Maniac Memorial

Chicago has no War memorial. Planning one, the city offered a $20,000 prize for a design. Last week, Rotarians were startled to read in their monthly magazine The Rotarian, some suggestions by Chicago War Hero Harold R. ("Private") Peat, "winner of more than one medal for distinguished service." Neither an artist nor an architect, Hero Peat's interest in a War memorial was not esthetic but moral. Said he:

"Why not a true monument? . . . A picture comes to my mind of 1915--a crowded theatre in London, the sudden onslaught of bombs dropping from high up in the air, the rush of startled humanity to the open street, defenceless mortals running hither and thither, a woman screaming as she clutched to her breast the bloody body of a year-old baby and watched her baby's head pitch to the gutter.

"There is an outlined design for War's monument. . . .

"A true monument to War means the recognition of Stupidity--Horror--Stench --Filth--Rape--Ignorance--Sin--Lunacy.

"If Chicago be the forward-thinking city its citizens believe, its War monument will take the form of a maniac. . . ."

Hero Peat, 35, lecturer and anti-war propagandist, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, naturalized a U. S. citizen in 1922. In the War he served as a private (1914-1917), 3rd Battalion, 1st Canadian Infantry, was gassed once, wounded twice, left on the battlefield 56 hours. His medals:

Mons Star, King's Medal, Allied Medal. His books: Private Peat, The Inexcusable Lie.