Evening star., 1925-10-19
Argentina's Hero
To Be HOnOred Here.

The unveiling OF the equestrian
statue of San Martin will take place
on October 80. The statue Is located
in Judiciary Square, directly opposite
the center Of the Pension Building,
and faces the rear of the courthouse.
This statue was donated by the peo-
pie Of Argentina to the people OF the
! United States. 1t was accepted by
John w. Riddle, then Ambassador 10
Argentina from this country. and 1t
was shipped on July 5, 1924. on the
S S. American Legion. Together with
the shipment Of the statue there was
sent TO this city 80 tons Of sand. II
tons of cement, 81 600 bricks. hand
made, of superior quality: 81 blocks
of granite from the quarries at Cos
quin. Poe. Cordoba. All this material
for the construction of the pedestal
being the natural product of Argen-
, tina.
The bronze statue was cast in three
piecessthe horse, with the legs Of the
rider attached, all in one casting. The
trunk, or body from the waist up, in
one casting, and the third piece being
the tall, which alone weighs nearly
as much as the horse. as it is solid
and OF great weight in order to pre-
serve the equipoise of the statue. The
whole statue when assembled will
weigh % tons. The horse is posed on
his hind legs and is probably the
largest equine OF any of the eques-
| trian statues In the city. 1t is a
replica Of the statue of Gen. Jon de
San Martin O77S-1s56,. in Buenos
Aires. There are also five other eques
trian statues in South America OF
San Martin.
The granite pedestal supporting
! this statue Is IS feet square and -
feet high. Just below the plinth of
the statue there is an opening. This
is for the reception of block Of onyx.
it being 30 inches long. 8 inches high
and 20 inches wide. This is 10 be
used as a corner stone, as 1t were.
and will be the recepticle Of the usual
articles, such as coin, manuscripts,
papers and such things as are usually
contained in a corner stone. This is
a ma snificent piece of ONYX. it being
a native production Of Argentina. On
the outside of this there will be
panel containing an inscription. Di-
rectly opposite on the rear of the
pedestal will be a panel in bronze con-
! tanning the escutcheon of Charcabuco.
on each four sides of the pedestal
about feet from the ground, there
will be inscriptions in raised letters
cut in the stone. That on the right
side will be Charcabuco, 1917. On the
east side, Lima, 1921: on the south
side, San Lorenzo, 1913; on the north
! large panel on the right hand side. in
! bronze, showing Gen. San Martin
| crossing the Andes, and on the left
| side a similar panel representing the
proclamation OF the independence of
! Peru.
| The figures on both of these panels
are in high relief. The copper which
| av,fA EA1 f,,t@
| bronze was an Argentine product AS
| this statue was free gift to the
United States from the people of Ar
sentina, who were contributors TO the
| fund necessary for the production of
| this statue, the cost of the sa me has
moi been divulged.
The site for this monument is most
appropriate. At one time it was about
decided to erect the statue AT Chevy
/ Chase Circle. rather out of the way.
/ one would think. as the appropriate e
! place for such a prominent statue
| should be in the city proper. There
! is one criticism in regard TO the posi-
I tion Of the statue. That is, it is fac
! ing the rear Of the courthouse, the
/ back being toward the Pension Build
! ing. One would think that this posi-
| tion should have been reversed How
ever. that Is matter of viewpoint
! Fine Arts. as it was probably respon-
sible for the position.
y
| The bronze brigade Of the City of
! Washington now musters Is horses
This is the only equestrian statue of
a foreign warrior in the precincts of
our city. Pulaski. while not a native
| of this country. fought and died for
us in the Revolutionary War
| II is passing strange that the first
equestrian statue to be erected in
the city was that of Washington of
! North America, and the latest is TO
be that of the Washington of Sout h
America.
! 1t may be mentioned here that the
| last days Of San Martin were spent
far away from his native heath. He
lived for some time in obscurity and
quiet in France. where he died in
1850. A beautiful equestrian statue
was erected to him in Boulogne- sur
| Mere, Fra nee.
FRANKLIN STEELE.