Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1896 — DEATH FREES A SECRET. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEATH FREES A SECRET.

The Cherished Ambition of William H. English of Indiana. The death of William H. Euglish releases to the public a surprising vanity ho had oecrctly cherished with a zeal not exceeded, possibly, by that behiuif his nmIbition for presidential honors. Y'ears prior to his deuth he imparted by diredt inference to a friend in Chicago that he “hoped a statue of the other end of the .11 aueoek and English presidential ticket would be allowed one of the four great fame points” set apart for statues of most illustrious American statesmen around the $300,000 soldiers’ and sailors' monument that Indiana dedicated at Indianapolis before the World’s Fuir. Death alone was to grant release to this secret, and even then It was to be mentioned guardedly. if at all. As early as 1884 he quietly let the remarkable contract for making

two bronze statues of himself, of the heroic height of eight feet and four ipches, at a cost of SI,IMX) each, with u specification permitting him others a-t the same price. It was the idea of Mr. English to present one of the two statues to the town of English, lud., only when, however, it had succeeded in getting tho honor of county soatship away from a certain rival town. A hot and prolonged fight resulted from the village of Ei.glish trying to win the heroic trophy offered by its godfather. The matter went from court to court until now It is lodged before the Supreme bench and the man who offered the disturbing prize is dead. The statue remains uncalled for, while the second one has just been finished. As for the four “great fame points,” one is now occupied by a magnificent representation of George Rogers Clark, of continental army fame, and after whom Clark street in Chieugo was named. For another, Chicago foundries are now casting a figure of Gen. William Henry Harrison. The occupants o-f the remaining two places of hppor <ire, well-informed report says, fully decided upon. However, the death of Mr. English just at this time may effect the realization pf his aspiring dream. In any event, one of the statues probably will go to adorn the English Hotel property at Indianapolis, and now that his death has occurred, the other statue will, it is thought probable, go to the family 'burial lot, while a third will be ordered by the family for the town of English should it win in the county seat litigation.