USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > History of the Cuyahoga County soldiers' and sailors' monument > Part 17
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The Plain Dealer of the 9th said :
" The Monument Case may be satisfactorily adjusted, after all. Both sides were inclined to be decent Friday morning. Realizing how near the matter had reached a compromise on Thursday, the Board of Trade Com- mittee set out Friday to bring both the City and Com- mission together. Col. Richard C. Parsons, Hon. M. A. Hanna, Hon J. H. McBride, Hon. George H. Ely and Hon. S. M. Strong called upon the Monument Commis- sion and urged a compromise on sites, but were i11et with the rebuff that the City had offered no other site that was within the pale of reason. The Commission hinted that a reasonable site would be the northeastern section of the Square. The Committee then set out to secure a written offer of the northeastern section from the City. A special meeting of the Board of Control was called at noon in the Mayor's office. There were present Mayor Rose and Directors Meyer, Herrick, Gibbons, Gardner, Morison and Bangs. President Davidson of the Council was an interested spectator. Gen. Meyer presented a resolution and prefaced it with the following remarks :
"'We have been advised by the Board of Trade
COLONEL W. R. CREIGHTON.
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Committee that if the northeast section of the Square is offered, the Commission will consider it.'
"Gen. Meyer thereupon offered the following resolu- tion :
" Resolved, That with a view to securing a compromise of the con- troversy over the use of the southeast section of the Public Square as a site for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and to prevent the removal of the monument of Commodore Perry now upon said site, that the Board of Control hereby subinit to the Monumental Com- missioners the following proposal, viz :
"That if the Monumental Commissioners will undertake to suspend work on the southeast section of the Public Square, and promptly remove the fence therefrom, and relinquish all claims thereto, the Board hereby agrees and undertakes to at once recom- mend to this Council the adoption of a resolution giving and renew- ing the consent of the City to said Commissioners to take, use and occupy the northeast section of said Square as a site for said Monu- ment, and upon the acceptance by said Commissioners of said last named section as such site to withdraw and dismiss all pending litigation instituted by the City to prevent the location of said Monument on the southeast section of said Square and will heartily co-operate with said Commissioners in the erection and preservation of the Monument.
"'The City has at all times,' said Gen. Meyer, 'been ready to confer with the Commissioners upon a com- promise on site. The City has never approved the proj- ect but has been somewhat opposed to the selection of the southeast portion of the Square for the Monument.'
" The resolution was then adopted unanimously.
"Col. Parsons and Mr. Ely returned to the Commis- sion with the resolution. Gen. Leggett was favorably impressed with it, and a joint meeting was called for at four o'clock in the Board of Control rooms.
"A joint meeting of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Mon- ment Commission with the Board of Trade Committee was held in the rooms of the Board of Control yesterday afternoon. There were present on behalf of the Com- mission Maj. W. J. Gleason, Gen. M. D. Leggett, Gen. James Barnett, Col. C. C. Dewstoe, Col. E. W. Force,
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Capt. Levi F. Bauder and Capt. James Hayr, and in behalf of the Board of Trade Committee Messrs. M. A. Hanna, R. C. Parsons, J. H. McBride, S. M. Strong and George H. Ely. Maj. Gleason read the resolution adopted by the Board of Control in the morning, offer- ing the northeast section of the Square if the Commis- sion would relinquish the southeast section.
"'This is the first direct proposition we have had from the City,' said Major Gleason. 'It is clear and concise.'
"'Are we to stop work now?' asked Mr. Hayr.
"'Not at all,' said Mr. Parsons. 'It is now Friday and the Council will meet on Monday.'
"'It seems to me,' said Col. Dewstoe, 'that the policy of the Administration is delay.'
"'How does this proposition suit the Board of Trade ?' asked Gen. Leggett.
"'The Committee can heartily endorse the proposi- tion,' said Mr. Hanna.
"'I think that it will allay public sentiment,' said Mr. McBride."
