The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-09

could anywhere be found. It can be seen from all sides equally well, close
 at hand from the cemtery road, and from a quarter of mile away across the lake. Indeed, it is this body of water which forms the chief beauty of the site. There is a drop of ap- proximately 10 feet from the level of the road to the level of the lake, there being a natural terrace on the axis of the plot which lends itself admirably to the architectural development of the memorial, This change of grade in the memorial is accomplished by a double flight of circular steps lead ing from the platform in front of the memorial to a similar platform some five feet below it on the lake side, and These circular steps, as seen from across the water, seem to embrace the memorial and give it a substantial foundation, and by their curved lines complement the curve of the colon made above. This lake is usually still, and has a mirror-like quality which reflects admirably the white granite of which the memorial is made.
 The original scheme was essentially marble design, as it seemed that in no other material could the requisite IlIS1lcSS Ol uCLd1l D0 ODIdlH0u, UuL dl ter much investigation it was decided to abandon marble as not sufficiently
 durable and lasting, and white gran ite from the Bethel quarries was fin ally selected. It then occurred to me that it might be advisable to use
 bronze for the more delicate orna-
 ment that could not be carved in gran ite, and that this bronze might be ifo hrn -rfo of f1o tomary color, so that there would not
 be too much contrast with the grant ite, and sample, was made which wa$
 extremely interesting and beautiful. After great deliberation this idea was
 given up, because the ornament look ed a little spotty, due to the fact that
 practically all the work was curved,
 and the bronze was constantly seen in different lights.
 MT. Menconi, the modeler and car yer, then made a series of experiments
 with the granite, under the direction of the Christian Science Board of Di- rectors and myself, to determine just to what extent the carving could be carried, and much to our satisfaction, we found that with the aid of modern
 methods this hard granite could be carved with the delicacy of marble,
 and that marvellous \results could be i obtained. It took long time, it is true, to carve the granite in this man. ner, on account of the hardness of the
 material and it's brittleness, the great est care had to be exercised, but the
 result has, in our opinion, justified the time and expense spent upon it.
 I think it can be said without fear of contradiction that, leaving aside en- tirely any artistic excellence, such perfection has never been attained be-
 fore in this unyielding and enduring
 material. There is certainly nothing in modern times that can approach it nor, as far as I know, in any of the ! monuments of antiquity. The Greeks and Romans employed granite but ht- tie, and while the Egyptians have left some wonderful carving in that ma terial they did not carry their work to such an elaborate or delicate extent. Having the discovered that prac- tically anything could be done in
 granite, we proceeded to develop in plaster the model of the complete
 memorial at full size. This model was the subject of the greatest painstaking
 care and attention of the part of Mr. Menconi and myself, and at least six
 
 revisions. until we were sure that the proportions of every part were just as they should be. It was early de- cided that the ornament itself should not be as high conventionalized as is usual in classic work, but the floral forms should be used exclusively, and it was especial desired to make use of the wild rose as a motive, as this
 was Mrs. Eddy's favorite flower. The idea of carving a wild rose in granite was staggering at the start, but we found, after repeated attempts, that it could be done, and in the two rose panels in each of tho pylons I think that a vibrant living effet has been attained that is almost inconceivable,
 even in bronze, and this same feeling was pursued through the whole me- morial
 The detail is novel; it is not a CODY of any highly conventionalized type, but is living and vibrant and at the anne time it still retains 1t classic eeling; and in that connection it is 1teresting to note that in the best
 eriod of Greek and Roman art the etail was not the stiff formal thing nat is usually imagined by moderu storers; it was highly conventional zed, but yet it was free, and the great. l u individuality was displayed by the