Omaha daily bee., 1880-12-06
THE OBELISK
It's Appalling Weight Crushes
the Pipes and Sewers IN
der the Streets Upon
Which it Travels.

1t is seven weeks since the obelisk
arrived al the foot of West Niuefy
sixth street, New York. In hat time
the stone has been lifted from the
p~ontoon which brought it from Staten
Island and carried exactly one clock
and a half, or about 800 feet. Moving
at that rate, it would have taken
Lieutenant Commander GorrInge 5000
years to bring it from Egypf. But
the whole work of getting 1t from its
present position at the Broadway
boulevard and Ninety-sixth street to
the site prepared for it near the met
ropoIitan Museum of Art will not,
In the opinion of good judges,
take longer than the time used
In getting 1t up the steep incline
from the North river tothe boulevard
At every step the roadway broke
under the 200 tons, and the sewers
and pipes gave way and hattened OUT,
even when protected by enormous
beams which stretched from one side
of the street to the other. From III
point at which the obrlisk lies n. tn
road.b is strong smooth AMI level
The stone VIII follow the boulevard
down TO Eli hty-sixth street, when il
will be turned into the transverse
road which enters Central paIk At
that point and emerges at Eighty-6fth
street and Fifth avenue. There are
so sewers in this road, which is admira-
bly, buil. aud includes only half adozen
bridges, under which he obslisk may
have some trouble.
Last week the work of turning the
stone around, ready to be Drawn
down the boulevard, was successfully
accomplished after thnrty-six hours
hard work. Lieutenant-Commander
Gorringe's first intention was to place
the stone upon a immense truck with
fifty pairs of steel wheels, after it had
been carried up the steep incline, and
to drag it to its site with fJrty yoke
of oxen. He has now given Up this
project, and viii take the monolith to
the park with the aid of the STAN en-
CINE which has pulled it up the hill.
The obelIsk now rests upon a frame
work of heavy timbers eighty feet
long Upon the foot of this plsJnrm,
ten feet wide, made of tmbets four
teen inches square, is an engine
which winds a windlsss of err ~
power. Back of the engine is the
obelisk, boxed up so completely that
only a few square feet OF its red or
pink granite surface esn be seen. TIE
two outside beams of the platform, !
which is bolted together into one
solid plank ten feet vide and fourteen
inches thick, are provided with small
cast-iron wheels ten iuches in diane
ter This constitutes the carrisge. The
road bed is made first by placing
beams a foot square and twenty-five
long at right angles with The street
and at distances of FIVE feet apart.
Those form the sleepers for the rails.
The rails are beams fourteen inches
square covered on top with strips of
~ inch steel, upon which
the wheels ct the obelisk
carriage may run. These strips
are all creased. When all is ready
and a block of rail has been laid
ahead, a post two feet thick is driven
into the earth at the end of>the line of {
rails, and an iron cable, the links OF g!
which weigh twelve pounds each, is
fastened to the end of a chain secure 1
bolted into the timbers of the gi- a
plank a rope is. made fast to i
he chain and post, and after passing ]
several enormous blocks is t
'oiled around the drum OF the donkey /
'nglne. As it is drawn in, the plank, c
Win the obelisk and engines upon it.
moves along the rails nearly as fast as o
man can walk. t
The greatest strain in pulling the '
tone up hill was in starting, the ropes r.
nd chains frightened and frightened Il
1t seemed as if something must Ct
resk, and yet the stone would refuse b
. move, In order to start sf ser every ! h
toPpage, compressed air jacks, cap Il
Die OF lifting thirty tons, were made t.
push the stone from behind, and P
md 1t forward a few inches. When CT
nee started the load moves easily to al
END of the temporary rails. Then II
lie sleepers and rails which have been de
one over have to be moved to their DIT
ew positions in front of the stone. ";
I'd another post has to be driven for oil
lie cable to be tied TO. Even tn the
d Of twenty men, it is a. days work r
remove and arrange the sleepers 70
I'D rails for one block'siourney. \ We
The weight of tho monolith is soma la
ing appalling. 1t is only by distri. hi
uting the weight eqnally over the T.
BAD by means of sleepsrs that tb'
one is prevented from sinking] Il
EXPRESSIONS in even SO we'll. roo
as the boulevar a.de a
lie men engaged in the . , One of
} swear that If strip q. oTs Is ready
nder the rollers which .To1 Is placed
SIX, this strip will + 1esrry the ODE
assoc of the sto sfourd after the
-a,er apparently a. TO be wet, the
d out Of the ? eng eeen sqneez-
4 hRr trNuhhn %ES Va iht ttbh. All +,
6 he; ron g has been the breaking
train fall ~4nsfn upon which the whole
No. Y svaen the ohelisk is NOV
mos fovk has to be stopped some
go fuT several hours in order to
Do 1.-The chain mended. A weight of
! Jtons is admirably calculated to de-
Ach weak links.
At present plasterers are engaged
In taking a bust of the base of the
obelisk which has been worn and
broken off until ii could not be made
TO stand without support, as the base
is now more round than square. The
missing parts will be cast in one piece
of bronze, into which the obelisG will
be fitted. Tits species of gigantic
bronze saucers will take the place of
the bronze crabs which we're used to
keep the stone straight in Egypt, aud
are supposed to have been there wnen
it was moved to Alexandria.