The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-01-21

Stone Mountain, a few miles from
Atlanta, rises far above the sur
rounding forest land, and is crown
ed with bald, impressive dome OF
granite. 1t lends its name TO Incl
dents of the Civil War, and, being
q natural wonder of the South, II
has always been an object OF much
interest. 1t now takes on q remark
able importance because OF its Sc
lection as the substance for a colon.
sal monument to the Confederate
heroes of the war.
The plan is to carve in the rock
q series Of historical and symbolical
iReidents to portray the spirit Of
self-sacrifice that actuated the Con-
federates. The memorial was con-
ceived by Cutzon Borgium, one OF
New York's sculptors, and is being
financed by the Daughters of the
Congederacy. The Stone Mountain
Confederate Memorial Association is
to have direct charge of the work.
Samue! Venable, his brother and
their heirs owned Stone mountain
and the adjacent territory. The
Venables have given to the Daugh-
tiers of the Confederacy a strip OF
eighty acres in front of the noun
tain, and including the entire gran
ite facade, with sufficient space on
the crest to preclude the possibility
of marring the sky line. The prop
erty is two miles long, and the noun
tain Is 700 feet high.
Upon the upper portion of the al
most rrecipitous face of the noun
TAIN" said Mr.. Borglum, will be
cut the great groups of horses and
men, infantry and cavalry This
point has been chosen because it will
involve the removal of the least pos
sible quantity of stone to obtain a
proper display of the figures" There
will be no applied stone; everything
will be cut in. The question of To-
eating upon the mountain the var
ious figures for the composition as
a whole and in relation to the noun
tain, considering the lighting, the
height and the general structure of
the hill, has given me more concern
than the work itself" said Mr.
Borglum, as quoted by the New
York Sun. Il shall build a studio
about 100 feet long squarely on the
axis of the face of the mountain, and
from three-quarters of mile to one
mile from its base. In the side of
this studio | shall have window of
such length as will cover that por-
tion of the mountain which | can
see standing comfortably against the
opposite inner wall. This window
should then reveal to me the full
field of the part of the m .dntain in
tended for the carving. | shall then
lay the window out to scale, cross
lining it, and as the mountain ap-
pears upon the window l shall draw
in my entire work upon the window
itself, then by a little imagination
force it back upon the mountain. By
shifting my position it will be read
lily seen that l can shift the whole
scheme of my design to any part Of
the mountain. BY moving toward
the window / can increase it in scale,
or, moving away from it, reduce it.
BY this process l can establish with
the least possible amount of labor
the exact size of all my work and
the exact location of it. Judging
from the achievement of the Egypt
ian sculptors, there can be little
doubt that they would have shaped
monolith like Stone Mountain into
one of the wonders of the world"
The promoters do not lack the
means. and it is estimated that the
memorial will cost in the neighbor-
hood Of 100000. Mr.. Borglum
described the motif of his work as
follows: 'No adventure of the
Anglo-Saxon people in their 1000
years Of progress and development
has brought into action greater sac
rifices. nor have nobler men and
women been produced to meet these
sacrifices. than history records dur
ing the war between the North and
the South. which has cemented the
Union of the States through the arbi-
trament of the sword. The causes
OF the war have passed into history;
the merits and dement's of the strug-
gle have become academic questions,
but the lofty character, the high
principles. the dominant virtues and