Evening star., 1924-03-02
Work, When CON-
pleted Within Fe,U
Years, Will Be En-
titled to Be Ranked
as Oneo Wonders of
the W0rld---CdrYies
Out, for First Time
in This Country; the
Greek Idea of Me-
mortal to a Cause.

'The workman called out, Where
am T.?
"'You are on Lees hat brim,' I
replied.
"Then I told him to drop on far
ther down, and shouted to him, Now
where are you? Can you tell where
you are" No. he yelled back, I can't
tell thing about it; I'm too close
THE first actual cutting Of stone
! has to do with the preparation of the
surface where the figures are to be
created. The cliff, In its steep de-
| scent. is slightly ellipttcal. In other
words, the drop is not sheer, but
i curves out about fifteen feet in {.
| hundred. This bulge must be re-
| duced to not over five or six feet in
| a hundred.
This means a tremendous lot of
| cutting that resembles quarrying
| more than 1t does sculptural work
But the figures are so huge that they
will stand out in relief from fifteen
! to eighteen feet. Great care must
! therefore be used to leave q solid
| block of stone emerging the proper
| distance from the background, where
each Of these figures Is to stand.
| Stonecutters can do the rougher
! work, and when this Is finished / will
bring In a number of skilled sculp-
/ tors from my Stamford, Conn, stu
dios, and together we will work out
the features and distinguishing lines,
making each major figure q recog-
| nizable likeness"
I A RTC capyas fncIorura proyacfs fho
workmen from the elements. and
they work rain or shine. A cafeteria
| and other conveniences are housed
under this canvas clinging to the face
| of the cliff. Stonecutters work out
the rougher parts and skilled sculp-
tors work on the outlines OF the fig-
ure. A certain section is assigned to
each sculptor, and he has a large clay
model of this section beside him. He
works away at his portion Of the
figure, checked up constantly by Mr.
Borglum, and as it nears completion
the master sculptor takes the chisei
and mallet and puts on the finishing
touches that reveal the true likeness.
It is a long and tedious process az
best.
How long will it take? That
cannot tell. I am ready to give the
rest Of my life to II, IL necessary.
And If 1 am not permitted sufficient
time to finish all the groups, 1t Is so
designed that another can take UP
1.-The work where I leave OF.
"We hope to have the central
lgroup, including the figures of Lee,
jackson and Davis. ready to unveti
1
There should never be another stroke
ldone on the memorial, this first group
lwould form an immortal monument
for future ages. see no reason why
lit should not endure a million years.
But the work will go on, and the
other groups ought to be completed
in perhaps eight to ten years"
The estimated cost of the actual
carving is about $1S000,000. But the
lproject calls also for a memorial
Hall Of Records" to be quarried out
Of the solid granite at the base of
the mountain. This is to be $50 feet
Hong, go feet in depth and 40 feet
high. It Is to have thirteen OPEN
jings, representing the thirteen states
of the Confederacy. Here the Daugh-
ters of the Confederacy are to have
a vault, proof against fire and the
ravages of time, where the records
and treasures Of the Confederacy may
be preserved inviolate and with all
the security Of an Egyptian tomb.
On the granite walls inside the
memorial hall will be placed bronze
tablets bearing the names Of those
individuals or organizations that
ros TO oh
founder" is permitted also to place
a tablet bearing the name and war
record Of a Confederate soldier or
unit Of troops.
An open-air amphitheater and a
! system Of parking and new roadways
leading out from Atlanta and con-
: meeting up with the Bankhead high
way are also projected. In all, the
amount Of money to be raised by ap-
J portioned quotas among the southern
states is s3,000.000. The money has
already been raised to complete the
central group OF figures.
y y 4 y
1.-THE south is taking hold Of this
project with will. Famous old
names, like Randolph. Lee, Forrest,
Davis and Calhoun, are found among
the officers and on the committees
Of the Stone Mountain Memorial AS
ISOLATION. The governors of prac-
! tically all the southern states have
. pledged the support OF their respec-
, tive commonwealths In seeing this
undertaking through to a successful
finish.
), AS Borglum says. this is our first
great effort to memoriaIize move
, ment-a stage in our national life
rather than in the life Of an indi-
, vidual. There is something extraor-
, dinarily appealing in the thought
that five thousand years hence, ten
thousand yes, a hundred thousand
years in the future-when, perhaps,
the story Of the beginnings Of Ameri-
: can civilization may be as hazy and
obscure as our own Information about
the national beginnings in early
Egypt-a portion of our story will
stand out in granite in what must
!. ever remain one Of the largest. II not
tho largest, piece Of sculptured work.
Mare lack of natural medium to work