Trajan's Forum and Column.
Tniiix\rj is n iihpv fiiicui m ivttu
sas City for the erection of a
memorial to the American
soldiers who took part in the
world war, in the form of some monu
mental work of sculptural art. Its ad
vocates, says the Kansas City Star,
will find a historic precedent worthy
of study and pregnant with sugges
tion in the famous Trajan’s column at
Rome, which remains today after eight
een centuries one of the world’s me
morial wonders. In its original setting
it was but a part of a magnificent sys
tem of public buildings—two libraries,
the Basilica Ulpia and the temple of
Trajan—which composed the forum
^ erected by the Roman emperor Trajan
to commemorate his reign and to em
blazon his victories for posterity. The
designer ofi the great forum of Trajan
was Appolodorus, the Greek architect.
The name of the artist under whose
inspired hand the column grew from
base to capital and who recorded in its
stones the martial deeds of his im
perial master has been forgotten. That
he was a Roman, however, is attested
by the fact that the column itself is
distinctively Roman in its design and
in its inspiration. Today, of all. the
splendid buildings and monuments that
composed the forum of Trajan but one
remains intact, the great column which
tells the story of Trajan's achieve
ments.
It was after his return from the Da
cian wars that Trajan, in 113 A. D.,
caused to be erected in the midst of
the forum he had built this column,
which was designed not only to per
petuate the memory of his Dacian vic
tories, but also to afford a repository
for his ashes, which were placed in
a golden urn in a chamber under thh
column. Surviving eighteen centuries
^ of wars and the corroding touch of
time and of “broils that root out the
work of masonry,” the column of
^Trajan is today one of the most beau
tiful of Roman works of art and a
document in stone of priceless value
to the historian.
it? ui varci-idn mctruie.
The ancient name cf this famous
column was the Columna Colchis, so
called from its winding stairs like the
spiral of a shell, by which ascent was
made from pedestal to top. It is built
of huge blocks of Greek marble. The
shaft, base and capital, not counting
the pedestal, which measured eighteen
feet in height, are exactly 100 Roman
feet high (ninety-seven and a half
modern English). In diameter the
shaft measures twelve feet at the bot
tom, tapering gently to about ten feet
under the capital. On the top of the
capital, in its original form, stood a
colossal gilt bronze statue of the em
peror, nearly twenty feet high, hold
ing an orb in one hand and a spear
9 in the other. This statue was stolen
and carried away during one of the
inroads of the Byzantine emperors in
the fifth century, and was replaced in
tfa sixteenth century by the statue of
Si. Peter, which now surmounts the
column.
The tall pedestal on which the col
umn is built is richly decorated with
reliefs of armor and trophies taken
from the Dacians. On one side is a
tablet carried by twrn figures of Vic
tory and upon it is' the dedicatory in
scription. At each angle above the
cornice of the pedestal is an eagle sup
porting a garland of flowers. Imme
diately beneath the tablet is the door
way to the spiral staircase, lighted by
forty-twm small openings. The wind
ing stairs consist of 184 steps around
a central new*el, all of solid marble.
As beautiful a work of sculptured
beauty as is the pedestal itself, the
part of the column which most moves
the modern beholder to wonder and
astonishment is the shaft, which,
standing on the tomb of the emperor,
rises with its mass of relief wrought
figures a hundred feet in the air. It
^ is formed of twenty-three drums of
marble, arranged in spiral bands of
^reliefs, which climb the column to the
feet of the statue of the emperor wdiich
formerly stood upon its capital.
Wrought into these stones are more
than 2,500 figures, besides a great num
ber of background accessories, worked
out with great minuteness of detail,
the figures varying in height from
three feet at the bottom to nearly four
feet at the top. The sculptures repre
sent the complete history of Trajan’s
two Dacian campaigns, upon which
his military renown rests, and the
story is told in stone as a historian
might tell it by the written word—
jr
mure grapmcauy, pernaps, as it nas
the effect of a moving picture of those
anciept days embalmed in stone as it
by some sudden enchantment.
