The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1922-05-30
MEMORIAL OF
/ LINCOLN GIVEN
TO The NATION
President Harding Accepts in
Person at Exercises
Held Today
MANY THOUSANDS ATTEND
Creation of Marble in Memory
OF Former President One of
Greatest in World
MANY THOUSANDS ATTEND

Washington, May 80, (By the A. P.)
"A nations tribute to its glorious
dead reached its climax today at the
dedication of the memorial beside the
Potomac to Abraham Lincoln by his
grateful countrymen.
A former president -Taft-headed
the commission which has lavished
endless thought on making this stone
emblem of American gratitude wor-
thy of the man whose memory it will
perpetuate for Americans. The presi-
dent in person accepted the work in
the nations name. .s-.
Spread across the wide terraces, the
lawns and the circling drive-ways that
have been made to give the memorial
building setting were thousands of
Americans and distinguished men
from foreign lands, also came to psy
homage at this shrine Of democratic
liberty. Close in about the rising tiers
Of marble steps were gathered the
men who today hold in their hands
the destinies of that government of
the reople, by the ~eople and for the
people," which Lincoln gave his life
to maintain but behind these and over
a mile-wide sweep of the mall and
clear away to the base of the Wash
lngton monument mile distant from
the memorial were the common folks
from whom Lincoln came and for
whom he toiled until he was cut down
by an assassin's bullet.
Beautiful Structure
The Lincoln Memorial, the gift of
the nation to the memory of Abraham
Lincoln, is one Of the worlds most
beautiful structures and the greatest
shrine of the man who saved the
union. Impressive in its simplicity,
the memorial probably is the master
piece Of all public builings and men,
orials in the United States. 1t stands
in Potomac Park facing the Washing
ton monument, and its construction
was begun on Lincoln's birthday an
niversary in 1914. The total cost has
been approximately $3,000,0O0.
This monument to Lincoln is q
larg, rectangular building of white
marble, designed by Henry Bacon, a
New York architect. 1t has beauti-
full setting on direct east and west
line with the Washington monument
and the. nations capitol and rises 144
feet above the level Of the park. 1t
is composed of four principal features
"a statue of the man, a memorial of
his Gettysburg address, memorial
Of his second inaugural address and a
symbol of the Union of the States.
Statue in Marble
The most important object In the
is the statue of Lincoln in
marble, by Daniel Chester French,
New York sculptor, placed in the
central hall where. by virtue of its
position in the place of hon
or, it predominates all else. The sta
tue is colossal in size and yet dis
tinctively personal. 1t represents
Lincoln seate in ad thoughtful mood,
and is the first thing that meets the
eye as one passes through the i'm.
mense colonnaded entrance. Smaller
halls, one at either s:de of the cen
tral hall, contain monumental tablets |
In which deeply incised letters repro
tluce word for word, Lincoln's Gattys-
burg address on the left wall and the
address made by him at his second
on the right wall. Above
these are two large mural paintings
by Jules Cuerin, New York artist,
one typifying Emancipation" and
the other typifying reunion" Their
occupied three years
time.
Surrounding the exterior Of the
walls inclosing these memorials is a !
magnificent colonnae forming SYM
Dol of the union, each column repre-
senting one of the 36 states existing
at the time of Lincoln's death. On
the outer walls above the colonnade
and supported at intervals by eagles
are 48 festoons, one for each state
existing at the present time.
At one end Of the great axis,
planned over a century ago, Is the
capitol of the nation, which is the
of the. government, and a
mile westward from the capiol is the
555-foot granite shaft which is the
to George Washington.
now on this same trgeat axis half a
mile west of the Washington manu.
ment stands the Lincoln Memorial.
This completes an unparalleled COM
position. a triology which imparts to
each of it's monuments a value In
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