National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-03-25
UNDER THE DOME.
what General MciEs Thought OF tho Mn.
aonry There Some Years Ago.

The Epeniag Star of the 10th instant contained
item purporting to state the substance of COM
munication from General NJ. c. Meigs to the joint
select committee on the Library in which the
General is stated to have said that the walls un
der the dome are just proportioned to bear the
load now upon them, and that the mortar used in
the construction of those walls was made of lime
and sand, as cement was not used in those days
that the soil upon which these walls rest is OF
moist clay that the key.stoncs in some of the
arches over the lower windows under the
dome have dropped, some more than Others and,
upon the whole General Meigs says the suggested
raising of the dome would be dangerous and
fatal enterprise. If the condition of the dome is
as represented not only would the suggested rails
ing of the dome be dangerous and fatal enter
prise" but ii is dangerous as 1t now stands.
think, however, the Erening Star must have been
misinformed as to any such communication from
General Megs, for the reason that It is so utterly
at variance with his Official report upon the sub
ject made to the Secretary of War by General Meigs
in 1856, and which is as follows.
H. s. WOODWARD, c. E.
wAsHINGToN, D. G., Nov. IS, 1866.
SIR: The use OF cement was unknown in the
| country when this masonry was laid. Many OF
| the stones, which were well cut, were broken. by
| the unequal settlement and unequal bearing 10
which they We're exposed Below this Level the
terror facing Of cut stone. In order TO secure firm
and solid foundation for the homework the brick
| lining which has been removed Is being replaced
by brick work laid in cement mortar and tied to-
gether with hoop-iron.. The joints Of the stone.
work arc being cleaned out and filled
with grout composed of cement aud
mortar without sand. This grout can
be injected as TO perfectly I'LL the joints aud
secure a proper support for every stone. The
| brick and stone will DO connected by numerous
iron cramps, and by heavy iron ties let into the
| stone In addition TO the hoop-iron bands used In
| the brick work. By this means ] expect TO make
| n the height.
perfectly solid, aud so tied together that 1t will
act rs one mass to distribute the weight of the
| dome over the whole wall or the strength of this
| construction thore can be 10 doubt The sand
| stone, of which the outer facing is composed
| brushes under Il weight Of 10000 pounds 10 the
| square foot. The bricks vary in strength from
$50 600 to 1,772OOO pounds to the square foot Ex-
| of brick and morter taken from the works of the
| Capitol extension, only two years old, give n
strength of 900 to $4,000 pounds to the square
foot. These results so far exceed the strength re-
| quired for resisting the crushing weight Of the
from work as to leave no room for anxiety on that
| point The most striking example Of the tenacity
given to brick by the use q
arch built by Brunei at the Thames
tunnel. This was scmi-arch, projecting from
| the face of pier to distance of sixty feet
| corresponding projection on the other side of the
| pier served to balance II. By the skillful oil
hoopiron in the horizontal joints of the spandrils
and of hard brick and cement throughout, mn
arch was thus projected from the side of q piei
only 10 feetrlse,
CAPTAIN NJ. @. MEIGs
JEFF DAVIS. Secretary of War;