STATUE OF LIBERTY, LA LLIBERTÉ ÉCLAIRANT LE MONDE

Today, The Newtons & The Grandma have visited the Statue of Liberty.

 

Before starting their trip, they have been studying the order of adjectives in English.

 

More information: Adjectives

It was a wonderful day until a terrible accident occured and Raquel Newton has disappeared in the middle of the sea. We have no news about this member of the family and local authorities are working very hard to find her. Be strong, Raquel.

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World or in French La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States.

The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

The statue is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery.

After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.

Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to U.S. independence would properly be a joint project of the French and U.S. peoples.
The Franco-Prussian War delayed progress until 1875, when Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the U.S. provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions.

More information: National Park Service (NPS)

The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds.

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar, equivalent to $30 in 2021.

The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.

The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, and is a major tourist attraction. Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred since 1916.

More information: 6sqft

 What was moving, I think, was the fact that
the statue is a woman and not a heroic, manly figure.
So for all her scale and immensity,
there's something soft about the Statue of Liberty,
something tender about her.

 

Derek Walcott

CSI NEW YORK: ACCIDENT OR LABOUR RISK MISTAKE

CSI New York searching in the river

Carolina Bean was a happy woman. She was in New York, where she arrived before Christmas, with her family. Although she hadn't accompanied them in the last trips around the city, she felt they were closer to her. She had explained to The Grandma that she wanted to stay some days visiting Central Park to take pictures and sceneries for her new graphic novel. The Grandma accepted the proposal because she knew how important her job was for Carol.

It seemed a normal day except for one fact: nobody had sent her a WhatsApp the last 48 hours and she hadn't seen them because she arrived to the hotel too late and she left it too early. Suddenly, the telephone rang:

-Hi! It's Carol Bean. Who's calling?

-Good morning, Mrs. Bean. I'm CSI Stella Bonasera from the New York Office. I would like to talk to you. It's about your family.

-My family! What happens? Are they ok?

-Don't worry, Mrs. Bean. They're fine. They are in the Mount Sinai Hospital waiting for your arrival to do the papers. Don't worry. I've phoned you because my partners, Mac Taylor and Don Flack, are going to take you in Central Park and carry you to the hospital.

-Wow! Ok. I'm astonished. I know where the hospital is. If you don't mind, I will come by public transport. I want to stay alone before visiting my family.

-Ok Mrs. Bean. See you later in the hospital then, but if you need something, please, don't doubt to phone us.

-Thanks, Detective Bonasera. See you later.

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Flack and Bonasera searching Nereyda Bean

CSI Stella Bonasera was one of the best members of the CSI New York Team. She was working in the case of the mysterious sinking in Liberty Island. They hadn't got enough answers to know what happened exactly in that boat and what the real cause of the tragedy was. 

They had revised all the protocols of labour risk prevention and the boat has passed all the legal controls. The technicians hadn't got any explanation about the origin of the accident. The boat has a great hole on the right side but they hadn't discovered what caused that hole.

Thanks to the work of Lt. Theo Kojak and the CSI Team, the most part of the victims had been rescued, except one. They had identified the name of the missing woman. She was Nereyda Bean, a young dark-skin woman with long black hair who wore air hostess uniform the last time that someone saw her. They were searching in the main places of the river paying attention to the flow.

Caroline Bean arriving to the Mount Sinai Hospital

If Nereyda Bean didn't appear in the next 48 hours they would call the FBI because the possibilities of finding her in another state, because of the force of the flow, were higher.

Carolina Bean had arrived to the Mount Sinai Hospital. She was ready to identified every member of her family and taking profit of the visit she was going to try to meet one of the best cardiologist of the world who works in this hospital: Doctor Valentí Fuster Carulla.

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It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing 

that assures the prosperous voyage. 

George William Curtis

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY: WELCOME TO THE BEANS, TANIA

Antonio Bean's Declaration. January, 12. 14:05-East Time. New York.

The Beans in the Statue Cruises boat

We started the day practising some English grammar. We talked about Likes and Dislikes and about Comparatives of Equality. We practised some Social English, Vocabulary about Places and Crimes and reviewed some grammar.

We talked about the importance of being a member of a community and about the common work in cooperatives.

More information: Likes and Dislikes

Tania Bean and Rhini

We were very happy because a new member had joined to our family. 

She's Tania from San Marino. She’s a nice person and a great veterinary. She was going to take care of Rhini during our travel. In fact, she's not an unknown person for me because she's my sister. My family kept this secret during a lot of years but I discovered and I wanted to come to the USA to meet her. 

Now, she's missing as the rest of my family. Last time I remember her, she was talking with Anton about an interesting website to download books.

More information: Planetebook 

We were enjoying our moment, sharing some sweets and talking about our personal experiences as a normal family when we heard the terrible sound. Something had happened on the first floor of the boat because the water started to cover all of it. Only five minutes later, the boat had disappeared and all the family was trying to save each other. It was a dramatic moment. I could see Rhini arriving to the shore of Liberty Island but I couldn't see anything more, only water. I closed my eyes and I started to pray God thinking in one of my favourite prayers Near my God to Thee. It's curious. This song was also the last song which was played in the Titanic.

I prayed and prayed and prayed...

I don't remember anything more. I'm so sorry. I'm exhausted and sad. 

In these moments, I remember a William Shakespeare's quote: It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

God bless us!

(To be continued)

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,

darkness be over me, my rest a stone;

yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee.
 

Sarah Fuller Flower Adams