The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1869-08-31
For the Register.
Boston Letter.
Arn. 25rII. 1860.

Boston Letter
AUG. 25rH, 1869.
"The Hub " at present seems pretty
sound, spokes do not " work." nor is it
" rim bound" There are complaints of
dulness in business, but the horizon of the
future is tinged with golden hue, and
confidence and hope go hand in hand.
Apparently there has a reaction set in,
from the rush and excitement of June,
when the nation came to Boston to make
Jubilee. BY the way, the Coliseum has
fallen into the hands of the contractors,
and will not stand many weeks longer.
1t was thought desirable at first, to keep
it for two or three years as kind of
memento ofthepast and as a rallyingplace
for great political meetings and the like.
But it was found that it was u,,sc,gpt,uut-
N built. The structure was founded upon
" the sand," without durable foundations,
and although it might stand the "winds
and the rain " it would not bear the win
ter's frosts. Moreover, fears were enter
tanned of fire, in which case, so immense
quantity Of lumber would be enough in
a high wind, to set half of Boston in a
blaze-in view Of which considerations,
the Coliseum must come down, after the
contractors have realized few hundred
dollars from the organ concerts now given
in the building every afternoon. The
decorations have all been left and every
thing is as it was during Jubilee week,
save only that sea of human faces. The
general impression one receives there
now is, that the true grandeur of that oc-
casion was not in the size of the structure,
the magnifcenco of its decorations, OF
even in the ebb and flow of those great
waves of song, but in the assembling there
Of fifty thousand souls to lift to Heaven a
nations grateful offering in songs of jubi.
liant thanks giving.
1t seems that the " forefathers," who
laid out the streets of Boston, had O
scanty conception Of its future magnitude
and now the narrow, crowded streets are
being widencd at vast expense.
The Hotel Pelham " Oh Tremon
street, the estimated weight of which il
IRE HoUSand tons is to be moved entire,
distance Of sixteen feet The operation
of moving this huge building are novel
and the preparations for its removal hav,
been going ON for three months and up
wards. The outside walls are from 80 t.
80 feet in height, and there are four par
tition walls of brick inside, besides hug
brick furnace and boilers, which togethe
with the sidewalk in front and its foun
dation walls we understand are to b.
moved together This is an undertaking
we believe without parallel in the histo
ry Of modern mechanics.
How it is intended to accomplish tn
task, is, in brief, this:
Under the building Is pits were du
and partly filled with granite. On to
Of the stone, was built in each pit, sui
stantial wall ofbricks and cement two fee
wide and four deep. On the top Of tn
/, walls were laid iron traverses extendin
fourteen feet westward. The traverse
are simply rails of fiat iron, laid a coupl
of inches apart, parallel with each othel
, There are five or six of these on each wal
These railroads, so to speak, are as fri
and solid necessarily as the original four
dations Of the building.
Upon these traverses of course the builC
ing is to be rolled westward The roller
are about three feet long, one inch and
half thick, and made of firm iron. The
, roll upon the travorses, and the buildin
l rests upon them.
: If the reader should be curious to kno
/ how the rollers were got under the rail
in defiance of their immense weight,
t may be explained that the work h;
, progressed slowly, for the reason that
: could not be rapidly performed, becau.
t only one point could be operated upon ;
G time.
G Thus for instance, one of the pillar
= constituting the corner foundation of ii
: building was "clamped with hug
/ beams, and then by an application of jacl
a screws was held firmly in position an
prevented from sinking, even after ii
= foundations were removed. This dor
h the earth underneath the pillar was r.
e moved, the traverses wall built up, an
h the rails laid upon it, nearly up to Il
t bottom of the pillar, and the " clamps
; being then removed the pillar and all aboV
o it, rested upon the rollers
n The operation was then repeated fro
C point to point until now nearly the who
n building rests upon the rollers.
+ The force to move the immensely heaN
S building, after all is in readiness for Il
r start, will be attained through the instr
n mentality of jack-screws. Fifty of the
d powerful mechanical appliances will
i made to act unitedIy on the easterly ia
It of the buildings foundations, the counte
it acting force being received from the ma
e ural solidity of the earth, extending cas-
n ward, the face of which below the su
d face for distance Of ID or 20 feet
Is being boxed with heavy planks.
f. 1t is expected.that the building will
d moved at the rate of foot per day VIII
= once started.
n The cost of the movement, TAXI
Of everything into the account, is rather e
d pensive, being estimated at about s3'
Y, 900.
;e To-day at > o'clock, Boston is in r
he ceipt of Geographic news from San Fra
e cisco, which left that distant point on
o. electric errand at 8 o'clock this mornin
e. Thus the Orient and Occdent exchan
f. congratulations almost daily.
rs Although the tailors are on striI
IT the hill sides here,are clothed as usual.
rs s.B. r..
y -'