Women, Churches, Books,
Schools and Features
SECTION FIVE
VOL. XLI
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING. NOVEMBER 13, 1922
NO. 46
ROOSEVELT STATUE AMONG MOST MARVELOUS PIECES OF ART
Bronze Unveiled in Park Blocks Is Famous Tribute to Rough Rider Figure of ex-President and Horse Towers Nearly 18 Feet Above Base of Granite Spirit of West Depicted Cost of Gift Is $40,000.
THE RIDER
BY BEX HUR LAMPMAN.
(To the Memory of Theodore Roosevelt)
When over the land on another day
Shadow and cloud shall lie,
.We shall have heart for another fray
And faith in another sky.
For clear as a bugle down from the
heights,
And brave as a bugle's play,
A voice shall call to the least of all
"A rider has passed this way!"
Refrain :
A rider has parsed this way!
A rider has parsed this way!
Give tein, give rein.
For we ride again
A rider has passed this way!
A thunder of hooves on the good
green sod.
Dawn on the distant hill;
A whispered prayer to a freeman's
God,
And trust in freedom's wilL
For high as the valiance that bore
him on,
Solhlgh shall our own hearts thrill,
And one shall ride unseen by our
side
Leader and comrade still!
Whoso has heart for the goodliest
fray
Ever a sword did draw;
Whoso would serve as a true knight
may.
Shall hold by the freeman's law
For bright as a blade upthrust in
the sun,
As a blade that none may stay.
The trail runs plain to our faith
again -"A
rider has passed this way!"
UNQUESTIONABLY the most
wonderful art work of its
kind ever carved by an Ameri
can sculptor and in a class with the'
world's most famous bronzes is the
equestrian statue of Roosevelt . un
veiled on the park blocks here yes
terday, according to City Commis
sioner Pier, who says this is the uni
versal pronouncement of sculpture
critics who have seen the handiwork
of A. Phimister Proctor.
The statue, which Dr. Henry
Waldo Coe, friend and admirer of
the immortal rough rider, gave to
Portland citizens in memory of the
great American, is of heroic propor
tions. The figure of Roosevelt and
- the horse towers nearly 18 feet
above the base of California. granite.
.The base, eight feet long, IS feet
high and four and one-half feet
wide, weighs 52 tons. The bronze
equestrian figure weighs 6000
pounds.
The entire cost of the gift, in
cluding every expense incident to its
being finally placed here, was ap
proximately $40,000. - r
Photographs sent the sculptor by
the Roosevelt family were studied
for months before the actual work
on the original model was started.
. Spirit " West Uepicted.
Dr. Coe. wished to retain the spirit
and life of the west" in the statue
and stiil incorporate the character
istics of the man, and the sculptor
has faithfully carried out the idea
of the rough rider at, given to him.
The clothes and equipment worn by
Roosevelt in the battle of San Juan
hi'-l were used in the I'roctor studio.
General Leonard Wood offered
valuable suggestions as to the
horse. The animal portrayed is a
typical American stra.in with an ele
ment of th. crossed thoroughbred.
The figure of the rider is clothed
in the regular army uniform of the
days of the Spanish war, with the
hat worn in characteristic Roosevelt
style. Other parts of the uniform
consist of leggings, gauntlet gloves
and the six-shooter strapped to the
right side. The rider carries a
saber and his feet are thrust into
the hooded stirrups of a McClellan
saddle.
Even the "U. S. v." appears plain
ly on the collar. The face of Roose
velt is purposely made to appear as
It did a little later in his life, in
order that it would appear more
familiar to the people who knew
and loved him.
Stntue In Park I! lock Center.
. The statue is located in the center
of the park bounded by Madison,
Jefferson, Park and West Park
streets.
Dr. Coe first conceived the idea of
having a bronze memorial statue of
Roosevelt made several years go.
He consulted artists and friends in
an effort to arrive at a type that
would best portray the life and
work of the man. Many cities sought
to have the memorial located on
various sites offered for the pur
pose, but Dr Coe held to his deci
sion to present the citizens of Port
land with the beautiful work of art,
which he hopes will be the fore
runner of still others that will make
this city a place known for its out
door sculptory
a After commissioning A. Phimister
Procter to make the statue Dr. Coe
went east and consulted the family
"V of Roosevelt as to many details of
the work. The final design for the
working model was completed In
September, 1921, and accepted by Dr.
Coe and the Roosevelts.
A citizens' committee to select a
site about that time agreed on the
location in the park blocks, which
is just east of the Ladd school.
Work Begun Six Months Ago.
The sculptor in his New York
studio began work on the actual
statue a little more than six months
ago. It was at first expected the
figure would be finished by August
and that -President Harding would
be in Portland then to unveil It.
Before this, though, Mr. Proctor
. had spent months in a study of
Roosevelt portraits in order to pro
duce as lifelike a figure as possible.
Mr. Proctor was aided greatly in his
work by the factthat he had been
Intimately acquainted with Roose
velt from 1892.
Some difference of opinion arose
last summer over the type and ma
terial to be -used for the base of the
statue. The rculptor journeyed west
In June to confer with the commit
tee charged with selecting the me
morial site and other activities and
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the length of time the material is
expected to withstand the on
slaughts of erosion and other at
tacks of time.
