Newspapers / Polk County News and … / April 30, 1925, edition 1 / Page 10
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RLINGTON MEMORIAL BRIDGE cn I guwrnommmmM* tsWffli? Work Begun atCapiiaJoii Magnificent Structure Across Potomac 4 By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN ASHINl.TON, tlie capital of the United States, is to have the most impressive approach of any city ; of the earth by way of Mount Ver non and Arlington. It will take ten years to build it and it will cost approximately $ir?, 000,000. Moreover the project will presum ably give t''? necessary impetus to i other plans for the improvement and beautifying of the capital. So it seems likely that the vision of tJeorge Washington and Major I.'Enfant is to come true after these many years. Congress in the closing days of the last session authorized the beginning of work on an improve ment project commonly called the Arlington Me morial bridge. The act contains provisions in ef fect as follows:, The Arlington Memorial Bridge commission is authorized and directed to proceed at once with the construction of a memorial bridge across the Potomac river ifrom the vicinity of the Lincoln Memorial in the1 city of Washington to an appropri ate point in the State of Virginia, including appropri ate approaches, roads, stnvts. boulevards, avenues and walks leading thereto on both sides of said river, together with the landscape features apper taining thereto, till in accordance with the design, surveys, and estimates of cost transmitted by said commission to congress under date of April 22. 1024. Construction shall be entered upon as speedily as practicable, and shall be prosecuted to comple tion by contracts or otherwise as may be most eco nomical and advantageous to the government In a total sum not to exceed ?14. 750,000, which sum is authorized to be appropriated. The commission is authorized to occupy such government-owned lands as may be necessary. It is authorized to procure by purchase or by con demnation. such privately owned lands as may be necessary for approaches on the Virginia shore and to allow B street NW? Washington, to be opened up from the Capitol to the Potomac river. During its passage the bill was amended so that the District of Columbia bears an "equitable" share of the expense. An initial appropriation of $500,000 was made. Work has been begun on the project of which the Memorial bridge Is only one of the features. Other features may be thus outlined: Widening 1$ street east from the Lincoln Me morial to the Capitol, crossing Pennsylvania ave nue to the north side of the Capitol, cleaning out the unsightly shacks and providing a governmental boulevard from the Capitol for corteges across the new memorial bridge to Arlington National ceme tery. Widening Twenty-third street at right angles from B street, north from the Lincoln Memorial to Washington Circle, as the most important north and south route for the entire northwest section of the city to the Lincoln Memoriul and across the memorial bridge to Arlington. Development of Columbia Island, reclaimed by dredging operations, along which there will be a boulevard drive at right angles to the memorial bridge, connecting across an auxiliary bridge with the Lee highway. Erection of the Titanic and John Ericsson me morials equidistant from the entrance to the bridge from B street, on either side and on the water front. thus flanking the bridge and beautifying the entrance to the: capital from the South. Continuing the development of the river drive and parkway west of the Lincoln Memorial and linking the Rock Creek and Potomac parkways, with the river drive moved closer to the river. Creating a great plaza between the Lincoln Me moriul and the bridge, including an attractive wa ter gate fronting the Lincoln Memorial. A beautiful plaza and park from the southern end of the bridge on Columbia island to and in cluding the entrance to Arlington. Sentimentally, there Is a symbol of the binding together of the North and South in the Union. The Potomac river in 1801-4 was the dividing line be tween the Union and Confederate states and Lin coln in the White House often saw the Stars and Bars waving defiantly on the Virginia shore. The Immediate effect of the new bridge upon the Mall development is the completion of the area around and to the west of the Lincoln Memorial by Lieut. Col. Clarence O. Sherrill, the engineer officer in immediate charge of the entire project. The Titanic Memorial will rise at the foot of Ne?v Hampshire avenue at the junction of Rock Creek and Potomac parkways. This memorial Is to the heroes of the Titanic disaster ? the men who stood back saying, "Women and children first." This 111**21 us the early cleaning lip of an unsightly area. East of the bridge site at the intersection of Twenty-third and It streets south, at the south west corner of the Mall, will be the John Ericsson Memorial, no\v