Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-02
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
What VIII be Done with the New Ap-
PropriatiOn-A stone from Nevada.
Washington Post.

washington Post.
The approval by the President, last
Wednesday. of the act for another ap-
preparation for the Washington monu-
ment has infused energy among the con-
tractors and bosses having in charge its
erection. AS soon as the fund is availa-
BILE, proposals for bids will be issued by
the engineer. In the 'reantime Superin-
tendent P. H. Mclaughlin is busy in
erecting the iron work in
the interior of the shaft, force of
twelve men having been put on only two
days ago. In about ten days the masons
will be employed in putting the marble
blocks in position. The superintendent
is confident of adding seventy five feet to
the present height before the new APP
preparation is expended and thus reach
ing an altitude of three hundred and
twenty-five feet The summit of the
shaft, in its present undressed condition,
is forty-five feet square, the walls being
seven feet thick. At the base the monu-
ment is fifty five feet square, thus de-
creasing in its upward course at the rate
of one quarter of an inch per foot
The memorial blocks which were
stored away during the thirty years the
work was suspended have been bright
ened up and are ready to be put in posi-
ton. Between forty and fifty stones
have been put in the wall and, in pass
ing up and down in the elevator, are
studied to an advantage by the aid of
lantern. About ninety more are in the
lapidarium yet to be put in the walls.
Some of these have been mutilated by
vandal hands. The most seriously de-
ic that rrhfoh x1yoo tod ~ 4y.,a
Temple of Honor and Temperance.
Some of the carved emblems are badly
broken, done before Superintendent Nc
Laughlin took charge. Conspicuous
among the stones that will be put in the
shaft this year Is the one from the Tenn
pie of Esculapius, on the island of
ParOs; block from the original chapel
of William Tell, built in 1888, on Lake
Lucerne, where he escaped from Gessler;
and large square of marble from
the Grecian archipelago, sent as tribute
from the islands of Paros and Naxos. A
finely polished piece Of marble, which
was presented by j. A. Lehman, has also
been set aside. Imbedded in it's face is
head which was carved two or three
thousand years ago by the ancient Egyp-
tians for the temple erected in honor of
Augustus on the banks of the Nile The
head is of hard dark brown rock, of a
granite grain, and from its irregular ap-
pearance was apparently broken in its
removal from its original resting place.
The stones from the Swiss Confedera-
ton, Turkey and China will, it is said,
take precedent of the many fine pieces
of carved work that have been presented
by the secret societies and other organiza-
tions, The latest block sent to the lapi-
darium comes from Nevada, having been
received buta short time ago. 1t is 3x13
feet, and is cut from granite. Its face,
which is polished, bears the inscription:
"All for our country-1SS1, in gilt let
ters. The line "Nevada" extends across
the middle in plain six-inch letters of
solid silver. 1t is one of the most attrae-
tive stones in the collection, and is the
only one that has been received for a
number of years.