GREATER THAN SPHINX

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 388, 23 June 1928, Page 27

GREATER THAN SPHINX

EQUESTRIAN STATUE 130 FEET HIGH CLIFF-CARVING IN U.S.A. The equestrian figure of General Robert E. Lee, in bas relief on a sheer precipice more than 400 ft high, on Stone Mountain, Georgia, is the first of a central group which will form the largest carving iii history. From the top of the general’s head to the hoofs of “Traveller,” his horse, is 130 ft., and from the tip of the horse’s ears to his tail 175 ft. The carving would cover the side of a building a city block in length and nine storeys high. The Great Sphinx of Egypt, if placed on General Lee’s shoulder, would conceal only part of his head. It is intended that this gigantic piece of sculpture shall be done in three parts. First, equestrian figures of Jefferson, Davis, General Lee and General Jackson; second, directly behind the leaders, two colour-bearers and six other generals to be chosen by the historical societies of the South; third, the marching army, so designed as to give the picture of thousands of marching soldiers. To this idea of carving the mountain into a gigantic panorama has been added the conception of a great memorial hall in the solid rock at the base of the monument. This will be dedicated to the women of the South, and will include a museum, a great lagoon or reflection pool, a facade of colossal columns with an inscription in six languages: “To the valour of the Southern soldiers.” The hall will be larger than the famous tombs of the second cataract of the Nile, and larger than most of the world’s natural caves