under way. In the fourth year of the bridge-building pro gram, when the u relies and superstructure have been finished, and the draw span Installed, work will be begun on the plaza between the Lincoln Memorial and the Memorial bridge and the water gate at the Lincoln Memorial. In the fifth year the program calls for ornamentation of the main bridge and the. twin bridge over the boundary chan nel. During the following five years the widening and developing of 15 and Twenty-third streets will be carried out. The Memorial Bridge will be of granite facing. In order not to interfere with the view of the Lin coln Memorial as seen from Columbia Island, the bridge lias been kept as low as possible. It has nine segmental arches, the center span being 184 feet long, and the length of the span decreasing gradually each way toward the shore, so that the end spans are 1GG feet. The bridge is to be 2,138 feet long between the terminal pylons. The road way Is GO feet and each of the two sidewalks IT) feet wide, making a total width of 1)0 feet. The architecture has been kept as simple and severe as possible, the structure mainly depending for Its beauty upon the perfection of Its general propor tions and its adornment with significant sculptural pieces. The central arch of the bridge will be a draw span of steel, painted white. Dredging will change the channel of the Potomac to correspond. The bridge should be completed by 1029. The bridge will cost ST, 250.000; the Lincoln Memorial plaza and water gate, $1,000,000 ; Columbia Island, $2,SOO.OOO; the Virginia termfius plaza, $1,390,000; extension and widening of B street, $2,070,000, and widening of Twenty-third street, $100,000. On Fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread. And Glory guards, with solemn round, The blvouac.Cof the dead. Nor shall your glory be forgot While Fame her record keeps. Or Honor points the hallowed spot Where Valor proudly sleeps. Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight. Nor Time's remorseless doom. Shall dim one ray of glory's light That gilds your deathless tomb. In Arlington National cemetery, one of the great shrines of the nation to be served by the Memorial bridge, you will find Iron tablets bearing lines or stanzas from Col. Theodore O'Hara's famous poem which so well expresses the purpose of the place. It Is- In very truth a national cemetery. And many are the famous dead who rest "where Valor proudly sleeps." In striking contrast to the me morial stones of such as Sheridan and Porter and Crook rises the great granite memorial to the "Un known Dead" ? 2,111 soldiers of the Civil war, from Bull Itun to the Bappahannock. There also Is the "Maine Memorial." The Arlington Amphitheater, dedicated in 1920 and planned to hold the great gatherings of Me morial Day, Armistice Day and the like, Is worthy of the place. One feels to the core of his being the Impresslveness that comes from quality ma terial, entire simplicity and perfect proportions. In front of It Is the tomb of the "Unknown Sol dier." Standing there, the emotions of the good American cannot be put Into words. And, oh! the view from It of Washington, the capital of the country for which this "Unknown Soldier" gave his life! Below and beyond lie the smiling country-side, then the shining Potomac, then the Capital City. To the left across the river Is seen the Lincoln Memorial, where the Memorial Bridge will start. Toward the center rises the Washington Monument and to the right of that the dome of the Capitol. Itestoration of the Washington-Lee Mansion Is n part of the general plan. The estate of 1,1C0 ii< -res, which is now the Arlington National Ceme tery, was bought and laid out in the Eighteenth century by John Custls, a "F. F. V." from the eastern shore. His son, Daniel Parke Custis, mar ried Martha Dandrlge, the Belle of Williamsburg and when old Custis died the young couple moved in. I>aniel soon died, leaving Martha a young widow, with two children. John Farke and Eleanor Custls. Along came an impressive young colonial colonel. George Washington, who lived only fifte^b miles away. He carried off the rich widow as a bride to Mount Vernon. Together they managed the Arlington estate. The daughter died but the son grew to manhood, received his noble estate, married a Calvert and served on his stepfather's staff during the Revolution. He died In 1781 and his two lnfnnt children were adopted by the Wash ington. keeping their own names. Nelly married MaJ. Lawrence Lewis, a Virginian. Her brother, George Washington Farke Custls, inherited Arlington in due time and began the erection of the Mansion. Washington never saw the completed Mansion, which was not finished until 1803. Custis married Mary Lee Fitzhugh. one of the Randolphs. She died In 1853 and her husband, the last male of the family, In 1857. The Arlington estate then fell to the daughter. Mary, who in the meantime had