New-York tribune., 1921-10-31

rade responded to leaders, hoarse
Haiti" there was not sufficient stand
ing room left to accommodate "a one
legged man. Jammed in tho throng
were Boy Scouts in purple neckerchiefs
snd khaki, reveling In contact with
-rsnch- helmeted fighters bred like
Themselves down by the water front.
There were two stands inside the
iron fence. Both were huttering
splashes of red. white and blue. IN
one sat the great men come down to
participate in the ceremony. In the
other there were just two rows of old
women in black, the aristocracy OF Alb
ingdon Square, an aristocracy Of sac
ritice. These we're the gold star moth
ers, whose sons are still in France.
Statue Work OF Village Son
These stands, placed at right angles
to each other, faced the flag -shrouded
monument that was modelled by Phillip
Martiny, pupil Of st. Gaudens, and him
self of the Village. 1t rose to i'm
pressivo heights. Mounted on ped
estal that is more than eight feet high,
the bronze rises twelve feet above
that
William w. Cohen was the chairman
OF the exercises and introduced success
svely tho Rev. Frank w. Lawson, who
came in his uniform of chaplain Of the
305th Machine Gun Battalion OF the
9th Division: former Governor "Al"
Smith, who presented the memorial to
the city, and Mayor Hylan, who ac-
cepted it.
"How many of these boys whose
mothers sit here went overseas feeling,
as did Nathan Hale, regret that they
had but one life to give!" 1t was "Al"
Smith talking.
There was a stirring among the old
women. The faces of all were stained
with tears.
"This monument shall be lesson in
usefulness and devotion, as much a
monument to these mothers who went
down into the Valley Of the Shadow Of
Death that these boys might live and
who gave them freely in the countrys
hour # need"
"Al" Smiths voice was lost in a
scuffling Of feet. The knees of one of
the old women had given way beneath
her. She had fallen to the platform
and three or four soldiers were trying
to raise her to a chair.
ITS old Mrs. Catherine Smith" cx-
planned somebody in voice that car
ried above the former Governors.
Both her boys, Jimmy and that other
one, were killed. The fellows brought
her over here from that place she lives
in down in Hudson Street"
Four children, three of them clad in
diminutive uniforms representing q
soldier, sailor and a marine and a
fourth dressed as Red Cross nurse,
stepped bravely up and grasped the
cords that held the yelling flags in
place. 1t was their biggest moment,
and so here are their names: James J.
Riordan jr., as the soldier; Stephen P.
Roberts, as the sailor; Helen Culkin,
as the Red Cross nurse, and James P.
Geagan jr. as the marine.
The band began to play "The Star
Spangled Banner Old Mrs. Smith
struggled to her feet with the others.
The children tugged at the cords and
"bombs bursting in air." the flags fell
away and revealed Abingdon Squares
"Defender of the Flag" bronze
doughoy with the stripes of corporal,
head bandaged beneath his helmet, a
standard clutched in one hand and all
automatic .45 in the other.
Her Grief in Enduring Bronze
For old Mrs. Smith it was both her
sons who stood there on the pedestal,
and if it meant as much for the others
who stood by perhaps this was because
none there was able to see distinctly
through tear-flled eyes as stalwart
doughhoys and sailors staggered for
ward beneath the weight OF huge
wreath Of smilax and flags that they
hung on the pedestal.
Mayor Hylan in brief speech ac-
cepted the monument on behalf of the
city. Father Francis P. Duffy, chaplain
of the 69th Regiment, prophesied that
these boys who had died before their
mating time shall endure in the hearts
of the people as long as the Republic
survives.
The police glee club sang "Auld Lang
Syne." Then a squad of rifemen In
olive drab stepped forth from the
crowd. There was command. A vol
ley rang out. Three in succession, and
then Taps" sounded by bugle from
an attic window.
And that was the shooting yester-
day down in Abingdon Square.