The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-12-01
WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
A Fearful Ascent OF Nearly 400 Feet
Rewarded by a Magnificent View.

REWARDED DIV Magnificent View.
Washington Cor New York Sun
If one feels desire to sup full on horrors in
Washington the.'r is no way in which success
Is so certain and so speedy as an ascent of the
BIS feet Of the unfinished Washington monu-
ment Although no accident of any kind what
ever has happened since the work was
begun, owing to the admirable precau-
lions that have been observed the
mere contemplation of the dangers to
be avoided would give Gen. Washington him
self, if he were alive, the cold ereeps 1t
must be remembered that the monument is
already among the highest structures in the
world, while the transportation of the blocks
Of stone to the top is something which has no
parallel in this country, and has seldom been
squalled anywhere Whether the ascent is
calculated to inspire fear or not may be
imagined from the reply made by one of the
highest officials in Washington to the inquiry,
Were you-were you not just little fright
sned going up?" Frightened! l was per
'sctly terrified" was the hearty response,
given with all the force of emphasis.
The ascent is made by the elevator, which
runs through the middle of the great obelisk.
This elevator is a mere open platform, which
does not deserve the name of the alleviator, as
Mrs. Gen Gilfory puts it; it is rather the terri
Ter. Every time it goes up it carries from
Ave to ten tons of stone, and the only way for
visitors to get to the top is to huddle around
the immense mass of stone on the diabolical-
looking machine The platform begins to
move slowly and laboriously upward, grinding
and creaking at every inch from the enormous
weight it lifts In half minute
the light of the day totally disappears, and at
hat moment the horrors of the position sud
denly swoop down upon me. To be dangling
hundreds of feet above a chasm, with only
rope between fall to the bottom with 10000
pounds of stone, is enough to appall any
Imagination. Although the darkness is black
ness inconceivable, and the intense silence
broken only by the grooming of the great mass
feeling its way painfully upward, yet the
trightful abyss appears to become of itself
both audible and visible. The last $50 feet of
balancing between heaven and earth is like
hanging between life and death Even the
elevator man gives up his heroic efforts to
keep up the courage of the party
At length light from the top begins to ap-
pear, and in minute or two pallid party of
pleasure seekers step out on the platform at
the top, nearly 400 feet in the air. There is an
enormous iron structure running through the
middle of the obelisk, and around this the
stone is blocked Six feet are added every
week in three tiers of two-foot blocks. The
structure is then six feet above the temporary
platform, which is thereupon raised, and the
work of bringing it six feet above
the level is recommended network
of rope is securely fixed around the top
of the shaft, extending several feet off, to
catch any unfortunate man who might drop
Over-the workmen are compelled to be on tho
very edge in order to complete the outer lays
of stone A young lady not long since, in
spirit of bravado, threw herself into this life
saving net A weak spot in the rope would
have sent her nearly 400 feet to the earth A
continuance like the rigging of a ship is on
top of the shaft, and the wind hOwls through
it with enormous force When tier or two
of stone is laid the wOrkmen are protected in
q measure from the violence of the wind, but
they acknowledge that when they are working
on a level it is something terrific.
If anything could repay one for the horror
of the ascent, it would be the view after
reaching the top. Even the most hardened
sIght-seer must be enthusiastic at the great
panorama spread out before him The vast
treasury building looks like a Lilliputian
house. The plan of Washington becomes as
well defined as q checker board. The full
grandeur of the capitol is then for the first
time realized. When it is remembered that
the capitol is of almost the identical dimen-
sions of the great pyramid and of st. Peters,
being perhaps few feet longer than either,
1t may seem that it has nothing to lose by look
ing at it from any point of eleya ton. Every
thing else grows minute fiom the top of the
monument except the white splendOr of the
raDlSnl If tn he mountain instead
of hil and amid the diminishing of every
other object the great white dome stands
grandly out, so hight that it looks as though
poised in air