married a young army officer. Robert E. Lee. son of "Lighthorse Harry" Lee. the dashing cavalryman of the Revolution. Thus Arlington became the home of the Lees. Then the Civil war came and Lee went with Virginia out of the Union. He left Arlington just as It was. Federal troops took possession ? and most of the objects of historical value are now In the National museum. Arlington could not be con fiscated because entailed by the first Custls, but under the pretext of nonpayment of taxes the United States government bought It In for $23,000 and established the National cemetery In 1864. When, several years after the Civil war, G. W. Custls Lee Inherited the estate, he successfully contested in the courts the legality of the tax sale, but at once transferred his restored rights to the government for $150,000, which was paid him In 1884. Such a bridge has been advocated for over eighty years by the nation's leaders. Daniel Webster de clared. a3 orator upon the occasion of laying the corner stone for extension of the Capitol, July 4. 1851 : "Before us Is the broad and beautiful river, sep arating two of the original 13 states, which a late President, a man of determined purpose and In flexible will, but patriotic heart, desired to span with arches of ever-enduring granite, symbolic of the firmly established union of the North and the South. That President was General Jackson." Under President Harding the commission adopt ed specifications which were given to the archi tects. Last spring President Coolidge transmitted to congress the commission's report and recom mended that the work be begun without delay. The good American, visiting the capital for the first time pasps with amazement and then snorts in disgust upon beholding Pennsylvania avenue in the immediate vicinity of the Capitol grounds. Probably no greater contrast exists In all the civ ilized world than that between the last block of Washington's most famous avenue which ends at the steps to the Capitol. Tawdry booths line the street. And past this go the great national pro cessions from the Capitol to the National Ceme tery at Arlington. Representative Charles L. Underbill of Massa chusetts, a member of the house district commit tee, has introduced a bill authorizing an appropri ation of $15,000,000 for the purchase by the gov ernment of all the land it requires for complete ownership of the Mall site, and this Includes the unsightly squares on Pennsylvania avenue. When the project Is completed. America will have executed what President Coolidge has de scribed as "the greatest single memorial project undertaken by any nation in recent times" Ancient Cavemen Lovers of Beauty We have every reason to believe that Cro-Magnon men, who dominated northern Spain, France and England between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago, could compete in the art schools with any of the animal sculptors and paint ers of our day, and judging from the elze and form of the brain of the Cro Magnon youth I believe that they could enter any branch of the intellectual life of today on equal, If not superior, terms, writos Prof. Henry Fairfield Os horn, president of the American Mu seum of Natural History, in the Forum. We know that they were mystical and superstitious and believed in magic; we know that In their art they were absolutely truthful. We know that they were reverent, because In the thousands of drawings, etchings and paintings they have left not a single Irreverent one has been discovered, ex cept In some of their representations of man. We know that they were con scientious, because their drawing has the marks of fidelity to truth, to the last detail. We know that they loved beauty, because they rapidly attained the full expression of beauty. Restoring Faded Writing If the writing on an old document Is made with one of the more modern blue-black Inks or some like material and there is enough iron left In the P?r"" the wilting can be restored b> exposing the paper to the fumes ol ammonium sulphide. This will change the Iron compound in the paper into black or dark brown iron sulphide. Ammonium sulphide can be bought from any chemical supply house and very little of it will be needed for an ordinary document. The paper can be shut In a tight box with an open bottle or small dish of the sulphide. Do not breathe the fumes and do not work in a room where there is silver ware or other polished metal. HUMAN TARGET IS LATEST JOB % New York Man Is Shot at in Demonstrating Bullet Proof Vest ^ew York. ? The Job of human tar get is one of the latest on New York's occupational list. In the last six months Alva Jacobson has been shot at at least 1,000 times, demonstrating the bullet-proof vest, lie thinks no more now of standing up before gun fire than if he were watching a pyro tedhnlcal display, and he coolly kicks away the flattened bullet that falls at bis feet One day he went into an armor