The Leader of the 9th details the breaking away from our entangling alliances, as follows:
"The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Commis- sioners will not listen to any further discussion concern- ing a site for the Monument until the City or a company of private citizens offers one equally as good as the southeast section of the Public Square, free from all expense or litigation that will cause delay. This decis- ion was reached yesterday afternoon at a meeting of the Commission in Captain Levi T. Scofield's office. The Commissioners present were Major Gleason, Col. C. C. Dewstoe, Capt. Levi Bauder, Col. E. W. Force, Gen. M. D. Leggett, James Hayr, Capt. J. B. Molyneaux, Gen. James Barnett and Capt. Scofield. Loren Pren- tiss, Esq., the legal adviser of the Commissioners, and
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Maj. Theodore Voges, formerly a Park Commissioner, but now a resident of Canton, were present. Capt. Scofield asked Mr. Prentiss to state the substance of a conversation they had had concerning what the City should do if it is anxious to have the Monument kept off the southeast section of the Public Square. Mr. Prentiss stated briefly that the City should first agree to withdraw all the litigation now in the courts and guar- antee the immediate and peaceful occupation of any site agreed upon. In the event that the question should be submitted to a vote of the people, the City should guarantee the use of one of two sites. These precau- tions Mr. Prentiss held necessary so as to make the voting simply a choice by the people between two sites. 'All this opposition to the occupation of the southeast section of the Square,' he said, 'grows out of the hos- tility of the Street Railroad Companies who will want to run their tracks through it as soon as they have been consolidated. If any street needs relief, it is Ontario and not Euclid Avenue.'
"'If the occupation of the Square by the Monument will prevent its use by the Street Railroad Companies, that is a sufficient reason for my desire to have it there,' said General Leggett.
"The proposed site near Lakeside Hospital was mien- tioned and Mr. Hayr imparted some information. ‘A man came to me only a short time ago,' he said, 'and offered to divide profits with me if I would notify him in time to buy up the land in case the Commission should decide to put the Monument there.'
" Mr. Gleason said that Mr. Wade, five years before, had the opinion that Euclid Avenne would be extended.
"'Yes,' said Mr. Prentiss, 'and Mr. Herrick says now that such a time is coming and all objections originated originally with the Railroad Companies.'
"'If you use the northwest section, the Perkins
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estate will object, and if you use the northeast section, the Society for Savings will fight,' interposed Mr. Hayr.
"Col. Dewstoe then read the resolutions adopted by Memorial Post Wednesday night and the accompany- ing letter of explanation, signed by G. J. McKnight, John F. Weh and S. P. Mount. The resolutions are as follows :
"WHEREAS, The Soldiers and Sailors of Cuyahoga County have annually since the inception of the Monument project confirmed the choice of site on the southeastern section of the Square, and,
"WHEREAS, The Commission was created and the present site chosen by them, and,
"WHEREAS, The Commissioners were especially appointed to represent their wishes, and of late they have publicly acknowledged themselves as the representatives of the Cuyahoga County Veterans, now therefore, be it
" Resolved, By Memorial Post No. 141, Grand Army of the Repub- lic, that in all fairness we protest against the Commissioners chang- ing from the present site without first obtaining a full expression of the wishes and feelings of all the Soldiers and Sailors in the county.
" Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to bring this matter to the immediate attention of our comrades, and to respect- fully ask the Commission that they delay action as to making any contemplated changes until the voice of the Cuyahoga County Vet- erans can be heard.
" They were received and made a part of the record of the meeting. Colonel Dewstoe said that he felt morally bound to listen to the request of the Veterans with regard to the site, although he said that the duty of the Commission was to the whole people and not solely to the county organization of Veterans.
" After considerable discussion, Colonel Dewstoe claimed that the Commission could, with honor and re- spect, change the site only with the expressed wishi of a majority of the originators of the Monument plans ; therefore, he thought it would be advisable to have a meeting of the County Soldiers' and Sailors' Union
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soon. General Leggett voted 'no' because he is strongly opposed to giving up the southeast section since the Courts have said that the Commission are right, and especially as the opponents of the site have waited so long before acting.
"'Let us stay where we are,' said Colonel Force. ‘I have no faith in the City or its propositions. Two Coun- cils have given us the right to occupy, and another has refused.'
"This emphatic expression of opinion met with smiles and ejaculations, 'that's it,' by General Leggett, Mr. Hayr and Captain Scofield.
" A letter was received from General Elwell, who is sick at Lakewood. He advised cool-headed action, and said that he would abide by Captain Scofield's decision as to the fitness of any site.