Coolidge Turns Sod.
When Vice-President Coolidge was
in Portland last August he broke the
sod for the memorial in the presence
of thousands who gathered on the
park blocks for the ceremonies. A
gold spade was used in turning up
the earth.
"It is entirely fitting that we
should prepare a site- for this great
outdoor work of art," said the vice
president. ''Roosevelt loved the out
doors, and of all our great statesmen
he most truly lived the life best de
scribed by the phrase he coined, 'the
strenuous life.' Human sympathy
was the keynote of his career."
Dr. William Wallace Youngson,
district superintendent of the Meth
odist Episcopal church, delivered the
invocation at the ground-breaking
exercises, which took pluf e August
15. City Commissioner Pier read
telegrams from President Harding,
ex-President Taft and other notables
eulogizing Roosevelt and congratu
lating Portland on being the recipi
ent of such a remarkable memorial
gift.
Dr. Coe met Roosevelt first in
North Dakota back in 1884. "Big
Stick" at that time was a youth who
was just beginning to gain that '
strength and robustness which his
early years did not promise. He was
a Cowboy in those days.
"Years after I met Roosevelt,"
says Dr. Coe, "I was traveling west
ward on a train. "Roosevelt got on
the train and one of the first things
he asked me was whether or not
I still had hunting dogs. At the t'ma
I made Roosevelt's acquaintance I
had three such dogs and once on a
hunting trip on which I was accom
panied by the ex-president the dogs
caught a timber wolf. Roosevelt re
minded me of the incident.
"Roosevelt always looked back on
his rough rider days with the great
est pleasure and I believe our choice
of this type of statue would meet
with his entire approval if he could
be consulted."
; ' , - . - - Portland's new statue, which ranks high as example of sculptor's art.
after a conference it was decided to trusted with the task of snpervis- it" was made, accompanied- by Mr. slab that upholds the horse and The base was completed and shipped is estimated that the memorial will
choose a base' of California 'granite, irig -the modeling of the 'base. He Proctor.1 " ' - ' ' . - rider appears the simple inscription, to Portland and this week was in- stand as a monument to Roosevelt
H. J. Blaesing of, Portland was en- wfeni to the California quarry wnere ' On the long side of the granite "Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider." stalled in its final abiding place. It for 2,000 years to come, that being
Incidents Recalled in Life
of Theodore Roosevelt.
Man Who Became President Edu
cated at Harvard.
THE DEDICATION of the me
morial statue yesterday brought
to mind many of the incidents
in the life of Theodore Roosevelt,
that rough rider, president and
national hero, whose career waa one
of the most picturesque in American
history.
e Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th
president of the United States, was
born in New York city, October 27,
1858. The world mourned when his
death occurred January 6, 1919.
The young man, who was later to
be president of the United States,
was educated at Harvard university,
where he graduated in 18Sfl and
afterwards attended the law school
of Columbia university. He turned
early to politics and was elected to
the New York assembly in 18S1 as
an opponent of the Tammany hall
machine. There, for more effective
service, he allied himself with the
republican minority, although not a
member of that party, and for three
terms was its leader.
National Convention Delegate, -1SS4.
He was a delegate to the repub
lican national convention of 1884
and in the same year removed to
Medora, N. D., where he conducted
a ranch for two years. As the re
publican candidate for mayor of New
York in 1886 he opposed Henry
George, slngle-taxer, and Abram S,
Hewitt, democrat, the successful
candidate.
Roosevelt" was a member of the
United States .civil service commis
sion from 1889 to 1895, being ap
pointed by President Harrison and
retained by President Cleveland!
In 1895 Mr. Roosevelt becamd pres
ident of the police board in New
York city and served two years, at
taining wide prominence by the en
ergetic methods employed by 'him to
eradicate evils existing In th
system.
He was called to the national
service in 1897 by President Mo
Kinley when he was appointed as
sistant secretary of the navy. In
this office his work was of signal
value in hurrying the navy to a
state of readiness for war with
Spain.
As a result of Roosevelt's desire
for field service during the war he
resigned from the department In
April, 1898, and was active in, or
ganizing the First United States vol
unteer cavalry, popularly known as
"Roosevelt's Rough Riders." He was
lieutenant-colonel and afterwards
colonel, having been promoted for
gallantry in the action at Las Guas
ismas, Cuba.
Koosevelt Chosen as N. Y. Governor.
After his command was mustered
out of the military service in the
summer of 1898, Colonel Roosevelt
returned to private life just in time
to begin an active campaign as the
republican nominee for governor of
New York. This resulted in his elec
tion over Augustus Van Wyck, the
democratic candidate, by a plurality
of 18,097.
Roosevelt's first act as governor
was to investigate the state canal
system, concerning which there was
much talk of fraud in the preceding
administration. Other conspicuous
acts of the governor were in connec
tion with the enactment of the Ford
franchise law providing for the tax
ation of corporation franchises
whereby he incurred the enmity of
some of the largest corporate in
terests. He also was conspicuous for
'r.is work in the extension of the
Concluded on Page 3, Column 6.) "
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