FOUR COLOSSAL CARVINGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23121, 20 August 1938, Page 20 (Supplement)

FOUR COLOSSAL CARVINGS

Americas National On the Hills of South Dakota HEADS OF PRESIDENTS IN GRANITE

By WILL J. FRENCH —Copyright

THE Black Hills of South Dakota were selected by the United States Government to pay an unusual tribute to four presidents whose names are indelibly written into the country's history— IGeorge Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Theodore Roosevelt. High up on the granite face of Mount Rushmorfe, 6,000 feet above sea level, a master sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, is slowly chiseling in bold relief the heads of the four revered men, and the features so far wrought out of stone show that the completion of the .work will give an imposing result. Mr. Borglum wrote that eleven words give the motive back of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial: "Man has a right to be free and to be happy." This expression, he thinks, "will hold forever the great western experiment as a guiding star that leaped from the womb of medieval Europe, more important to humanity's immortality than all other creeds of government." Providing Funds Doane Robinson, formerly State historian of South Dakota, was inspired by the national and world interest awakened by the colossal carvings on Stone Mountain, Georgia, a Memorial to the Confederacy. And on January 22, 1924, public expression was given to the ambition to have a similar memorial for the presidents who have won such commanding places in the hearts of their-countrymen. South Dakota first attempted to start the work without providing the necessary 'funds. Kapi'd.City endeavoured to interest • groups of pfcflpJe,. with the result that some headway waS made, but it was not until President Calvin Coolidge spent a vacation in the Rlack Hills and, became interested, that the Congress of the United States -passed the necessary legislation to give the unique project its national to furnish the financial needs. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission was established'■"to have full jurisdiction. j On August 10/ 1927, President Coolidge dedicated the project at the foot of the towering wall of granite in South Dakota. {With him were the Governor of the State and three United States senators.

There have been three unveilings. First the Washington head in 1930, then the Jefferson head in 1936, and the Lincoln head in 1937. It is expected that the ceremony for the Theodore Roosevelt head will take place during 1939. This does not mean that the sculptors have completed three of the carvings, but the main outlines are clearly .discernible. The whole covers an area of over an acre and a-half. Spectators view the work at a distance of a quarter of a mile, and the memorial is visible for 60 miles. The final unveiling is planned for 1939, to close the Constitutional Celebrations commemorating the inauguration of the first president, George Washington. Washington Memorial It is interesting to read the dimensions of the Washington Memorial. If finished down to his shoe-heel, he would stand between 470 and 480 feet_ in height, as tall as the famous Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The head from the chin to the top is approximately 70 feet. The nose is 21 feet long, the eyes are 8 feet acrosa, and the mouth 18 feet. The geologists say the Black Hillu havo been in South Dakota for 40 million years, which seems to be an indication that the memorial may reasonably assume a permanent status for some time to come. The photographs of the carvings show the heads of Washington, Jeflerson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln from left to right, except that the Roosevelt space has yet to be filled. Dynamite Used The workers, dangling from leather saddlqs at the end of steel cables, last summer dynamited 102,511 cubic feet of granite, weighing 8,000 tons, from the mountain. Since the project started a a little over ten years ago, more than 400.000 tons of rock has been blasted away. Since 1927 the State of South Dakota has spent more than five hundred thousand dollars On the building of scenic highways to the National Memorial, thus removing the original objections of inaccessibility. Special attention was given when constructing the paved roads, to the inclusion of panoramic views of the mountains and valleys, sylvan vistas, intriguing "pigtail" bridges, one-way lanes through birch and pine, and tunnels centring the memorial. President Herbert Hoover wrote that the National Memorial "commemorates a great human creed, the political philosophy of justice, freedom, and the right to pursue happiness." President Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to the memorial's permanent ,

beauty and importance, adding that there was no disappointment in the accomplishments after the customary enthusiasms of first plans. In all great enterprises one man stands out among his fellows. Sometimes he is recognised; occasionally he is lost to fame because of circumstances or his inability to "sell himself," to quote an American phrase. Sculptor's Inspiration Fortunately, the work under the direction of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission centres around Gutzon Borglum, a geniii3 with the sculptor's tools and a visionary who stands on practical feet. Borglum has described a visit paid him by a member of his profession several years ago. He was shown the head of a common pin on which had been

carved the faco of a president. The product of the magnifying glass and patience caused him to think more seriously on the subject of making things iarger and better ; and to escape the cramped outlook. His ambition has been realised in the sombre Black Hills of South Dakota. Tho niceties of tho artist havo to be transmitted to tho sculptor's tools, else the stone may not clearly delineate the features, and thus the picture would bo obscure. Well on in years, Mr. Borglum has won recognition as a painter, as well as a sculptor. He was horn in the State of Idaho. Ho was elected to tho Royal Society of British Artists and to tho Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. His artistry is known all over tho world, and the heads of the presidents on Mount Rushmoro will bring him enduring fame.