" Major Voges was called upon to say something, and in behalf of a number of ex-soldiers of Cuyahoga County who now live in Canton, he said that the Monument should go in the southeast section of the Square. 'Why, a good many people at Canton have taken sides in the controversy,' he said. 'They read the Leader and form their own opinions. Twenty years ago, when I was a Park Commissioner, we prepared a place in Lake View Park for Perry's monument, and we would have moved it there if we had had the money then. That's the place for it, and the talk of General Meyer about pre- ferring to lose his right arın rather than see the monu- ment moved sounds very strange and foolish to me.'
"'I've got another resolution to offer,' said General Leggett, with a smile, as he looked up from a piece of paper on which he had been writing during Major Voges' speech. As the General has the reputation of being the most prolific resolution writer on the Board, several other Commissioners smiled. The resolution offered by the General reads as follows :
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Resolved, That as no practicable site other than the one the law and the Courts have given us has been offered to us up to this time, we decline further discussion on this point, and will proceed as rap- idly as possible to erect the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on the southeast section of the Public Square.
"General Leggett's resolution was put upon its adop- tion by Mr. Hayr's motion. Several members suggested in an interrogative manner that the resolution would forever stop any further discussion, and some contended that the subject would be open again if a practicable site were offered.
"'It stops all further consideration,' insisted Major Gleason.
" "That's what it is intended to do, and if it doesn't, I'll re-write it,' said the General. After his declaration as to the intent of the resolution, there was no further discussion. The resolution was adopted, Secretary Bauder alone voting in the negative. The Commission then adjourned to meet at the call of the President.
"It is quite probable that Captain J. C. Shields, the President of the County Union, will call a meeting of that organization in a few days to get an expression of opinion on the actions of the Commission."
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CAPTAIN WILLIAM SMITH.
XVII.
T HE enemy massed their forces for a vigorous attack.
We were closely pressed on front and flank, with the ever ready guerillas and bush-whackers harrassing our rear. While we knew that final victory would be won, we felt that the time had come to sound the bugle for the grand rally of our forces on our always faithful and reliable reserve. So the following general order was issued:
HEADQUARTERS CUYAHOGA COUNTY SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' UNION, CLEVELAND, O., SEPTEMBER 10th, 1892. -
A meeting of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Union will be held Tuesday, September 13, at 2 o'clock P. M., at Army and Navy Hall, 426 Superior Street. This meeting is called for the purpose of ascertaining the views and desires of the comrades of Cuyahoga County regarding the site of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. A full attendance is earnestly desired.
By order,
J. C. SHIELDS, President. E. L. PARDEE, Secretary.
The Ioth of September proceedings were described in the Leader as follows :
"Seventy-nine years ago Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, with his fleet of wooden ships, unmercifully walloped the British fleet in the only battle that ever occurred on the great lakes, and yesterday, for the first time in many years, citizens of Cleveland, in honor of the anniversary, decorated his monument in the Public Square with garlands, wreaths, flags, bunting and crape. Yesterday's demonstration was caused by the proposal of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Commission to
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remove the Perry monument to some other place. Dr. L. B. Tuckerman, at 7 o'clock in the morning, appeared before the gates of the enclosure. He procured a step- ladder with which he climbed to the top of the fence. Then drawing the ladder after him he descended to the ground on the other side in safety. He had only crape to place on the marble statue.
"Shortly after the Doctor's visit, the Monument Con- mission, at present in possession of the section of the Square upon which the statue stands, opened the gates at the northeast and southwest corners and practically threw the enclosure open to the public. Work on the foundations for the Soldiers' Monument was temporarily suspended. Early in the day citizens began to decorate the Perry pedestal with pots of cut flowers, and before noon the base was nearly covered. About I o'clock, Frank Dellenbaugh, Esq., with several assistants, draped the Commodore's figure with a large American flag, with black entwined in graceful folds. The flag was the contribution of William Taylor, Son & Co. Hower. & Higbee contributed a quantity of bunting and placed their store at the disposal of the Decorating Committee. Several small flags added to the deco- rations. A large floral wreath was thrown about the Commodore and flowers were placed in profusion at every place available.
" The letter of Secretary Bauder, of the Monument Commission, to contractor McAllister, directing him to open the enclosure to the public, was posted on the pedestal.
