54 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
THE DEDICATION OF THE GRANT MONUMENT. 
On April 27, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 
birthday of General U. S. Grant, t ie imposing 
mausoleum erected to his honor in Riverside Park, 
New York City, was dedicated. The ceremony 
took place in the presence of the Chief Magistrate 
of the Nation, his Cabinet and the accredited repre- 
sentatives of the foreign powers, surrounded by a 
vast concourse of people and with civic and mili- 
tary pageantry seldom witnessed. All to pay 
homage to the memory of a man who in life had es- 
tablished his right to the love and respect of his 
fellow-citizens. 
His remains now rest in the red granite sarco- 
phagus quarried in Wisconsin, into which they 
were quietly laid on removing them from the 
riveted steel casket, in which they had been in- 
closed awaiting their final resting place. 
The building is, architecturally speaking, a 
beautiful production, designed by Mr. John H. 
Duncan, architect, and was selected by the com- 
mittee in charge from a large number of competi- 
tive designs. In style the architect followed the best 
Greek precedent, modifying the details to the re- 
quirements of the present times. The lower part 
of the building is of the beautifully simple Doric 
order, and the upper part is Ionic. 
The general dimensions of the main building 
taken from the architect’s description is as follows: 
A square base, 100 feet by 100 feet at the giound 
line, exclusive of the steps, and the projection of 
the portico on front and apse at rear. The total 
height of the mausoleum would be about 160 feet 
from the base line, or nearly 290 feet from the water 
level of the Hudson River. From the center of the 
Memorial Hall floor to the dome is 100 feet. The 
supports of the dome are four arches, under three of 
which are galleries which are reached from the two 
circular stairways in front. From these access is also 
gained to the inner and outer galleries above by 
stairways in the thickness of the walls. The outer 
gallery is 130 feet above the ground and affords 
magnificent views of the surrounding country. Par- 
ticular study was given to the crypt, which is large 
and roomy, and is reached by stairways in the 
rear. 
Generally speaking the principal materials of con- 
struction are a light gray granite from North Jay, 
Me., for the exterior, and white marble for the in- 
terior. 
The development of the exterior architectural 
features includes on three sides of the lower portion 
engaged colonnades of four columns, with ample 
plain wall space on either side and above them, ex- 
cept that in the space above them there is a re- 
cessed panel which may be used for bas-reliefs. 
■ - * 
The principal front and entrance is more elab- 
orate, as may be gathered from the sketch. The style 
of the side colonnades is still maintained, but in 
front and extending it beyond on each flank is the 
colonnade forming the portico. A marked feature of 
this portico is that it omits the pediment, which af- 
fords an opportunity for a further series of statuary. 
The comparative plainness of the base of the build- 
ing is supplemented by the beautiful Ionic peristyle 
of the drum above it, which is excellently propor- 
tioned, and of which the detail is admirably worked 
out. 
So little has been said in the press about sculp- 
ture that it might be inferred that it had been for- 
gotten or intentionally omitted, but in the working 
out of the scheme the architect has considered the 
provision of a number of statues and bas-reliefs in 
the decorative features of the mausoleum. 
Two massive bronzed doors under the portico 
give entrance. The doors are really ash, covered 
with sheet bronze; they are sixteen feet four and a half 
inches high, and of a united width of nine feet, one 
and a half feet thick. With the exception of three 
panels in each, and rosette ornamentations, they 
are very plain. 
The pedestal beneath the sarcophagus is of dark 
Quincy granite, ten feet ten inches square. 
Only one sarcophagus, that of General Grant, 
is placed; the other for Mrs. Grant is quarried, but 
not finished. 
The total cost of the memorial before final com- 
pletion it is difficult to estimate, the latest sum 
given being $600,000. It is gratifying to feel 
that at last the monument, whose financial require- 
ments were subjected at first to so many vicissi- 
tudes, is completed and serving its purpose. Soon 
after General Grant’s death, feeling that an ade- 
quate memorial was due him, in 1885 a fund was 
started for the purpose, which in a few weeks 
reached a hundred thousand dollars. Then it lan- 
quished for years, or until 1892, when the strenu- 
ous efforts of the working committee again set the 
project going and finally to a successful issue. 
The site of the monument is almost beyond ex- 
pression beautiful. Situated on a knoll close to the 
Hudson river, and high above its waters, it com- 
mands a wonderful panorama of water and land- 
scape, immense cities and picturesque country, while 
its immediate surroundings — Columbia College and 
St. John’s Cathedral — will lend themselves to the 
effect. And, on the other hand, it presents its clas- 
sic outlines to the far away beholder from many di- 
rections, lending grandeur to the landscape and lus- 
tre to man’s accomplishments. Altogether it is an 
appropriate memorial to a man worthy of a nation’s 
tribute. 
