"As to the fitness of this work, it is said that you are going to erect in memory of Abraham Lincoln a Greek temple. But what would you have? Would we have an Egyptian obelisk, would we have a Turkish mosque, or a Gothic or Romanesque chapel, or would we have an American skyscraper? We must have some type, and by common consent there has been no type better fitted for this purpose than that shown in the marvelous conception of the Greek. In whatever relates to artistic expression, whether in poetry, in eloquence, in sculpture or in architecture, who is there in the world who can surpass the Greek? What more speaking marbles were ever carved than those of Phidias? What strains of poetry have ever broken with sweeter music on the human ear than those of Homer and of Pindar? Where else has eloquence reached the chiseled beauty of Demosthenes? And although but few remnants of the architecture of the Greeks have survived the hand of the barbarian and the tooth of time, yet when we come in view of some fragments of them to-day, broken though they may be, and twenty centuries after their time, we stand before them. enthralled in wonder. "There is nothing more beautiful in architecture than the column of the Greek. Would we speak scornfully of this Capitol in which we now are as a Greek temple? What building in the world is more decorated with the Greek style of architecture than this? The Greek column speaks. It illustrates dignity, beauty, simplicity and strength. However the soul of Abraham Lincoln might have been chiseled in its making, as he came finally to be every one of those elements were represented in his character. "So, Mr. Speaker, I am in favor of this memorial, which has been designed by the greatest artists and architects whose advice we could procure. I am in favor of it because of its site upon the banks of the Potomac. It will be upon a spot over which the eyes of Lincoln used to look longingly and yearningly toward that part of the Union which he was trying to keep as a part of our common country. It will have across the way the home of the great Confederate chieftain, which now is the cemetery of thousands of heroes who wore both the blue and the gray. It will be a memorial in keeping with the majesty and the beauty of his character. In the fitness of its location, in the nobility of its character and in the unique fame which it shall forever commemorate generations distant will be the day when it shall be paralleled by any other memorial reared to any one of the children of men." Home of President Jefferson. During the past year there has been an active agitation of the subject of the public ownership of Monticello, Va., the home of President Jefferson. The movement, however, has been impeded by the unwillingness of the owner of the property to part with his proprietorship. The Trustees of this Society are in favor of public ownership if the property can be acquired by voluntary sale; but they have refrained from action in favor of taking the property by condemnation proceedings. SOUTHERN BATTLEFIELDS. Landmarks of the Sherman-Johnston Campaign in Georgia. During the past year the movement for creating public parks or otherwise marking battlefields of the Mexican and Civil War in the Southern States has received fresh impetus from the efforts of various patriotic individuals and organizations. By permission of Capt. E. M. Leary of the Eleventh United States Cavalry, formerly at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., and Mr. Lyndon P. Smith, a member of this Society, we are permitted to print the following letter relating to the landmarks of the ShermanJohnston campaign in Georgia in 1864: TROOP "B," 11TH CAVALRY, FORT OGLETHORPE, GA. Mr. LYNDON P. SMITH, 3d National Bank Building, MY DEAR SIR.I expected to get to Atlanta and thank you in person for your very kind letter relative to my advocating the marking of the battle-fields of the Sherman-Johnston campaign in Georgia; but I have recently received orders from the War Department which detail me to Columbus Barracks at Columbus, the capital of Ohio. I certainly hope that not only the people of Georgia but those of the whole country will get behind the proposition to mark these battle-fields and push it to completion. During my marches and camps along the line of operations of this campaign I met and talked with many men who wore the gray and many who wore the blue in those memorable days. I was painfully impressed with the fact that in a few years more the few who still survive will be too feeble to assist in marking. To a great extent the trenches and field works of the two armies, so pronounced a feature of this campaign and forming a most valuable object lesson for the student of modern warfare, remain as constructed in that titanic struggle. The main changes are those caused by the growth of trees and the wash of the rains of fortyeight years. For instance, at Chatham's Hill near Marietta, where Colonel Daniel McCook (commanding the 3rd Brigade, Davis' division of Palmer's Corps) was killed on the outer parapet of the strong Confederate works, the opposing trenches can be seen to-day ninety feet apart, and the mettle of the men manning both those trenches for days can be appreciated on seeing the remains of the tunnel which was started from