History Wrought in Stone.
Chapter by chapter the entire his
tory of the Dacian campaigns is re
vejtlfi, with a continuity of thought
and a precision of historical facts and
verity of detail that are marvelous.
The building of bridges, the natural
difficulties of the country in which
the wars were fought, the methods of
siege and storm, advance and at
t tack by land and river, in open field
and against walled cities, the details
of ancient military engineering, cos
tume, arms and all Implements of
war. all these things are wrought there
with such a wonderful fertility of de
sign and dramatic vigor of expression
as to form a veritable encyclopedia
of Roman warfare of that period.
The whole of the column was origi
nally covered with gold and color.
Brilliant crimson, blue and yellow were
largely used for the reliefs forming
the main shaft and must have pre
sented an appearance of barbaric
splendor in the days of their pristine
chromatic glory. Nor was this drama
in stone enacted with its Hamlet left
out. The figure of Trajan is every
where with a predominant appeal. The
idealised emperor is presented under
all sorts of conditions that were cal
culated to redound to his glory, as
the warrior leading his hosts, as the
master engineer directing the mechan
ical; Constructions, as a leader of scout
ing forces, as a soldier sharing the
hard lot of his fellow soldiers, as the
“little father of his country.” lead
ing, directing, encouraging by ex
ample,-' at all times in the spotlight,
the soul of the army and the soul
of Rome.
SOUGHT TO REACH HEARTS
Doctor Holmes' Literary Efforts Well
Described by the Writer of
“Authors and Friends.”
Doctor Holmes’ social nature, as ex
pressed in conversation and in his
books, drew him into communication
with a very large number of persons.
It cannot be said, however, in this age
marked by altruisms, that he was al
truistic; on the contrary, he loved
himself and made himself his prime
study—but as a member of the human
race. He had his own purposes to
fulfill, his own self-appointed tasks,
and he preferred to take men only on
his own terms. He was filled with
righteous indignation, in reading Car
lyle, to find a passage where, hearing
the doorbell ring one morning when
he was very busy, he exclaimed that
he was afraid it was “the man Emer
son !” Yet Doctor Holmes was him- I
self one of the most carefully guarded j
men, through his years of actual pro
duction, who ever lived and wTOte.
His wife absorbed her life In his, and
mounted guard to make sure that in
terruption was Impossible. Neverthe
less he was eminently a lover of men,
-or he could not have drawn them per
petually to his side. His writings were
never aimed too high; his sole wish
was to hit the heart, if possible; but
if a shot hit the head also he showed
a childlike pride in the achievement.—
From “Authors and Friends,” by Annie
Fields.
Those Stories.
If a mother can select only one feat
ure of the kindergarten to use in her
home, surely the story-telling period
would be the best choice. There are so
many opportunities for storieis at
home. They will serve as oil to the
machinery of bathing, dressing, eating,
and can accompany ironing, the wash
ing of dishes, hand sewing and the
like. The mother whose mind is well
stored with good tales will not lack
for an appreciative audience. Neither
mother nor child will know boredom,
and empty, tired, fretful hours will he
transformed into happy, healthful,
tender times.
Faith.
“You wish to marry me for myself
alone?”
“Yes, my love.”
“Suppose my father were to lose his
fortune, what wTould you do?”
“I would be patient. There is a look
of determination in your father’s eye
—how Van I express it? He would re
coup his losses.”—Birmingham Age
Herald.
CHANGES THIEF
TO NORMAL BEING
Court Frees Youth Whose Char*
acter Has Been Changed
by Operation.
Richmond, Va.—A delicate operation
has changed S. Dabney Crenshaw, Jr.,
former University of Virginia student,
and son of a high official of a manufac
turing concern in Richmond, Va., from
a person with criminal instincts to a
perfectly normal being. Young Cren
shaw was committed to a hospital for
the insane after being tried three
times at Charlottesville, Va., for rob
bing the chemical laboratory at the
University of Virginia, early in 191T,
A Surgeon Testified That He Consid
ered the Operation Successful.
of a quantity of platinum and then
burning the building in an effort to
cover the theft.