"Mr. James Hayr was the only member of the Monument Commission who was seen about as the decorations were in progress. He heartily endorsed the work. He said he had been decorating Perry for twenty years himself and was glad to see others taking up the work. He liad placed a wreath about the Commodore's
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head every year, he said, until he was forbidden to do so because the evergreen injured the marble.
"Many spectators watched the committee arranging the decorations. The flags on the Square and on the City Hall floated from the mastheads in honor of the day.
"The second demonstration in the form of a mass meeting was held in the northeast section of the Square. It had been widely advertised, but still at 8 : 30 o'clock there were only about 200 persons present. The meeting was not very demonstrative, and the cheers given were requested by persons on the rostrum. A young man with a cornet played 'The Star Spangled Banner,' which evoked applause. Mr. Thomas G. Fitzsimmons, the Chairman of the adjourned mass meeting, called the meeting to order and remarked that he believed 'The Star Spangled Banner' was sung with a good deal of fervor on the occasion of the victory at Put-in-Bay. This was cheered, although the patriotic song was not written until a year and four or five days after Perry's victory. Mr. Fitzsimmons also expressed the belief that the Monument Commission will not move the Perry statue because they fear the people.
"Frank Dellenbaugh, Esq., was the next speaker, although he said he had not prepared himself for the occasion, like General Meyer, who would later address them. He said that whatever came from him came from a loyal heart. 'Something has been said about my connection with a street railway corporation as an attorney,' he said. 'That is true, but, thank God, not one hair of my head is owned by a street car company, and I hope Almighty God will strike off both iny hands and pluck my tongue out by the roots if ever I do or say anything that will enable any street railway com- pany to take a teaspoonful of earth from the Public Square. Perry did more than any man, with possibly the exception of a Sherman, a Grant or a Thomas, to
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preserve this Union, and his statue should not be dis- placed. Who are these Commissioners ? They are the servants of the people, and should obey them. You pay for this Monument, and you have a right to say where it shall be placed. Have matters come to a pass that the servants will not obey? Shall one of the greatest men, much greater than any latter day saint [cheers] be re- moved to give place to one of these modern patriots? The Perry monument is a National memorial, while this new Monument is simply to commemorate the serv- ices of one of eighty-eight counties of this Buckeye State. [Derisive cheers.] Should such a Monument displace Perry ? No, no, never ! Don't touch a board of that obnoxious fence, I beg of you-I would not ad- vise you to touch it. Let us continue to be patient. We have been patient enough, God knows, but the last straw has not been laid on the camel's back. Don't touch a single board of that fence.'
"' Who's going to touch it?' asked a man in the att- dience. Mr. Dellenbaugh did not answer.
"'Perry signified his disapproval,' continued the speaker, 'this morning when the artillery on high thundered out a protest. I can remember the thunder of the cannon when this moment was unveiled.' A man asked Mr. Dellenbaugh about General Leggett. Mr. Dellenbaugh replied that he respected Generals Barnett, Leggett and other members of the Commission and had no hard words for them.
"W. S. Kerruish, Esq., was the next speaker. His address was very temperate and deprecatory of any stir- ring up of ill feeling. He delighted to honor the mem- ory of Commodore Perry, and he had come for that pur- pose and not to keep up a wrangle. He had supposed that this impromptu meeting was for the purpose of commemorating the valorous deeds of the Commodore, and not of exciting animosities.
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"Nothing was so inappropriate on an occasion like this. 'Personally,' he said, 'I do not think Commodore Perry should be removed, but when I read in the Cleve- land Leader a few days ago General Elwell's appeal for peace, I felt as if the old Soldiers should be allowed to have their way about it if they have set their hearts on the Square. Levi Bauder told me this afternoon that the Commission will not remove the Perry statue, and I hope that is true. If the Monument must be put there, let us abide by the decision honorably and patriotically.'
" Mr. D. B. Jones, the cornetist, played and Dr. Tuckerman led the singing for "The Red, White and Blue,' after which Vernon Burke, Esq., William Heis- ley, Dr. Knowlton and Dr. Tuckerman made short speeches. Resolutions protesting against the use of the Square by street railroad companies, the removal of the Perry statue, and to meet again one year hence, were adopted. The resolution concerning the street cars was adopted with unanimity, but the Perry resolut- tion met with a decided negative. A letter from Gen- eral Meyer was read in which he said that hay fever prevented him from making a speech. 'Perry's monu- ment will not be removed from the Square,' was the concluding sentence of the letter. The meeting then adjourned to the southeast section to still further deco- rate the monument."
