The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1922-04-18

as some of the fights in the Argonne
forest. The administration seemingly
believes that the men who hold the
money bags in congress are willing to
put their country in danger In order
to save a%few dollars. There is an
sother side than that of money to, this
matter, as it affects the regular army.
Z. Question to BE Considered. =,
/: Can the United States, it is asked.
afford to be wholly ungrateful to the
men who have given their country
their life's service? Today there is
unrest in the regular army because Of
the apparent willingness of congress
ito take away from the men Of years
of service their means of livelihood.
Admittedly, if the good Of the people
shall demand the dismissal OF some of
Its servants, well and good, but what
of condition which involves the dis
missal of the faithful and as Il COM
panion act the loss Of safety for our
institutions? ~. A. -
Your correspondent knows somc-
thing personally about the conditions
today in the regular army. He has
been regular and he has, been an
emergency officer. Service men have
lost heart. They do not know what
is going to happen to them and their
families. They are trained to serve
their country along certain lines and
now they fear that their country is
going to turn them adrift without 50
much as a straw Of safety.
Today there is an actual attempt
being made to force willing and able
men out Of the army. Soldiers who
physically and mentally are capable CT
years of work are being ordered be-
fore examining boards of doctors, lii
the hope-yes. in the hope-that the
examiners will be able to find some
little thing physically wrong with them
which will give the government an ex-
cuse for dismissing the faithful ones.
Crowds Visit Lincoln Memorial.
Visitors of the springtime are be-
ginning to come to Washington in
crowds Almost the first place which
they visit is the Lincoln memorial,
within which stately building is the
seated statue Of the wartime Pres.
ident.
John Boyle O'Reilly once wrote
poem called 'The Statues in the
Block" In sense it described the
emotions of the man who was gazing
upon a block of marble and thinking
upon the possibilities in the way of
lifelike impersonations which could
be brought by the chisel Of the sculp-
tor from cold stone.
The statue Of Lincoln is heroic in
size. The face is wonderful. This
. masterpiece came from a block of
stone. 1 made some little inquiry as
to the methods of sculptors who We're
to make statues Of men whom they
had never seen in life. The face, and
in way the figure, is known to the
sculptor from Photographic or paint
ing reproduction, but almost always it
is necessary to get some living man
to pose as the subject in order to get
the living effect.
After looking at the statue of Lin
coin Il day or two ago l went to Du.
,pOnt circle, where recently there was
a statue Of Admiral Dupont, a statue
which was taken down because it is
mot thought to be a properly artistic
representation of the sailor.
Great Sculptor's Methods.
BY q curious coincidence, almost i'm
medately after looking on the Dupont
circle fountain I met a man whom I
had known for some years, Arthur G.
Fuller of Groton, Mass. Mr.. Fuller
had known the sculptor, French, virtu-
ally all his life. He told me some
things concerning the labors of this
man whose work is known throughout
the country which to me were inter-
esting, and may not prove to be unin-
teresting to others,
| 1t was French who did "The Minute
Man. which stands at Concord bridge,
the rude bridge (which arched the
nCod where once the embattled farmer
stood" The Minute Man is statue
tof extreme simplicity, but full of sig
nificance and of action. It represents
a young farmer with one hand upon
the plow while the other hand holds
rifle. He is looking far off and lis
tening for the call to duty.
Memorial hall, so called, in the cap
itol. the old nall of representatives,
has in it many atrocities. Each state
of the Union has the right to place
in this hall statues Of two Of it's great
| citizens. The states not always have
/ chosen we'll. Sometimes legislatures
have been moved by political consider
ations or considerations even less
worthy when choosing men to be rep
resented by memorials in the capitol
of the United States. There are some
statues in Memorial hall of men of
whom the average person never heard.
and some of these statues are an
abominatiOn to the eye Of uny one
who has the slightest knowledge of
what art should be.
One of South Cardinals memorial
statues in the hall Is that Of John c..