO the conclusion
that there was only one feasible way Of
treating it, and that was in leaving all
architectural or geometricaI designs out
of il and cutting great frieze represent
ing a moving mass of troops across the
face of it in full or in high relief in such a
manner-and this is most important-as
to give the impression that they were in
full relief and moving over the surface Of
the mountain and not moving across its
side.
"Stone Mountain, in its colossal pro-
portions, makes the Pyramids small and
insignificant by comparison. They are
built or cut stone and long since have
fallen into decay. The large figures OF
Egypt are little more than symbols and
awaken little interest in modern man, be-
yond the splendid intention and mystery
they suggest regarding The civilization
and culture OF their day. However, there
can be little doubt they would have shaped
| il into one of the first wonders of the
world.
"The question of locating upon the
mountain the various figures in the best
possible position in relation to the COM
position as a whole, and in relation TO
the mountain, considering the lighting