corporation's office looking for a Job as a trained mechanic. He was told to slip on the vest. A man in the office picked up a revolver. "If I had been deaf and blind I wouldn't have known that he shot," said Jacobson. "I couldn't feel it any more than I would if some one just touched me where the bullet hit." Jacobson got the Job, and ever since he has been getting bullets in the clwst. lie Is hardened In the target game. Other men In the organization are of the same mind. They cheerful ly lay down their tools to take part j in a demonstration and face .45-callber revolvers on a mechanic's pay. Live Model Necessary. A live model Is the only thing that will work In this business, officials ex plain. A selling campaign was re cently put on In Mexico, but the gen eral before whom the exhibition was made would not hear of using a man for the test. lie insisted on having the armor hung over the back of a chair, and the bullet went straight through the thin steel plates. The vest had failed, it was said. But later, when the general agreed to watch a human target, he changed his mind. "It Is not the armor Itself that stops the bullet," explained the chief of the company's metallurgical division. "The plate beneath the cloth of the vest is hardly thicker than a razor blade. The vest is so constructed that when the bullet hits the plates Its vibrations are distributed through the body and their force Is lost. All the harm it does Is to tear the cloth. The touch of your finger may stop the vibrations of a bell and you feel no effects. In the same way the body behind the plates can absorb the shock from a bullet NEWEST FAD The painted ear Is the newest fad from France. The model Is shown applying a coat of rouge in compli ance with the latest hints from Parl slanj beauty parlors. ? that would knock a horse off Its feet." ! The vest looks much like any other. ! It Is made In any size ordered, and when the wearer gets it on, the ordl- : nary observer would not notice that he was differently clad from other men. The company hus no fear in j firing at its men to show police, bank and army officials how the suit of armor works. It is much more con- j cerned that its vests should not fall Into the hands of those who ought to take their chances at getting shot. Not Easy to Get No sooner had the safety vest ap peared on the market than bootleggers i in particular believed they had a I "find." "I'd like to bny one of those vests," says a stranger. "Are you a policeman?" he is asked. "What difference does that make?" "We have a special rate for police men?that's all." "No, I'm not a policeman. I'm In business for myself ? the real estate business.* "Look here," says the compnny's representative. "We have to be care- j To Hunt Arctic Region by PL Donald MacMillan to Head Expedition to Map Vast Frozen Expanse. Washington. ? Naval aircraft will at tempt this summer to bridge the vast Ice expanse that has so far shut out from human knowledge great regions of the Arctic, where a predicted con tinent has long lnred the toilsome ef fort of man by sledge without an an swer to his guess. In an expedition headed by Donald B. MacMillan, seasoned wayfarer of the northland, who Is returning there on his ninth voyage of exploration next June, naval pilots will bring their craft to the furthering of man's strug gle to map the mysteries of an area of more than a million square miles lying between Alaska and the North pole. Indorsed by Goolidge Although not a government project, the plan has been approved by Secre tary Wilbur and Indorsed by President Coolldge, and also will have both the financial and scientific backing of the National Geographic society. As It Is a private project and differs In this respect from the scheme aban doned last year for a polar expedition with the dirigible Shenandoah, the naval pilots who will accompany the expedition will have an extended leave for the purpose. Of these Commander R. F. Byrd will be one, while there will be at least two others along with two or three me chanics, still to be chosen from both the navy and marine corps. Commander Byrd will be In charge of all flight operations. Two planes of the Loenlng amphibian type will be supplied, having a cruising range of more than 120 miles an hour. In charting the unknown regions, as well as participating In the many other scientific undertakings projected. Including and ascertaining high alti tude, temperature and taking weather observations, Mr. MacMillan believes more can be accomplished with the planes In the two months planned for the expedition than has been done In the last century. Leaving Wlscasset, Me, about June I i 15. on a vessel r.!ro:i''y expediting will ir.:ik*. :*swt;, Labrador ami (Im-:. Axel Ilelhtirg a; ^ J point of width, i n.' a. j 4] from whore V ?. rrJH attempt wi.l be - ;. ie lu t;.ri advance Ily!n^ base From there pian.