Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-11-08
Mary Baker Eddy Memorial
A Triumph of Architecture

ana while the Egyptians have left soma
wonderful carving In that material,
they did not carry their work to such
an elaborate or delicate extent.
Having then discovered that prac.
tically anything could be done in gran.
lite, we proceeded to develop in plaster
the model of the complete memorial AZ
fun size. This model was the subject
of the greatest p~ainstaking care ana
attention on the part of Mr.. Mencont
were occupied in study and revisions.
until we were sure that the proportions
of every part were just AS they should
be. 1t was early decided that the. orna-a
ment itself should not be as highly
conventionalized as is usual i'm classic
work, but that floral forms should be
used exclusively, and it was especially
desired to make use OF the wild rose as
Il motive, as this was Mrs. lIddy's ia
vorite flower. The idea of carving q
Wild rose in granite was staggering ut
the start, hue we found, after repeated
attempts, that it could be done, and in
the two rose panels in each of the
pylons | think tina a vibrant living eff
feet has been attained that is almost
inconceivable. even in bronze, and this
same feeling was pursued through the
whole memorial. ,
cular colonnade of eight columns. is
feet in height. surmounted by a COR
nice n Il cheneau course or creStfng.
There is no roof or covering; the COLI
onnade is open, and similarly there Is
no pavement in the circle Enclosed by
the columns. nor is there any stone
structure of any kind over the grave 1T
self, but the space between the coll
umns will be filled entirely with grow
ing flowers, r~hododendrYns possibly. or
plants whose flowers will be large
enough to be in scale with the memoir
al Mai, NI~ "a Ia vaet~ ,nps, A OF M
bate of three steps, which stylobate 10
surrounded on the road side by a broad
platform OF Pomptcn pink granite.
which contrasts admirably with he
| white granite of the memorial itself,
. while on the lake side there are, as be-
fore mentioned. the doublef flight OF cir
cular steps. thanked on each side by
large pylons. on the top of which are
inscriptions Of white rome, let into
the surface of h granite. There is
also an inscription or the top step of
the stylobate, and a dedicatory inscrip-
ton in the frieze Of the entablature.
/ have been often asked in what style
the memorial was designed; was It
Greek or Roman, or was it Ionic or
Corinthians; and l hav been forced to
answer that 1t was non of these. 1t
was classic. I hoped, but yet it was
modern. The columns and the caps
have a certain resemblance to an order
which was transitional between the
Ooric and the C%orinthian and is best
known from it's use in the little
Clypsedra of Andronicus Cyrrhestes. in
Athens, sometimes called the Tower of
the Winds. ! do not mean to infer that
the olumns OF the memorial are copies
of, nor are they similar to. the order Of
the Tower of the Winds. They are
merely of the same type, infinitely
more refined in detail and better in
proportion. The entablature Ia not
similar to any entablature that I know
of; it is extremely simple, relying for
its ornamentation on the exterior chief
ly upon the carved cresting and the
bronze inscription in the frieze, and ON
the interior upon the elaborate and ef-
fective frieze, which is carved in high
] relief.