tion on the
shaft shows:

Sacred
to the
Memory
of
CHRIS.
COLUMBUS,
OCT. XII,
MDCC VIIIC.

It can be seen that the numerals are engrossed in the old English style,
and show eight less than 1800, or 1792, and the date October 12th. The
shaft towers among the boughs of a great oak tree which, like itself,
has stood the storms and winds of nearly a hundred years. It has seen
Baltimore develop from a little colonial town to a great city. The
existence of the monument, strange to say, was known to only a few
persons until the opening of North Avenue through the Barnum estate
about twelve years ago. It looms up about fifty feet, and is attractive.
Tradition says that it is built of brick which was brought from England,
and covered with mortar or cement. At any rate it is substantial, and
likely to stand the ravages of time for many more years. The Samuel
Ready estate is on the east side of the Hartford turnpike and fronts on
North Avenue. The old-fashioned country house, which was built many
years ago, was occupied by the proprietor of Baltimore's famous
hostelry, and is still in use. It is occupied by girls who are reared
and educated by money left by the philanthropist Samuel Ready. Forty or
fifty years ago the elder David Barnum resided there.

In the southeast corner of the beautiful inclosure stands the monument.
It is on an elevated terraced plateau. The plaster or cement coating is
intact, and the inscription is plain. The shaft is quadrangular in form,
sloping from a base six feet six inches in diameter to about two feet
and a half at the top, which is a trifle over fifty feet from the
ground. The pedestal comprises a base about thirty inches high, with
well-rounded corners of molded brick work. The pedestal proper is five
feet six inches in diameter, ten feet in height, and a cornice,
ornamental in style, about three feet in height. From this rises a
tapering shaft of about twenty-eight feet. The whole is surmounted by a
capstone eighteen inches high. Three stories are told about the
monument.

Here is the first: Among the humble people who have lived in that
section for years the legend is that the monument was erected to the
memory of a favorite horse owned by the old Frenchman who was the first
French consul to the United States. For years it was known as the "Horse
Monument," and people with imaginative brains conjured up all sorts of
tales, and retailed them _ad lib_. These stories were