The Republican journal., 1877-10-25
The Launch OF Cleopatra's Needle.

ING teatS OF modern times. We wonder
what the old Egyptians who used to trans
port their large obelisEs all over Egypt
and erect them by the hundred, would
say to it? An Alexandria correspondent
writes g.
Seven years ago the now we'll known
engineer and contractor, Mr.. John Dixon
conceived the idea OF transporting the
obellSkS by the means which have been
adopted. His plan, shortly stated, was
to enclose the Needle in d water-tight
cylinder with wedged- shaped ends, roll it
into the Sea, and tow it to its destinations
The first two operations have, as already
stated, been successfully carried out, and
we can look forward with confidence to
the achievement OF The third also. The
work in Egypt began in June last by eX-
c;Watlng the monument from the ditch
where it had 50 long rested, and OH the
9th of June thiS was SO far effected that
the whole ct the nonollth was disclosed
to view This, however was but Il por
! ton oi the work to he performed with the
spade and piclaNe, for between the obe-
llSk and The Sta remained several thou
sand cubic yards OF earth which had to
be cleared away There was also an ad-
joining sea wall to he tlelnotished. before
the other operations rOllld bc cone ON
with, Weeks We're thus occupied Mean
While, the materials tor the IRON cylinder,
weighing over sixty tons. arrived on the
spot and were rapidly fitted together
The next step was to introduce stout
balkS OF timber beneath the at0ne, which.
by means OF hydraulic jack tnI trdNcr5-
trs, was moved bodily around, until it lay
parallel t. the waters edge, when the iron
casing, three -eighthH and seven siNtcrnthS
Of an inch thick, was bit hy lit built up
around it and rivetcd together, This took
some two months, at the end of which
time the monument which had ornamcnt-
ed the Temple Of the Caesars. was lost to
sight, being completely enclosed in a
cylindrical box ninety two feet long and
fifteen feet in diameter. " hist these
operations were proceeding, steps Were
also taken To remove, hN means Of divers,
the numerous blocks OF stone which coy
erred til" h"ttnm %! the shallow Walrr, ;tN
joining the spot where the obelist lay,
and two Sl"plng cauSeWaNH We're con
structed Of stone and quarry rubbish.
down which to roll the cylindtr When
these works We're accomplished, there sill
remained one more thing to be lone be
fore the preparations could he said to be
conlplete 1t had been tnrcSetn THAT in
moving such a mass down the incline. It
certain amount of friction, Which might
materially injurr the metal easing, was
inevitable. 10 ohviate this, Il coating of
wood planklng had 10 be temporarily
fitted upon the portions Of the cylinder
Nlii W,llI lln 90, ~ - Il
have to carry the weight of the structure,
and this coating, again, had to he eNter-
naly fastened by hat bands Of iron to tie
it in its place. Tie last stage If the
preparation was reached when the strong
wire ropes to be used IN towing Were
passed ninc times around the cNlm-
der, and the ends ied ont to lighters
mooreu To seaWaru. ON these last We're
fixed crab WinchcS to hraNr IN on huWsers,
and thus cause the cylinder to roll slowly
on its axis. At the same time, it was de
slrable to guard against the tendency of
the mass once set in motion To make TOO
rapid a descent, and other hlWSers had
to be provided on the Landslide with which
to check the movement if necessary
The 2cth Of August, the day fixed for
commencing The launch began rather in
au"priuusiN with what is Very unusual at
this time OF the Year, viz, 4 thick toG
rs the daN Wore on, however, this diSaU-
peared and gave place to the most in
tense heat. Before ~iN O'Clock i'll the
morning the wiuchcs ON board the light
ers We're at work taking in the slack Of
the hHWsels. While, on the LANDSLIDE four
powerful screw Jacks We're being piled
I; l,. Il,
ward two steam tugs Were, anchored, also
ready to lend assistance il required. In
few minutes the huge mass Of IRON began
to roll towards the sea, but 50 gradually
that the movement was all bat imper-
ceptiblt. Hour after hour was thus spent.
the cylinder lessening little by little the
space between it and the water, Till ut
noon it uad made one entire revolution,
equal to about fifty feet NotWithstand-
ing the sun, which sent the mercury in
the thermometer up to 30 degrees III the
shade, the work went on unnterrupttdly
throughout the day and excited much IN
terest, not only among the European popu
latlOn, but also amongst the Arabs, who
crowded every spot from which Il view Of
the operation was uhtalnable Working
the haWsels from the lighters had soon to
be abandoned, as experience showed that
owing to the bad holding ground, the
anchors Of the latter invariably came
home when any great strain was thrown
upon them, and the haWScrS instead were
led to the two tugs which Steamimg tull
speed ahead communicated to the ObeliSk
lust sufficient impetus to keep il in mo
ton. Vt j:N =. IN. the non monster hau
been laborlously brought to the waters
edge, where the wooden launching ways
terlnnated, and a comparatively steep
decliVity commenced. Here the cylinder
went of with something like a rush, and
took the water With Il run of about twelve
feet, amidst the shouts of the hyStanderS.
After this its progress was as gradual as
before, and the screw lacks had to be
Kept IN constant operation TIL shortly be
fore p. ~, when it again made a sud
den half turn, md rested for the night in
three feet of water. This concluded the
first day OF the launch, and although
some disappointment was felt that the
ohell8k was not yet lHoat the way in
which everything had worked, and the
absence of accidents, always except
ing the parting Of a haWscr now and
then, was satisfactory in the extreme,
soon after daylight on the 10Th the pro
ceedimg5 were renewed, and a little be
fore noon the cylinder made another rash
and cot SO far out into the sea as to give
rise to the impression that il was actually
attout This, however, proved not to
be the case, and daring the whole after
noon the steam tugs remained towing
away as before, the result being that at
sunset on the second day Of the launch
the obelisk rested in seven feet ot water
ON the morning Of the Both work was
resumed rs before, hnt unfortunately a
difficulty Of a somewhat formidable char
acter presented itself, inasmuch as the
cylinder was found to be nearly half full
OF water. Examination by divers showed
that Il hidden stone had fractured the
iron, and the work Of repairing was
necessarily very slow and tedious
On the seventh the movement of the
cylinder recommended, the tugs steamed
ahead and hit Inv Nit il moved into Ipnn