-s w::i the unknown r> pr r.s to tU ^ in an effort to r. continent or Un. l :n ur.y fo^i there. The tt'ost i:;.>ran J this question is :!.e ; r< such land ulthna'eiy civj'.j t* for aircraft bases ta tl.e-ht w;g| Europe to Asia. Explorations of ihn awte] ruins In Labrador ai.il Gr covery of the r?c??r w!,;. at Cape ColunsMsi b<*f( re t! from there to t!.e iV.et::in radio experiments f r r.s: F. McDonald. Jr. pn-s. of: tlonal Association of ilroa iiu Chicago will a^f-ou.j ??-.i: tlon. are atnong the o:>r projected. Find Sacred Maya !i!u in Lake in Vera ( New Orleans. La.? DL?:.^ey sacred Island c<.nt r.ii 1 I ancient Maya Indian ci'-oal Lake Caternaco, in t.'.e llri-uf , of Vera Cruz, has ! ?*< a l archeologicul exj !> r!r.^* ?;*i3 the department <i 1 resparch of Ttilane urjjvt-rs.fr A brief report fro::. tit nj verslty's two ?xj-l'-r?.rs. D? Blom, formerly of t.'.e Ce'tpj : tutlon, and I>r. Oliver La re public recently, a .'so roid ? f coveries to archeoio^sts. i:suj ' the two. while In t!.e \W\: s: ? I Vera Cruz, had he*n l.'e eologlsts to cr?>ss :fe Tuiu j tains and had visited ti t* i ;" , dians, a tribe which s:?i and arrows. In addition to the siKrelii explorers also found 2J portant storu slat s i f li They climbed Sa: I'tr:! found a large store '.?>'? - A of an extinct crate . first trowel is used nwlntatl fhe blessing it se.ajed tc JoP stowed originally. Girl, 19. Walks 450 MJ to Rejoin Her HfllJ San Francisco.? H'uikir.^s-Jf? from Los Angeles to more than 45v miles, to re,V :*P band of a year, .Mrs. J liiurtty son, nineteen, was a rresteJ vagrancy as she was waJrh4 dock, scanning every man lu who passed. Her husband ii ^ Gustavson, second-class c*rt mate aboard the U. S. S. il&9 When tiie young woman told X J to Police Jtidgi' Jacks **f dismissed and she was coc'*#*| the court for Ler lojaiU stancy. ' Two-Headed Snai( Oakland, CaJ.? A mi.'k trjB\ two distinct heads Mount Diablo by ;; cattle cently. The repri:?* Is <E the University ut l.'all/o rCi MILLIONS LOCKED UP IN GOLD AND SILVER TROWELS implements Used at Cornerstone Lay* I n g and in Turning First Sods Hoarded as Souvenirs. New York.? What becomes of gold trowel 8 after use at cornerstone lay ings, or of silver picks and shovels after being used to break ground for some new fane or public work? These commemorative tools almost invariably end up In the archives or strong rooms of the Institutions concerned, where they are carefully preserved, say man ufacturing Jewelers In answer to ques tions arising since Mayor Hylan re cently irted silver to turn the first earth for a new subway division. Jewelers say these implements de luxe could scarcely be thrown aside or melted up again, their material and artistic, as well as sentimental value, being too high. A gold trowel, for all It has but a few brief moments of actual use, costs Seek $50,000 for Sin They Lay to Mistake New York. ? Morris Heyman and his wife of 82 Schuyler avenue. Newark, Sled suit In the Essex county circuit court for $50,000 against the Castle Ice Cream company of Irvington. They charge that the company has caused them and their guests at their sliver wedding anniversary to sin Inadver tently. The complaint states that Heyman ordered 12 bricks of Ices from the company to serve to his guests, and that Instead of ices. Ice cream was sent. He said that the mistake was not discovered until he had eaten the Ice cream, and, because they had al ready eatui meat, they violated a canon of orthodox Jewish law which prohibits eating meat and milk at the same table. Heyman alleges that his guests be came Indignant when they learned of the mistake and left hurriedly. He said that his clothing business had de preciated as a result of the Incident and that his orthodoxy was under sus picion* y as much as $1,500, according to the price lists. Sliver trowels command $150; silver-plated, $50. A pick or shovel fashioned out of solid silver would stand any committee on opening day arrangements a good $800; even a plated tool costs $150. Though the metal Itself might be re claimed, Jewelers say, not so the art work the best of these souvenirs rep resent The chased work and engrav ing, the latter giving names of dig nitaries and an Inscription of the event, reveal workmanship of a high order and would make them prized among collectors. As proof of sentimental worth. Jew elers report that gold trowels nsed at laying of cornerstones of churches are usually placed afterward with the old communion sets. Sometimes, in cases of establishments which outgrow a first expansion and have occasion to solemnize a second cornerstone, the Egypt's Little Prince at Pky , t Here Is H. II. H. the Prince Farouk, heir apparent ^ i celebrating his sixth birthday by driving his miniature uuiyU ^ ground* oX tb? royal palace _ ~ ? ?
Polk County News and The Tryon Bee (Tryon, N.C.)
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April 30, 1925, edition 1
10
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