The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-02-21
Our @lio.
The Centennial Tower.

1870
that famous stream with the Tigris, stands
huge irregular mound rising abruptly
from the desert plain. Masses Of vitrified
brick are heaped about its base, and its
interior, so far as excavations have pro-
crossed, prove the whole vast pile to be Of
similar material Cuneiform characters
imprinted upon the sun-dried clay, have
told to the areheologist the long forgotten
history of this ancient ruin, carrying the
mind back to the glories Of Babylon the
Great, back to the reign of Nebuchadnez-
Ear, and, yet still further into the mists of
antiquity, to the days when ''the whole
earth was of one language and Of one
speech" Equalled in age only by tradi-
tien itself, the frat monument erected by
human hands yet remains, aad though its
lofty pinnacle is overthrow and PROSTATE,
il fnlflls the purpose Of its builders: ITO
make us n name"
1t is but natural for the mind to wander
back to this earliest attempt of our race
to make for itself a written history, and
to commemorate great event by the cree
tion Of colossal structure, in connection
with the subject of the present lines. ~
did the descendants Of Noah, so propose
we to do. The Oldest Of ancient nations
formed brick and made mortar, and built
for themselves tower to record their ex-
istence; We, youngest Of modern peoples,
build us tower to celebrate the close of
the first century of our national life. And
to its prototype, Babel, pile of sun dried
clay which authorities assert, at the hour
of the confusion Of tongues, had not at
tanned an altitude Of over one hundred and
ifty-six feet, the graceful shaft of metal,
rearing its summit a thousand feet above
the ground, forms fitting contrast, typi-
cal of the knowledge and skill which in
tervening ages have taught mankind.
But how high, comparatively speak
ing will this thousand foot structure ap-
pear ?" doubtless is question already in
the mind of the curious reader. Beside
the mighty works of Nature, we answer,
infinitely small, beside the works of man,
colossal. Compared with the vast peaks
of the Himalayas, twenty-five thousand
feet above the sea, ten hundred feet is but
a pigmy elevation; besides the loitiest
spires which exist upon the earth, it is as
are the giant trees Of California to the
tallest naples and elms, which join their
leafy arches over our streets and doorways
The reader can draw the contrast for
himself, by glance at the highest struc-
lures of the world. First in point of alti-
tude is the graceful spire of Cologne's far
famed cathedral, rising to a height Of sol
feet above the marble pavement of the
sanctuary below. Next is the Great Pyr-
amid of Cheops, beneath the crest Of which
lie $50 feet of stone before the vast foun-
dation is reached. And then another
fame, spared by the fate of war, though
not unscathed, Strasbourg's minister, tow
ers 1853 feet from earth to pinnacle. Mi
chael Angeles grandest work, the dome
of st. Peters, the gilded cross surmount-
ing which, from its height of 457 feet,
seems to watch over the Roman campagna,
is closely followed by another pyramid,
that Of Cephren, brother and successor to
Cheops, the summit Of which is 454 feet
from the desert sands which continually
drift about its foot.
Rivalling the glorious vault Of the Ital-
ian architect, Sir Christopher Wren's mas
terpiece, St. Pauls, rears its symbol, 365
feet above the crowded streets Of the great
city at its base, overlapping, by COMPARE
son, the dome Of our own Capitol at Wash
ington, by fully 7S feet. Representative
structures from three Of our principal cit
les complete the picture. Trinity church
steeple, in New York city, 2s6 feet from
foundation to apex; then Bunker Hill
Monument, its granite column towering
221 feet above the scene Of the conflict
which it commentaries, and, lastly, St.
Marks church, Philadelphia, an edifce of
no small architectural beauty, the spire of
which springs to an altitude of $50 feet
above the curb.
So much for relative height And now
word as to who is to build the great fab
rio, and how they propose to carry out
their task The designers are Messrs.
Clarke, Reeves & Co., civil engineers and
proprietors Of the Phenixville Bridge
Works, Of Phenixville, Pa, firm repre-
sented by its productions throughout the
whole country, and regarding whose abili-
ty to carry through an enterprise of this
kind no corroborative assertions on our
part are at all necessary. The material is
American wrought iron, made in the form
Of Phoenix columns, united by diagonal
tic bars and horizontal struts The section
is circular, and is $50 feet in diameter at
the base, diminishing to 30 feet at the top.
A central tube, 80 feet in diameter, ex-
tends through the entire length, aud carries
the four elevators. The latter are to as
cend in three and descend in five minutes,
90 as to be capable of transporting about
500 persons per hour. There are also
spiral staircases winding around the Gen.
trail tube.
The bracing above noted, runs in every
direction, 50 that the tower win be as rigid
as If made Of stone, and yet win expose
very little surface TO the wind. The pro-
nortioniuV n snnb thar Al, M. x;m,.. ..~...