one side to pierce the works of the other, from that distance. Not alone in Atlanta, but all along the line of march, down and back, work was done to develop the idea of marking these battlefields. Attempts were made to get Congressmen and their friends favorable thereto; and since there were several Ohio regiments and at least one battery from that State in the campaign I expect to continue to talk it up, when I reach my new station. Our march along this historic route was the occasion at all points of manifestation of that all-American spirit whose visible sign may well be monuments and tablets which show to posterity where heroic men of our blood fought and died for what they believed to be the right in the new world, as did their ancestors at Flodden Field and Londonderry in the old. Sincerely yours, E. M. LEARY, Capt., 11th Cavalry. Palo Alto Battlefield, Texas. In January, 1913, public announcement was made concerning a movement started by women in Texas, affiliated with various patriotic societies for the creation of a memorial park embracing the battlefield of Palo Alto. The site was identified with both the Mexican and the Civil War. The movement was stimulated not a little by the finding of many relics—old muskets, cannon balls, etc. turned up by the plow in recent cultivation of the soil. - "SAFE AND SANE CHRISTMAS" IN THE SOUTH. The movement which has been conducted with conspicuous success in the Northern States during the past three years for a "Safe and Sane Fourth of July has extended its influence during the past year to the Southern States where it has taken on the form of a "Safe and Sane Christmas." Although the two anniversaries are diverse in their nature, the evils attending their celebration were much alike in the two sections of the country and the methods of reform are also similar. In many southern communities, Christmas is the occasion for irrelevant demonstrations of a boisterous and even dangerous character. Not only are fireworks and firearms used, but at times the lower elements become dangerous to the communities in consequence of their violence. With a view to assisting in the adoption of a more rational way of celebrating, this Society has during the past year sent for exhibition in one of the leading southern cities a collection of photographs illustrating the methods of celebrating a "safe and sane Fourth" in New York City. These were exhibited under the auspices of patriotic men and women and served materially to encourage the new idea. The plan pursued in New York City, and which, we feel, it is desirable to follow in promoting a better celebration of Christmas in the South, is based upon the theory that if an effort is made to divert the people from a long-practiced custom, something else just as good or better must be supplied in its place. In New York City, the substitute for fireworks and explosives has been educational historical pageants, musical festivals and athletic games out of doors, and indoors historical and patriotic addresses, sometimes illustrated with steropticon views. These measures have been very efficacious in reducing the casualties to person and destruction of property connected with the observance of Independence Day, and at the same time have promoted historical education and civic pride. We are confident that similar measures will prove equally satisfactory in the observance of Christmas in the South. NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS. Complete List. Following is a complete list of the National Parks and National Monuments, as they existed June 20, 1912, together with the dates of their creation their locations and their areas. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are administered by the Department of the Interior; those marked by a dagger (†) are administered by the Department of Agriculture, and the one marked with a double dagger () is administered by the Department of War. 1872 1890 *Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana. 1890 1890 1892 *General Grant National Park, California. 1899 1902 1904 *Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Platt National Park, Oklahoma.. 1902 *Crater Lake National Park, Oregon 1903 *Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. *Sully's Hill National Park, North Dakota. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado..... *Five Mile strip to protect Mesa Verde ruins. * Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming.. *Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona. *Petrified Forest National Monument, Arizona. *El Morro National Monument, New Mexico.. *Chaco Canyon National Monument, New Mexico. Cinder Cone National Monument, California.. Lassen Peak National Monument, California. +Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, New Mexico.. †Tonto National Monument, Arizona 1906 1906 1906 1906 1906 1906 1907 1908 1908 1908 *Lewis and Clark Cavern National Monument, Montana.. 1909 +Mount Olympus National Monument, Washington. †Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon. ACRES. 912 2,142,720 161,597 2,536 719,622 480 207,360 848 159,360 10,522 780 42,376 175,360 1,152 160 25,625 160 20,629 5,120 1,280 160 640 295 806,400 2,080 1,280 160 10 300 608,480 360 480 15,840 210 2,740 160 57 981,681 160 5 13,883 800 |