18. Many of the most useful birds are the most beautiful and are our best songsters.

19. Bird foods may be divided into vegetable and animal, and among the latter, different kinds of insects form the most important part.

20. In approaching a bird, we can come quite close if we are careful not to look at it.

21. The robins would perch on his knee and wait for him to turn up a worm.

22. The bluebirds filled the orchards with their glee.

168. THE WORLD'S LARGEST MEMORIAL On a plain near Atlanta, Georgia, rises Stone Mountain, an enormous granite bowlder seven miles in circumference, and fourteen hundred feet high. This huge mass of sheer rock has been chosen as the site of the most extensive undertaking in sculpture in the history of the world. It is to be a monument to the courage, endurance, and chivalry of the men of the Confederacy.

The idea of such a memorial was conceived by the Daughters of the Confederacy, who first invited a sculptor to visit Stone Mountain. The sculptor went and made a At

careful study of the contour and size of the mountain. last there came to him a vision of great men marching boldly across the face of the granite mountain, just as they had marched on a thousand roads during the eventful days of '61.

His sketch portrayed General Robert E. Lee followed by hundreds of cavalry, infantry, and artillery—a marvelous conception of heroism and fidelity to duty. His plan was approved, and work was begun at once. That was over nine years ago and the workers are still busy.

Something of the size of the figures in the memorial can be realized when we recall that the great Sphinx of Egypt could be hidden behind General Lee's head; that a horse's head in the central group measures fifty feet from ear to

nostril; and that the figures carved in full relief stand out twenty-five feet from the face of the mountain.

It is a great thing to conceive such a memorial and a stupendous undertaking to convert the vision into stone. Before actual cutting could begin, several knotty problems had to be solved and extensive preparations had to be made. A power house was erected on the top of the mountain, a stairway built down the slope to the very edge of the precipice and a big projection lantern constructed.

The method of outlining the huge figures on the side of the mountain shows great ingenuity. First, the figures are modeled in clay. These are photographed and the pictures transferred to slides for the big projection lantern. Each of these slides throws a picture an acre in extent. At night the images are thrown on the mountain by the lantern, and men, dangling over the cliff in a specially devised leather harness, trace the outlines with white paint.

Oral discussion. Study the picture of the central group of the Stone Mountain memorial. Why do you think General Lee has been chosen as the most imposing figure? Robert E. Lee was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, but he resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army. In a letter written to his sister on April 20, 1861, he makes this statement: "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army and, save in the defense of my native statc, . . . I hope I may never be called upon to draw my sword."

Oral assignment. Tell in a few sentences the purpose, nature, and location of the Stone Mountain memorial.

Written assignment. Write a paragraph on any one

of the following topics.

Choose a topic sentence and make all of the other sentences in your paragraph

develop the thought of the topic sentence.

Why Lee Resigned from the Army
General Lee's Love of Home
General Lee's Appearance

A Story Told by an Old Soldier

169. OTHER MEMORIALS

You have already learned about several unique memorials. The Taj Mahal, the most beautiful building in the world, is a memorial; the bronze statue of Balto is another memorial. In all countries you will find statues and tablets erected in memory of persons or events. Perhaps there is a memorial of some kind near your home. If there is one, read the inscription on it and be able to tell why it was erected. If your community has never erected a memorial, tell the class of some person or event that you think should be thus honored. Memorials are of many kinds. Beautiful windows, the furnishings of a room in a hospital, the establishment of a library, the planting of a grove of trees, the equipment for a playground, are often dedicated to someone's memory. Tell what you think the memorial in your neighborhood should be and what inscription it should bear.

Written Work. Look up in your library a history of any one of the following memorials. In one para

graph give a brief description of the memorial; in another tell in whose honor it was erected.

Read your paragraphs carefully to see whether each one develops a single thought. Read them aloud so that you may catch with your ear any lack of smoothness or any other crudities.

The Lincoln Memorial

The Lion of Lucerne

The Marble Boat of Peking

The Great Sphinx of Egypt

The Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square,
London

We marvel at the jewel-like perfection of the Taj Mahal and remember that it is all cemented together; we wonder how the ancient Egyptian workmen ever hoisted into place the huge stones of the Pyramids and then we turn to the Stone Mountain project with a feeling of pride in the great inventions of science that have given to man so many ingenious devices for accomplishing the tasks of today.

What ingenious devices have you seen workmen using? Were they labor-aiding devices or safety-first devices.

Oral work. Tell about seeing some ingenious device used. Your paragraph should tell us the who, where, what, and how of the scene you are painting in words.

Written work. Choose a subject from the list suggested here or from a list your teacher may put on the