Comment on these proceedings is scarcely necessary. We can truthfully add, however, that this was the first and last time these patriotic citizens ever decorated Perry's monument since it was unveiled, September Ioth, 1860. They did not meet again in 1893, as they had resolved ; the Perry statue has been removed, not- withstanding General Meyer's positive statement to the contrary ; the street railroads are not running through the southeast section of the Square; the Soldiers' Monument occupies the chosen site; the Government
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at Washington still lives, and General Meyer's hay fever has ceased its burning rage.
We take pleasure in inserting here the ably written document of our senior counsel, Loren Prentiss, Esq., in reply to the objections raised to the location of the Monument, clipped from the Leader of the 12th of Sep- tember:
"To the Editor of the Leader :
"Being Attorney for the Monument Commissioners, I will not ask any one to give any more weight to what I may say as to the location on the southeast section of the Square than the reasons which I may give will clearly command, although I am not repre- senting the Monument Commissioners, but simply my own views, in what I now say.
"That the Monument is within the purposes of the dedication of the Square to public uses has been fully settled by the Supreme Court by a careful and unanimous decision, sustained by an over- whelming weight of authority, after full argument and exhaustive briefs; and, therefore, no legal rights are violated by its location in that section of the Square.
" But it is said that there are reasons against the present location which would prevent any arrangement which contemplates its use, however reasonable otherwise. So far the objections urged have consisted almost entirely of assertions to the effect that the Monu- ment is too large for that section of the Square; that it would ob- struct and divert the walk to and from Euclid Avenue and make it much longer than now; that it would involve the moving of the Perry statue from that section of the Square, and that this would be a disparagement to his memory and honor; that it will obstruct the light and air, and that the great majority of the people are opposed to that site. Some people sum up their opposition in the blind and unmeaning statement that it would be an outrage to place the Monument in that section of the Square. People and newspapers using only such language are like the crude and excitable sort by whom everything is classed as either 'perfectly awful ' or 'perfectly splendid'; or like the preacher who preferred to preach from texts he did not understand because it gave such free scope to his imag- ination. Of course, there is no argument in such assertions, for the reason that no facts are given to support them. I have studied the facts and practical questions as to the location of the Monument as thoroughly as I have the law of the cases in Court, and in my judg- ment none of these objections are well founded.
"First. Too large for that section. The esplanade or platform-
.
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ninety-five feet square and five feet high-will not affect anything besides the walks, and it requires the statement of only a single mathematical fact to remove the objection as to the walk to and from Euclid Avenue, and that fact is, that by running the crosswalk from the Williamson block diagonally so as to strike the side of the Square about sixty feet below the southeast corner and continue on that line to the walk around the esplanade, the distance from and to Euclid Avenue through that section of the Square will be less than it is now. This, I think, entirely disposes of the objections as to the walks. The view of the Monument will be ample. The dis- tance from the memorial room, 40 feet square and 25 feet high, to the buildings on the east and south sides of that section of the Square is 137 feet, and to the curbstone 67 feet-affording ample room for the viewing of the Monument, besides the longer view from Euclid Avenue, while on the other sides all the rest of the Square affords the most ample opportunities for viewing the Monu- ment at any distance desired. So far from the Monument filling up that section of the Square, there would be room enough around the Monument and on the esplanade to accommodate 4,000 to 5,000 peo- ple at one time, and the rest of the Square could accommodate four or five times as many more. The walks could be made thirty feet wide, if necessary, to accommodate people passing as well as those viewing the Monument. The idea that the aesthetic and imagina- tive taste should govern in the location of the Monument in some outside location I think is a mistake. It is built by the people and for the people, and should be where the people come and go-where the lines of the street railways converge-where the people 'do most congregate,' for the most important mission of the Monument is to teach lessons of disinterested patriotism and courage. The location should, therefore, be central, and not on the East, the West, or the South Side. The Monument would be benefited rather than prejudiced by fine buildings around the Square ; for, standing on the highest ground, with its shaft 125 feet high, its splendid groups in heroic size and its highly artistic character give it a character by itself at once impressive and inspiring.
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