Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1891 — VERMONT’S GALA DAY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

VERMONT’S GALA DAY.

THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON COMMEMORATED. Many Not.ble People Grace the Occasion , —The Event Fittingly Culminates Tears ot Preparation—Description of the Monument—How It Was Secured. Historic Bennington. The ceremony of dedicating the monument erected to commemorate the battle of Bennington crowded that little Vermont town to overflowing. The presence of the President of the United States and members of his Cabinet, as well as the Governors of three States, gave the event more than local interest It brought people from all parts of the United States, but particularly from the New England States, to witness and take part in the ceremony. Probably in the whole history of Bennington no such distinguished gathering will be held again. At the encampment grounds around the Soldiers’ Home, where the interest of the event centered during the early part of the day, the soldier boys were aroused by the reveille call early in the morning. The crowd was up with the soldiers, for with the first break of dawn the streets began to assume a lively appearance and the roads leading into town commenced to empty their stream of wagons and carriages into the camp grounds. Every private as well as every public house in Bennington was crowded and many slept on the lawns, while hundreds were glad to find sleeping quarters in tents which afforded little protection to the chill night air. When the first of the special

trains arrived the gayly decorated streets were well fil ed. Among those prominent in national affairs were the President and his cabinet, ex-Gov. Prescott, of New Hampshire; Gov. Page, of Vermont; Gen. Veazey, of the G. A. R.; Edward J. Phelps, and others. The celebration was the culmination of a series of events covering a century. The anniversary of the battle of Bennington is to the people of Southern Vermont what the Fourth of July Is to the nation. Fcr nearly fifty years there has been more or less preparation for the building of a suitable monument The first organized effort was made in 1853. The Vermont Legislature In that year appropriated 83,000, with the condition that the corner-stone of the proposed memorial be laid on tfie 16th of August following, and that the sum of 87,00) be raised by private subscription. While these conditions were not fulfilled and the appropriation lapsed, the agitation continued. In 187576 the Bennington Historical Society, and subsequently the Bennington Battle Monument Association, were organized, the latter chartered by the Sta e of Vermont, | with au appropriat on of 815,000, conditioned on the raising of 85,000 more The celebration of 1877 followed. These events, and the subsequent action of the States of' New Hampshire and Massachusetts and the national government, have conspired to cause the erection of the noble shaft on the site of the continental storehouse, the object point of Colonel Baum’s expedition in 1777. The cost of the monument and site has been tn round numbers 8100,000. Massachusetts contributed 810,000, New Hampshire 87,500, the national government 840,000, and Vermont the 81',000 aforesaid and a supplemental anpropriation for the site. The balance has been raised by private subscriptions. ( The monument stands on a commanding site 283 feet above the Walloomsac River. This river Cows through the village of Bennington. The foundation of the monument is the solid rock of the mountain, on top of which was the Bennington of the revolution. The structure is an obelisk, built of native stone, and faced with Sandy Hill dolomite. The height from the base to the top of the capstone is 301 feet 10X inches. The monument at the base is 37 feet 4 Inches by 37 feet 4 inches, running to a point at the top. The walls are thick at the base, but decrease gradually to a thickness of two feet at the apex. The outside stone is Inlaid wit*- “stretchers and headers.” The inside walls rise to a height of 26.0 feet, after which the t tones extend through the wall. Inside the walls are left in the rough rock; outside the stone is rough finished, and at the right ngle corners with the abaft and also at the windows and other openings the stone is finished in quarlines of arris. This gives the structure a finished and artistic appearance The look out room is 188 feet above the foundation, and is reached by an Iron staircase. This room is marked on the outside by two entablatures enr circling the monument. From this lookout the battlefield is plain y visible seven miles away. The first room in the monument contains four tib’etc, three of | them inscribed respectively to the States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont Th) fourth is blank. The outlook room conta’ns four hi. torlc gran-J ite tablets, placed there by the Vermont Historical Society, the Masonic frater-i nity, which laid the corner-stone in 1877, the Order of Odd FeEos s, and the Grand Army of the Republic.