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Show .- x X X ft Xv rt !Mx lis C,X 1 Xt 1 1 1 I I IV X I Ki hr M N I -v , , sans"" -i .fe- ) S w . . . 1 , X vt:.Vv' "X , - Vx -m ': l - - . - t v - ' . -X X - - - r s By ELMO SCOTT WATSON T?OR 50 years an heroic-sized figure of a woman has been A standing high up on a pedestal on a tiny island at the entrance of one of the world's greatest seaports. In her upraised hand she holds a torch and with that torch for half a century she has been "enlightening the world." For she is "Miss Liberty," otherwise the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island at the entrance to New York harbor. It was on October 28, 1886, that' she took her stand there. On that date occurred the formal dedication dedica-tion of this gift of the people of France to the people of a sister republic. The principal address at the dedication was delivered by President Grover Cleveland and thousands of people crowded on to the little island or lined the New York shore nearby to witness the ceremonies. On October 28 of this year that historic ceremony will be duplicated du-plicated by another and similar one. Among the notables who are expected to take part in the 1936 x ';x - - ?! omtlJ,t.t)wr8.-;v--i . ( xH MX; , ? AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI re-dedication will be President Roosevelt and the ambassador from France, M. Andre de Laboulaye. It is an interesting coincidence that the dedication address was made by a New York governor who had become President and that the re-dedication address will be made by another New York governor who now occupies oc-cupies the White House. Equally Equal-ly significant is the fact that Edouard de Laboulaye, grandfather grand-father of the present French ambassador, made the original suggestion for the presentation of such a statue to the American Ameri-can people by the people of France. The idea for the monument was first broached at a dinner j given by M. Edouard de Laboulaye La-boulaye at his home near Versailles. Ver-sailles. Among the guests at that -dinner were a descendant of Lafayette La-fayette and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, an Alsatian sculptor of Italian descent who had fought under Garibaldi in Italy and was an ardent believer in human liberties lib-erties in all countries. His imagination im-agination was fired by M. de Laboulaye's idea of a gift from the people of one republic, who had achieved their liberties by fighting for them, to the people of another republic who had done the same. Bartholdi's Inspiration. But no further action was taken on the plan until after the Franco-Prussian war in which Bartholdi served valiantly for eight months. Then he decided to visit the United States. As the steamship Compagnie Transat-j Transat-j lantique entered New York harbor har-bor on June 21, 1871, and his gaze, sweeping the inspiring panorama 1 before him, alighted on Bedloe's ! Island he at once visualized upon it s gvet statue of Liberty. He $ quickly made a sketch of the proposed statue and during his stay in this country talked enthusiastically en-thusiastically of his plan. He met President Grant, Generals Meade and Sheridan and the poet, Longfellow, during his stay in this country and found them sympathetic toward the project. Upon his return to France he showed his friends the sketch he had made on board ship a giant figure of a woman which he called "Liberty Enlightening the World." Soon the French were organizing committees to raise money to pay for such a magnificent magnif-icent gift to America and Bartholdi Bar-tholdi was commissioned to make the statue. The beginning of the campaign to raise the money was celebrated on November 6, 1875, by a huge banquet at the Hotel Louvre in Paris. Prominent figures fig-ures in the world of arts, letters and politics were present, both from the United States and France. Among the celebrities there, also, was Gounod, composer com-poser of the famous opera, "Faust," who had written a. special spe-cial hymn in honor of the goddess, which, he announced, was to be sung at the opera's premiere. In the course of the banquet, Laboulaye, a typical Frenchman, climbed to the stage and cried: "See how much I lov, the Americans. Ameri-cans. Even at my great age I mount the platform for them." As the. project developed, an American committee was formed, with William M. Evarts, secretary of state, as chairman, to raise $300,000 for the foundations founda-tions and pedestal. This added tc the $700,000 being raised by pop. ular subscription in France brought the cost to $1,000,000. In 1872 Congress had voted to accept ac-cept the gift and in 1877 Bedloe's Island, previously used as the site of a fort, wac set aside for the memorial. Work on the memorial proceeded pro-ceeded steadily, though far from as speedily as the ardent Bartholdi Bar-tholdi wished. His first small model stood nearly six feet high. Its dimensions were multiplied by twenty for the final colossal figure. Shown at Expositions. By opening of the Centennial exposition