The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-05-07

ground. and. ere long. must have fallen. and
been fractured in the fall
We shall merely alude to tho notes on the
ancient methods Of auarryng. TRANSPORTING.
and erecting obcisks. because. although these
exhibit painstnking industry In tho collection
OF widely dispersed data they ar5 necessarily
unsatisfactory. owing to the difficulty OF inter
preting Greek and Roman terms relating to
tho mechanical arts. More useful are tho chap
tcrs which enable us to compare tho processes
employed in the removal of tho Luxor obolisk
10 Paris. and ono Of Clcopatra's ,cd!,s to Lon
don. AMI In the erection OF tho Vatican obnlisk,
with the methods adopted by Commander Cor
ringe Tor lowering. transporting. and placing on
its present sito the New York monolith. IL was
on the 10th N September. 1886. that the So
called Vatican obrisk, which year boior" had
been standing in Il shabby. unfrequcntcd quar-
ter Of tho city. was reared upon it's present
pedestal in the pia2Ro di San Pietro. Brought
from Hcliopols by tho Emperor Ciligula early
in the first century in the Christian era 1t had
been originally set up in the Circus. aiterward
known IA the Circus Of Nero. and the scene of
tho Christians martyrlom. where it remained
undsturhd for fifteen centuries. Tho
process of It's elevation on its present
sitc is thus described by Lieut.. seaton
Schroeder: AS tho apex Of tho shaft rose
under the action Of forty capstans worked by
100 horses and 800 mon. horizontal tackles
pulled the heel and cradle forward for tho
purpose Of keeping tho hosting gear acting az
nenry vertically ~ possible AT nearly sunset
thirteen hours after tho beginning of opera
tiOns. the obclisk was vertical oycrthc pedestal.
hut separated from 1t by the cradle. To free
tho later tho mpnolith had tn be lifted, and
this wns accomplished on tho following day
with u combination Of apparatus comprising
forty carstuns. five levers and wedges. Acted
upon simultaneously by all these motors. the
obalisk WAS raised certain distance
and then permitted to rest upon tho
wedges while the cradle was removed
and III, bronze crabs w'ro replaced precisely
a. they hal ba.n found. All this took some
time and ii was not until the eighth day after
the erection that tho tackles were Stacked. tho
levers casod NJ, the wods"s carefully with
drawn. and the obclisk planted firmly and per-
mancntly on its four supports. Tho cost of the
removal and erection in SAID to have been about
$1,000 scudi. nominally equivalent to $1,000.
but Of course the purchasing value Of money at
the time WAS much greater than 1t il now tits
worth noting that the Pope made Fontana.
the architect and engineer who performed the
operation Il knight of the Golden Spur. and
gave him II pension Of 1000 gold scudi, roversi-
bile IN his heirs. besides I'm immediate present
Of 5000 more; also all the wood and other ma
tcrial left after the work was done the value Of
which WAS estimated at %. 900 scudi."
1t appears that Ave years and u day elapsed
between tho dates of lpwornG the Luxor
obolsk from its original position on the bank
OF the Nile and reGroctn. II on tho Pace dc IL
Conrordo in Paris. For the "details Of the pro-
CO.'S followed We must refer the reader N Lieut..
Schroeder's narrative reminding him that tho
operation involved much greater difficulties in
tho year S36 than 1t would at the present time.
when such great improvements have boon
made in the modes OF employing steam and
| hydraulic power The cost OF the undertaking
is not definitely known. but 1t is estimated at
| t500.o00. NJ. 10 Bias the naval constructor.
| who superintendent the work. received pccu-
| MARY compensation OF $500. WAS decorated with
| the Cross of the Legion Of Honor. and was also
appointed Director Of the Naval Museum. In
| this instance. as in the ease OF the III rection
! Of tho Vatican obnlsS. all the expenses were
| borne by the Government.
As 10 the London obrlisk this II will be re-
membercd. left Alexandria In September. 1877.
| In Il cylindrical vessel especially designed for
! transporting 1t. AMI rhristencd Tho Cleo
| patra." The mOnoiith Wis abandoned during
u storm in tho Bay of Biscay but recovered
and erected on tho Thames cmbankmcnt in
| September 1873. The cost proper Of the re-
| moyal WAS upward OF sG7. 500. the larger part ot
| which. or $50. 900. was betrayed from tho pri-
vate purse Of Prof ERASMUS Wilson. Unlike
| Fontana and II BLs. his two modern predeces-
| sors in the same field Of labor Mr.. Dixon. the
civil engineer who conducted the operations OF
removing and erecting the stone, Received no
public recognition Of his services.
Tho reader is familiar with the story of the
obstacles surmountnd by Commander GOrrngC
in transporting tho second of Cleopatra's
1,fa
obstacles werc Of diplomatic and political n
well as a mechanical kind. The representa-
tivcs Of France and Germany Were strenuous
in their endeivors to induce the Khedive Ia re-
tract the permission which he had given for
the removal of the historic shaft to the Unitsl
States. When these intrigucs were frustrated
Vaccinations still moro unworthy Of honora-
bic men provoked the populaco Of Alexan.
dria to overt hostility which came neal
eliminating in bloodshed How these OBJ
s;ructiops were overcome. and how tho prob
lem imposed by the conveyance Of the hug,
monolith over 5000 miles OF sea was happily
| and promptly solved. the rradcr will nnt
described ut length in the pages Of thi.
volume. 1t only remains to us to note that the
cost OF the achievement. which in some i'm
portant respects was more ariuous and re-
narkable than any analogous performance
was moro than <loo.00O. every penny of which
sum was paid by Mr. william II. Vanderbilt
whose name has rightly been inscribed upof
one Of the bronze crabs placed at each corner
| OF tho obelisk. and To whom this literary me-
mortal of the work is appropriately dedicated
A. W. Ii.
Last Days Of Kniekcrbocker Life.
In q volume bearing the above tito Mr.
GEORGE W HARLAN hus nuhl.hpl "A r,mntIn.