The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-02-14

10 Tie sgtutTdt ASNNSA " AAohS q eNt----f'f"F
minute description Of the new edihce
near the crossing of High and Congress
streets. which is tomorrow to be publicly coz
secrated to the worship of the Universal -fa-
Their.
For long time the parish worshipping IN
the old chruch, corner OF Congress ana realtl
streets. which was erected in 1921, have been
seriously inconvenicnced in consequence OF
the narrow limits Of their meeting house, and
the inability of those who desired to do so to
obtain accommodations for themselves and
families. That church contains but l16 pews,
very narrow and small, while the parish num-
bers over 200 families. It has for a long time
been almost impossible to rent pew, oreven
to secure single sitting. Several efforts
have bsen made to remedy th evilby the
erection of larger house, but all Of them
some owing TO one cause and me to another.
have proved abortive until the last efioit,
which has eliminated in tie erection and
completion of the edi6cs whose architectural
description we give below. 3te " 5e1 B4is
It was during the month of january, 1854,
that Elk Gov. WAsHBURN-then but a few
months resident OF tue city--invited few
UNCONVENTIONAL friends, not over dozen, to
meet at his private room for an evenings con-
sultadon. Il was then and there that the
wants of the UnivsFsalist public were fully.
brought to view and discussed, and the i'm
portance of better accommodations was con-
sidered. Before that meeting closed by ad-
40 Into aarIu
600 had been pledged as a guarantee fund to
secure the erection Of church, Ito guaran-
tee the builders against fnal loss,-it then
being supposed that lot could be purchased
and suitable church erected for about $40-
600 or $4,000. 1t was, indeed, pretty fully
agreed upon that church should be erected,
though precisely where, when, or by whom
was not definitely settled till nearly month
later. -. As-' az 4SA-A
Its somewhat curious coincidence that,
on the very day the meeting here referred to
was held, DR. Ludwig had obtained the refusal
Of the Warren property, on which the church
Is situated, without the slightest reference to
any such use as has been made of it, and
though he was at the meeting and the question
OF location was talked over, be did notallude
to his prospective interest in the lot which has
proved % eligible and satisfactory. 1t is very
plain that no person not deeply interested II
the cause that meeting was designed to pro
mote, would have parted with the lot for any
such purpose while retaining the house ad
Joining. Il f soss
EarIV in Eahrrs L. = e..
crossed that Building Committee was chosen
by those who had become parties to the guar
antee fund, but who were In fact.the propri.
etors Of the new edifce, this committee con.
,sistiag Of the following gentlemen: 81
EDWARD HAMRLIN.
CHARLES FoBEs,
e DAVID THOMPSON. IL sgmH4 seg0E
WILLARD w. HARRIS, ~. -
EDMUND PHINNEY. - $50 ~
The lot was agreed upon with great unsn
imley, and it's purchase was immediately Sc.
cured for $4,000, and contracts were. con.
cluded with as little delay as possible for the
foundation and the erection and completion
of the superstructure. The Architect, Mr.
GEORGE M. HARDING, submitted plans which
were eninently satisfactory, and he was em
ployed by the committee to have the genera
supervision of the whole work,--a perfect
guarantee of the workmanlike manner ant
good taste in which everything has beer
done. The Architect, at our request, has fur
nished US with the architectural details which
follow. = @SA-
ase'a 'asTst FRONT VIEW. s7as.ana3
The style Of the ediAce is Independent, ant
peculiarly American in its character partak
ing, however, more of the Roman than o
any other Ordero Archi' ecture.y The Jdcad
or 'front.', possesses relief owing to the DISPOSE
ton of is contour, which consists of two
towers, situated at the two front angles of the
structure, the large choir window, which il
4, eighteen fer wide and thirty feet in height
the semicircplar arched doorways with theil
ventriculated-cut free-stone quoins, archi
travs work, and the arched frieze and bracket
ed c'rnice gable above, with its cross at ths
apex, all Of which combine to render the gen
-esAl view pleasing to the eye.- 80
THE TOWERS.
455The principal tower at the left side of the
front is eighteen feet square. resting on 3
granite base and free-stone plinth course, and
Is constructed with butressed piasters, ter.
minating in. an arch at the height of flfty-nine
feet. immediately above this is the bell tow.
I er, nineteen feet high and seventeen feet di.
ameter, crowned with q roof, with segment
hoods on four Of its sides, under each of which
are formed shields in relief. The openings in
the bell tower are formed in pairs, with semi
circular tops, supported at their Intersection
by Composite columns. These openings are
nlled by bell screens of peculiar and pleasing
pattern, widely differing from the usual blind
Stat finish. Rising from the bell tower is an
octagonal lanternsection, sixteen feet high
and fifteen and one half feet diameter, provid-
ed with diamond windows in each of,its sides !;
the eight angles finished with spiral columns.
carved capitals, octagonal bases, and pedestal
members. YdCTe .gL
This section is in turn surmounted by
spire, octagonal in plan, pierced with semi
circular windows, with bold mouldngs at its
angles, and traversed with hands at various
po'i's IN Its height, terminating with a final
'olnVosed OF eight intersected cross shaped
orna"ents. The entire altitude of the final
cross rom the sidewalk, is 1853 IL feet.
The small tower on the r,0ht ~ M f.on..
which is thirteen feet square and o;ah.u'+,;,a
leethigh, is in it's lower sections similar to the
large one, and terminates with bold ribbed
ogee roof and final. ''eu
DIMENSIONS.
The dimensions Of the building are as fol.
lows: entire length including towers and chan.
Gel, III feet; breadth of front, including tow
ers, 70 feet. The walls of the structure are
of brick and stone built double, with an air
chamber between, of which popularity advan-
tage is taken forpurposes of ventilation. This.
method of construction secures an atmosphere
within, cooler Ia summer and warmer in win
ter. The a xtarinr waIis of tha front inelud