At each trial the jury failed to agree.
The defense was that he was insane
at the time of the commission of the
crimes, but had since been restored to
normal mentality by an operation on
his skull.
A New York surgeon testified that
he considered the operation eminently
successful, as the whole character of
the patient had undergone a complete
change. When he first examined the
college student soon after the latter’s
arrest in 1917, he said, his pulse was
far below normal, his blood pressure
never more than 100 and his spina'
pressure fully three times what it
should have been. The patient showed
many abnormal mental symptoms, non
appreciation of the crime he had com
mitted and no affection for his family.
The surgeon said that when young
Crenshaw was under the knife it was
found that the brain was in a diseased
condition. Since the operation, the
surgeon said, he had not detected any
trace of moral lapses or delinquencies.
When the court entered the formal
order granting him freedom. Crenshaw
leanpd over the rail and kissed his
mother, who was seated behind him.
Convict Haj Conscience.
Salem, Ore.—Unable longer to re
sist the gnawings of conscience. El
mer E. Barnard, who escaped from
the Oregon state penitentiary here in
company with Cecil Griffin and Ray
Lindsey on the night of August 2.
191(5, walked into Governor Olcott’s
offices one day recently and informed
the executive that he had returned to
Salem voluntarily to serve out bis
maximum term of ten years.
GEN. GONZALES
IS IN FAVOR OF
•--•
EL PASO. Texas. March 9 (by Asso
ciated Press).—Solemn promise peace
ably to abide by the result of the July
election has been made by General
Pablo Gonzales, formerly commander
of military operations in the southern
half of Mexico, and now candidate for
the presidency of the republic, in a
lengthy manifesto recently issued by
him in Mexico City. Copies of the doc
ument have just reached the border.
“I am not possessed with unbridled
ambitions of power,” General Gon
zales says, “nor do I expect to reach
the heights at any cost. I do not in
tend to provoke disorders or shed a
drop of blood or ca’use the slightest
national disturbance for my personal
aggrandizement. I am ready to re
ceive with perfect equanimity either
victory or defeat, since both are hu
man and possible. During the elec
toral campaign I shall act with entire
decency and serenity.”
A conciliatory policy toward foreign
nations, especially the United States,
was advocated by General Gonzales,
who also urges the passage of a sweep
ing amnesty law after rebellion has
been put down, “so that peace thus
obtained may become an organized
peace and not give way to new rebel
lions.”
Other planks in the Gonzales plat
form include the gradual decrease of
the standing army, intellectual free
dom, civil service, autonomy of cities,
and honesty in the administration of
public funds.
“Economies in the war department,
looking to the reduction of the army
to the irreducible minimum and the
utilization of the money saved in other
departments,” are likewise urged by
General Gonzalez.
A subsidized press is denounced and
the strong organization of political
parties in favored in the manifesto.
VANCOUVER, Wash., March 9 (by
Associated Press).—Vancouver is to
replace Astoria in the Pacific Interna
tional Baseball League.
Read the Daily Times tor the latest
and most reliable world news.
■a."1.. .. .. 11 " ■ ■! ... ■
HEALER MAKES
MARVELOUS
FAITH CURES
SEATTLE, March 9 (by Associated
Press).—Rev. W. H. Bliss, rector of
Trinity Episcopal church, reports that
Healer Hickson has made several
cures. One boy’s blindness has been
overcome, says the minister, and a
deaf girl has been made to hear.
Streams of ailing persons are still
flocking to Trinity church to be cured
by Hickson’s message of faith.
POINDEXTER TO MAKE
TOUR OF SOUTH DAKOTA
WASHINGTON, March 9 (by Asso
ciated Press).—Senator Poindexter of
Washington will leave on Friday next
for a speaking tour in South Dakota,
in the interest of his candidacy for
the presidency.
I
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