Saturday, September 3, 2011

Who's that stone?

Before this summer, i had been to Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, O., i think thrice. Once to see President Garfield's Monument, it was closed. Once a friend wanted to drive by Eliot Ness's stone. I stopped in to see the Tiffany decorated chapel. Once to drive from Mayfield to Euclid Avenue, while pointing out what a place it was. The trips were short.

Walking around with a camera, there is so much to see. It is a sculpture garden, and history museum. Graveyards are filled with the unknown dead, but this one has notable exceptions.
John D. Rockefeller, the man richer than Midas or Croesus, is planted here near a huge granite needle. Very near by, there is [maybe] the most pompous statue in Cleveland. Whatever one thinks of Cleveland, it is very plentiful in sights. People on tour, and they do tour, ask, “Who the hell is that?”

One sees a large mausoleum [which acts as a pedestal], reminiscent of the original at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, king, and satrap of the Carians in Anatolia, built by his queen/sister/wife, Artesimia II. On top, seated in a chair, is a statue of S.S. Stone, which sits as enthroned king of the cemetery as ridiculous as Yertle the Turtle.

Do the people, who walk or drive by, know who Silas Safford Stone was? Of course not, he was a real estate speculator, that became rich dealing to railroads, and the federal government. The Civil War was a marvelous way to get rich.

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