The Rock Island Argus and daily union., 1922-05-29

goth or May THIS year Will De nldI n
, ed by a ceremony of interest to the
whole nation, and one unique in
! the history of the United States.
When the Lincoln memorial here is
dedicated on that date the presi-
dent OF the United States, two for
mer presidents and the sons OF still
| two other former presidents, Will
| be present. President Harding, Will
| liam Howard Taft and Woodrow
| Wilson will take part in the cere-
monies. There will also be pres
ent Robert Lincoln, son of the
great Lincoln, and Assistant Sec
retary OF the Navy Theodore Roose-
velt, son of the illustrious man of
| the same name who occupied the
White house for almost two terms.
Beyond all question, the Lincoln
memorial is the most beautiful
work in marble ever undertaken on
this side of the world. 1t will take
rank with the library of congress,
the Washington monument, the
White house and the Capitol as a
point of interest for visitors to
Washington in the future.
Immediately upon entering the
main portal the heroic statue of
Lincoln is seen. The figure is seat
ed but because of its enormous pro-
portions it is % feet high. 1t is
the work OF Daniel Chester French,
noted American sculptor. Had Mr..
French elected to portray Lincoln
standing. the figure would have
lowered 3S feet in the air.
The marble for the statue was
brought from Georgia, and in the
rough weighed no less than 427
tons. Twenty-eight great blocks of
this fine grade of stone were used,
and in the completed statue weigh
175 tons. The sections of the
statue were cut in the marble in
the yards OF the six Piccirilli tx 9TH
ers in New York city. A score of
marble cutters were kept busy for
IS months completing the work,
which was then transported to
Washington in sections.
The model made by Mr.. French
was only five feet high. From this
perfected piece of sculpture, the
marble cutting art made possible
the enormously enlarged replica.
Some Remarkable Paintings.
great SGdL6u uSuIS Is, OI
course, the main point of interest
in the memorial. Next TO it rank
the paintings by Jules Guerin of
ST. Louis. one of Americas fore
most painters. Mr.. Guerin for
some years past has made his home
in New York and the paintings for
the memorial were done in his stu
dio there.
In keeping with the heroic pro-
portions Of the Lincoln statue, it
is interesting TO note that the can
vas alone for each Of the paintings,
which are so feet long and II feet
high, weighed 300 pounds when
work on them was commenced.
They are hung 80 feet above the
floor of the memorial.
The finishing of these paintings
required twice as long as the busi-
ness of cutting the marble blocks
into a finished statue. For three
long years Guerin worked in his |
New York studio before the result !
was satisfactory TO him. The titles !
of the two pictures are "Emancipa- !
ton" and Reunion. Four human |
figures appear in the paintings, |
which from a mechanical stand |
point are made to endure for cen /
turies without cracking or having /
the paint crumble. Mr.. Guerin mix |
ed his pigments with kerosene and |
white wax in order TO guard against !
deterioration.
There are but two other main |
decorative features of the memo
rial. The first is the famous Get /