Saint Mary's beacon., 1877-11-16

=
CLRoPArAA's NEEDLr.~-This cele-
bFstea obeiixk, which fos thirty-fve
hsndfed years has lain .hsif buried in
{he .Ssad ai -Alexandrss, Is now ON lis
~ ~ ! pgtands .where-it will be erect
nd IN ons 'efshe- London perks. II was
tlssa 10 the aRritish gSs<fnment syesu
agY b. Alehenct Ai.l Of EeJpl;Y Ybat The
eotespment meter made any el3o1 10
remove n Recently . w&altky EGG
Ashman, Erasmns Hilson, generously
oAered torpay the cost Of It's transporta-
tiqn, and bis ,o4ef Vas, accepted. Tie
expeases, mustshaxs been very great.
ItsA wsight u estimased st .o0Dy 900
pounds. On its way to England, q tfe-
tleudious storm overlook the vessel
which was towing il and It had 10 be
abandoned at sea. The ne ut day Il was
recovered BY another vessel, towed into
the island of Ferfol, where it now is
awaiting a-suit for selvage claimed BY
those who recovered it. The New Tn
bune describes the me etilod Of its re mo-
val to England as follows,
The method by which Cleopatra $
Needle has just been floated is novel and
ingenious. A hollow iron cyiander
was built up and rivited together around
the stone-the iron thus used weighing
sixty tons. The air spaces Of thee vim
der were so calculated as to be suffi-
cient to float the whole. Two months
was occupied in this part Of the work,
which included digging away the sand
beneath the stone, pushing the stone
with hydraulic jacks till il was parallel
with the waters edge, and constructing
a sloping road Of broken rock down, 10
the water. The dimensions of the
stone are probably similar to those Of
the companion obehsk, Of which the
shaft is 81 feet long, tapering in width
from 8 feet 2 inches to feet inches.
The iron cylinder is S2 feet long, and
l5 feet IN diameter. All around this
iron box, wood planking was fitted and
trapped fast. and then the whole con-
triy ance was rolled sideways down to
the water. To make it roll, ropes were
passed around it, and wound upon
winches fixed on vessels in the wa
ter. Other ropes also passed around it,
which unwound slowly from winches
on shore behind the stone, preventing
it from rolling too fast. When the
strain was first put on 10 start it, the ves-
sells moved instead, dragging their an
chors; steam tugs were substituted, and
when they put on full steam to go ahead,
the great cylinder rolled. Its move
ment was SO slow as scarcely to be
Perceptible, and the greater part of two
days was occupied in reaching the Wa
ter. Then disappointment awaited
the toilers; the cylinder with water,
and apowerful pump could not empty
the air spaces. Divers at first failed to
find the leak, but at last one IN subma-
rine armor discovered it. Notwith-
standing the casing OF planks, stone
had broken a hole eighteen inches
across, into the cylinder, and the stone
was wedged in the hole. So the cylin-
der had to be rolled back till the hole
was uppermo>t; the hole was then
patched, the cylinder pumped out, an
other downward roll was effected. AID
the strange craft was alloat. Ii draw
from eight to ten ieet OF water, and has
displacement Of $50 tons; bilge pie
ces, or wings, have been attached TO
prevent rolling. 1t will be towed slow
Iy on its long voyage; and though un-
gainly, it Is not unseawor,hy."
The companion obelisk to Cleopatras
Needle, which is.now standing at Al
exandIia, has been given by the Khe-
dive to the city Of New York. as an
nounced by the New York World. A
wealthy New Yorker whose name is
for the present withheld, has offered to
pay for IFS removal to this country, and
in the course OF the next year this relic
of antiquity, will probably be brought
to New York.
These celebrated stones, il is believed,
were quarried ont entire, and brought
500 miles over land TO Alexandra, the