Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-02-26
ARMED MEN GUARD
STONE MOUNTAIN
Deputies Seek BorgIum With
Warrants Charging De-
struction of Models.
BY the Associated Press.

A A.
Armed deputies today were guarding
Stone Mountain and the property of
the Stone Mountain Confederate Mon
umental Association after the devel-
opments of yesterday, when Gutzon
Borglum was dismissed from his post
as sculptor of the memorial.
Deputy sheriffs armed with war
rants charging Borglum and j. q.
Tucker, superintendent of operations
at the mountain, with destruction of
the designs and models for the work
early today still were seeking the
two
Charges will be pressed, officials
say, as will a damage suit filed
against Borglum in De Kalb County
Superior Court yesterday for $4,000,
alleged damages caused by the de-
struction of the models
Under the contract with Borglum,
attorneys for the association said, the
models and designs for the work were
the property OF the organization
They, however, it was pointed out
can be replaced by the sculptor Sc
lected to continue the work by re-
construction from photographs now
in the archives of the association.
Barred by Injunction.
An injunction now bars the en-
trance of Borglum, Tucker or their
agents to the premises.
The models were destroyed late
yesterday within d few hours after
Borglum had been dismissed by the
directors of the association. The
work OF destruction was carried on, 1t
was charged, at the order of Bor-
glum.
Borglum last night declared the action
of the association in dismissing him
was "a blow not particularly against
me, but against the South. 1t was struck
at me because l am a Northern man"
Sam H. Venable, owner of the
mountain and a member of the exec
utive committee of the association,
attended yesterdays meeting but left
before the vote for Borglum's dis
missal was taken to accompany the
sculptor and Tucker to the mountain
to view tins wG-<
Owner Denies Report.
Though quoted last night as say
ing the memorial could not be com
pleted within the three-year time
limit and that he would not cede
further space on the mountain for
carving as long as the present adj
ministration remains in control of the
association, Mr.. Venable today was
quoted as denying he had authorized
such a statement and declining to dis
cuss the matter.
Mrs. Borglum, wife OF the sculptor,
was quoted this morning as saying
1.-The whole design for the monument
originated with Mr.. Borglum, was
developed by him and many models
made before any contract was en-
tered into.
'Tt was his exclusive property and
had been copyrighted by him. Many
of the models were made in his stu
dio at Stamford, Conn, and brought
to Stone Mountain.
Claims Right of Destruction.
This design belonged exclusively
to Mr.. Borglum. Therefore Mr.. Borg
lum had a perfect legal right to de-
stroy his own property"
Destroyed Models Gigantic.
Models of some of the figures to be
included in the Confederate Memorial
on Stone Mountain, destroyed at the
mountain studio yesterday, were gi-
gantic, modelled in clay and cast in
plaster. The model of the head of
Robert E. Lee was feet high, z feet
wide and weighed $500 pounds.
The only finished carving of the
monument Is the head of Gen. Lee.
Work has been started on the head
of Gen. "Stonewalp' Jackson. The
third figure of the central group is
to be President Jefferson Davis.
The memorial, as outlined in pre-
iimInary sketches and models, is to
show the President of the Confederacy
with Lee and Jackson, leading gen.
erals of the army, mounted, with a
number Of lieutenant generals, mount
ed, following across the side of the
mountain. In the secondary group of
Confederate officers all the states of
the Confederacy are to be represented
by officers of high rank.
Scene of Klan's Origin.
The Ku Klux Khan of modern days
was organized on the top of Stone
Mountain, now the center of a con-
troYersy between the Stone Mountain
Confederate Memorial Association and
Gutzon Rorglun, the sculptor. Ac-
cording to statements, following the
organization of the order Thanksgiv-
ing day, 1915, Is men, headed by w
j. Simmons, repaired to the very top
of the mountain and after each man
had carried a bowlder to the peak,
formed an altar and placed a Bible
and flag on it. Mr. Simmons was
made imperial wizard and continued
in this capacity until November %,
1922, when he resigned and was made
emperor, with salary of $1,000 a
month for life. Mr.. Simmons, how
ever, withdrew from the ku Klux
Khan in 1923, when he was paid S145,-
500, it was announced, in lieu of the
salary for life. 1t is said that on the
anniversary of the founding of the
Ku Klux Khan delegations of klans-
men hold services on the tor of Stone
Mountain.
Committee Explains Action.
The executive committee of the or
ganization announced 1t terminated
the agreement with Mr.. Borglum be-
= %
not proce eding satisfactorily"
This action was taken in the form
of a resolution canceling the contract
and instructing Mr.. Randolph to Sc
lect another sculptor to carry on the
work.
The resolution charged Mr.. Bor-
glum with neglect and virtual aban-
Comment of the contract, - dinate
demands for money not due him and
delusions of grandeur" 1t declared
that the association entered into a
contract with Mr.. Borglum in Sep
TENDER, 1928, by which he was to
carve on the side of Stone Mountain a
group of seven equestrian figures for
the sum of $250,000. He was to be
paid, it continued, in installments and
proportionately as the work ad-
vanced.
Payments Total s1S5,145.
The resolution set forth that the as
ISOLATION under the contract has paid
the said Borglum personal compensa-
ton amounting to $4,000, labor costs
and other items, amounting to $751;
b22; has provided him with equipment
costing S49,645 and has paid him per-
sonally, outside OF the contracts, $24,-
s73, making total payments by the
association of S185,145
1t added that the association
advised by it's consulting engineer
That MI IlnrcrI,,rr, hnn r,orso..,. IL.