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Show History In 500 "Words Much comment has been caused by the recent announcement that former President Coolldge has been asked to write a history of the United States In 500 words, theso words to be carved In stone on the Mount Rushmore Memorial In South Dakota. It was wondered how Mr. Coolldge, Cool-ldge, even with his unusual knack of terse expression, could condense so much Into a few words. Now the task has been simplified for him by the commission in charge charge of the memorial, which has decided that the "history" shall be llmltod to a consideration of only eight events deemed the most Important Im-portant In the life of the nation, hey are these: Declaration of Independence, 1778 the framing of the Constitution, 1787 the Louisiana Purchase, 1803; the admission of Texas as a State, 1845; the Oregon boundary settlement, settle-ment, 1846; the admission of California Cali-fornia as a State, 1850; the end of the Civil War, 1865; the completion of the Panama Canal, 1914. Whether these are the most important im-portant incidents in our history or not, they furnish ample material upon which Mr. Coolldge may exercise ex-ercise his talent for condensation. |