The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-05-29
Ancient aud Modern Wonders.

Ancient aud Modern Wonders.
The "seven wonders " of the world, or
the seven historical monuments of the con-
structive skill, and magnificent art of the
ancients are: First, "THE GREAT PYRAMID
OF EGYPT, which, according to Herodotus,
was built by Cheops, King of Egypt, about
900 years before Christ. Pliny says $780, 900
men were employed 20 years in building
this pyramid, and that IL, 76O million pounds
of granite were used in its construction
Second, "BABYLoN THE GREAT, THE LADY
OF THE KINGDOMS, THE GLORY OF THE
| WHOLE EARTH" The same historian states
that the walls Of the city were sixty miles
in circumference, built of large bricks &C.
mented with bitumen and raised around
the city in the form of a square, protected
on the outside by ditch lined with the
same material They were 81 feet thick
and $50 feet high. The city was entered
| by 25 gates on each side, of solid brass, and
strengthened by $50 towers. The outer
walls surrounding the palace of Nebuchad
nezzar were six miles in extent, and the
hanging gardens were so high that they
overtopped the walls of the city. Third,
"THE GOLD AND Ivory STATUE OF JUPITER
OLYMPUS done by Phidias, the grVatest
artist that ever lived. The god was formed
of gold and ivory, IS feet high, seated on
throne, and almost touching the roof of
the building. According to Strabo the
workmanship must have been exquisite
| Phidias embodied Homer's impersonation
of the god:
"He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows,
Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the
nod,
The stamp of fate and sanction of the god.
High heaven with trembling the dread sig
nal took
And all Olympus in the center shook"
The artist inquired of Jupiter himself if
he was satisfied, and the approval was given
by flash of lightning which struck the
pavement of the temple.
Fourth, "THE TEMPLE OF DIANA OF THE
EPHEsIANs at Ephcsus. The temple was
| built of cedar, cypress, and even gold, and
within it were treasures, offerings to the
goddess, of works of art, the value of which
almost exceeded computation. Pra1iteles,
the celebrated Greek sculptor carved the
altar, and during period of two hundred
and twenty years, the whole of Asia Minor
| assisted in enriching the structure. Nero
| robbed it, however, Of much of its valuable
treasures. AS an architectural work it was
doubtless brought near to state of perfec-
| ton.
Fifth, "THE MAUsoLEUM, OR TOMB OF
MAUsoLUs," erected at Halicarnassus; B.
c. 353. 1t was nearly square in plan, 113
by 90 feet having around its base peris-
lyle of &c Doric columns go feet high, while
the superstructure rose in a pyramidal form
to the hight of 100 feet. 1t was very richly
adorned with sculpture by Greek masters,
solus was inferior to that of Napoleon in
Paris
Sixth, "TuE PHARos OF ALEXANDRIA,
an ancient lighthouse consisting of several
stories and galleries of prodigious hight,
with lantern on the top continually burn
ing. 1t was built to subserve useful pur-
pose by one of the Ptolemies, and was SO
famous that all lighthouses after it were
called by the common name of Pharos.-
The ancient Pharos was $50 feet high, and
several Arab Historians mention a telesco-
pic mirror of metal which was placed on its
summit and used to burn the vessels of enc
mics, by directing it SO as to concentrate
the rays of the sun upon them.
Seventh, 1.-THE Colossus OF RHODES"
eScribed as giant figure 105 feet high,
placed across the harbor of Rhodes with
stride of fifty feet from rock to rock; YES
sells passed under it full sail. A lamp blazed
in its right hand. An internal spiral stair
case led to its summit, and around its neck
was suspended glass in which ships might
be discerned as far off as the Egyptian
coast. 1t was an object of worship, but
was thrown down by an earthquake, 224
B. c., fifty-six years after its completion.
1t will be observed, that with the excep-
ton of the ancient "Pharos," not one of
the seven wonders of the world possessed
any intrinsic utility.
We might easily, however, point to seven
modern wonders of the world, greater as
works of skill than those of the ancients
which are not merely objects for wide-eyed
admiration, but are daily and hourly bene-
fitting the entire race. The modern system
of land and marine steam transportation,
of which the Pacific Railroad just completed
is the most prominent example on land, and
our magnificent and staunch ocean steam
ers the greatest triumph of man over the
sea; the electric telegraph, which has an
initiated time in communication between
the remotest parts of the earth; the modern
suspension bridges. under which the Colos-
sus might have walked without STOPPING or
knocking his hat off; our immense tunnels,
through which the iron horse plunges heed
less of the mountain which engulfs it; our
steam hammer, so ponderous in weight, so
delicate in its action; our spinning jennies
and mules whereby single person can spin
4 thousand threads with greater ease than
the ancient matrons could spin one; our
modern printing press which preserves the
thought of the entire world as rich inner,
itance for future ages; our-but we have
already our seven modern wonders of utili-
ty and we might easily name seventy. All
the glory, all the barbaric magnificence of
the ages recorded in history, could not, if
compressed into single epoch, equal those
of the century we now live ina century
which is regarded by many as one in which
utiltarianism has degrated mans aesthetic
cal nature. Let those who will, sigh that
the world goes backward They think so
only because the standpoint from which
they look at progress makes the direction
of events seem reversed.-Scien. american.
YARDS IN A MILE-An American mile
contains 176S yards, England the same,
Russia 100, italy 1867, Scotland and Ire
land 1900, Poland AGO, Spain 502S, Ger
many $500, Sweden and Denmark 1888,
Hungary $500. A league in America and
England is $3.50 yards.