in 1876 at Philadelphia the project had gained great headway. At that world's fair was shown the right forearm of the image, with the torch, just as it was finally installed. Many who saw it there wondered if anything so huge could be ever lifted to the height proposed. After Af-ter the exposition was over the arm was exhibited in Madison Square. The head of the statue was exhibited ex-hibited at the Paris exposition of 1878. The following year the subscription sub-scription lists were filled and on July 7, 1880, an official letter was addressed to the American committee com-mittee in charge of the project on this side of the Atlantic, reporting re-porting on the progress of the work and the probable date of its completion. Steadily the work went on and by October 19, 1881, the anniversary anniver-sary of the Battle of Yorktown, all pieces of the figure's framework frame-work and the base were in place in the work rooms in France, where it had been visited by more than 300,000 people. When the framework and base were put in place at the French capital, capi-tal, Levi P. Morton, American ambassador to France, drove the first rivet in it. Late in 1883 the work in France was practically completed but the pedestal on Bedloe's island was only partly finished. So the figure was placed on exhibition in Paris where it towered over the housetops for months. On June 11, 1884, Ambassador Morton gave a great dinner to the committee of the French-American French-American Union, under whose direction the work had been done, and suggested that formal presentation pres-entation be made on July 4. This was done and the presentation took place in Paris, with Ambassador Am-bassador Morton representing the United States, and Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, the French. A month later the corner stone of the pedestal was laid on Bedloe's Bed-loe's Island and in June of the next year it was completed. The copper goddess sailed from Toulon Tou-lon aboard the French vessel Isere, her parts packed in 210 According to the program drawn up by Major General Schofield, commander of the eastern department of the United States army, the formalities included in-cluded "military, naval and civil parades," speeches and invocations, invoca-tions, patriotic songs and hymns, artillery salutes and illuminations. illumi-nations. One can imagine Bartholdi's Bar-tholdi's pride when he drew the cords of the huge tricolor and unveiled the statue in the presence pres-ence of President Cleveland and his cabinet, the French delegation, delega-tion, members of both houses of congress, the nation's political and military leaders, massed i troops and a vast throng of onlookers. on-lookers. . - -Eighth Wonder of World When Count Ferdinand de Lesseps made the speech in Paris in 1884 presenting this statue to the American people he called it "the eighth wonder of the world" and it is indeed that. For "Miss Liberty" is two or three feet higher than the famous Colossus of Rhodes. Her height from the heel to the top of the torch in the raised arm is 151 feet. From the base of the .foundation .foun-dation of the pedestal to the ' ' x xx- 3 XX- ss- X 1 ",.k X- 1 X -X ' x ' x ' - ' XJ i - - yy - . . r -r, t r s ir 1 r X - i , x-. . , ,V. -v f" c , X y S ' ' I H , , S a - xxx - I i v im r y t ' 4 w 'J . i ' 1 P - x i f " y - , - i t . C - r ' I 1 X DEDICATION OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IN 188G. (From Frank Leslie's Weekly) boxes. The Isere was convoyed across the Atlantic by a squadron squad-ron of American warships, and in June, 1885, "Miss Liberty" landed on the shores of the New World. The assembly of the statue began be-gan here in the spring of 1386 and- when the statue was dedicated dedi-cated on October 28 of that year the principal address was delivered deliv-ered by President G r o ver Cleveland. According to contemporary con-temporary accounts more than a million people witnessed the ceremonies. cer-emonies. The little island could not accommodate many of them but the New York shore line was a solid mass of humanity for miles. Needless to say, Bartholdi7ac-companied Bartholdi7ac-companied by Mme. Bartholdi, and a French delegation headed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, were or. hand for the ceremony. torch, the memorial stands 305.5 feet above sea level.' This female figure, shown in classic draperies, is 35 feet in diameter at the waist. The right arm which holds the beacon is 42 feet long and 12 feet across at its greatest thickness. Inside its hollow metal shell is a ladder with fifty-two rungs by which visitors may climb into . the circular gallery which makes the upper rim of the torch. Within the head forty persons can stand at once, as the head is 17 feet high from chin to the tip of the cranium and proportionately propor-tionately wide. The hands are 16 feet long and the index fingers 8 feet. The tablet held by the left arm of the goddess is 23 feet long and 13 feet 7 inches wide and 2 feet thick. It has inscribed on it "July 4, 1776." Western Newspaper Union. |