Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-11-30
9flistellaueuns &eading.
TIP THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

FWl5kElAdAEuAS gka"luy
UP THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
If one feels desire to sup full of horrors il
Washington, there is no way in which success
is so certain and so speedy as an ascent OF th'
375 feet of the unfinished Washington Mon
ument. Although no accident OF any klnt
has happened since the work was begun
ewing to the admirable precautions that have
been observed, the mere contemplation of thu
dangers to be avoided would give Gen. Wash
ington himself, if he were alive, the cold creeps
1t must be remembered that the monument i!
! already among the highest structures in the
world, while the transportation OF gigantic
blocks of stone to the top is something which
has no parallel in this country, and has seldom
been eoualed anywhere. Whether the ascent
is calculated to inspire fear or not may be
! imagined from the reply made by one or the
highest officials in Washington to the inquiry
"Were you-were you not just a little fright
ened going up?' Enlightened! [ was per
! fectly 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 aleviator
as Mrs. Gen. Gilhory puts it; it is rather the
terrifier. Every time it goes up it carries
from five 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
diabolcal looking machine. The platform
begins to move slowly and laboriousy upward
grinding and creaking at every inch from the
enormous weight it lifts. In half minute
the light of day totally disappears, and at that
moment the horrors Of the position suddenly
swoop down upon you. TO be dangling hun
dreds of feet above chasm with only rope
between a fall to the bottom with 10000
pounds Of stone is enough to appall any lmag-
ination. Although the darkness is blackness
inconceivable, and the intense silence broken
only by the groanlng OF the great mass teel-
ing it's way painfully upward, yet the fright
full abyss appears to become of itself both au-
dible and visible The last $50 feet of bal
ancing between heaven and earth is like one
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 a 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. \ net work of rope is secure
ly fixed around the top OF the shaft, extending
several feet off, to catch any unfortunate man
who might drop over-the workmen are COM
PEELED to be on the very edge in order to COM
plete the outer layer of stone A young lady
La, ci in a cCirit nf h,.lCa0O throw
herself into this life saving net. A weak
spot in the rope would have sent her nearly
four hundred feet to the earth. A contrivance
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 a meas
ure 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 horrors
of the ascent it would he the view after reach
ing the top. Even the most hardened sight
seer must I've enthusiastic at the great pano-
rama spread out before him. The vast treas
ury building looks like a Lilliputian house.
The plan of Washington becomes as we'll de-
fined as a 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 dimensions of the great
pyramid and of st. Peters, being perhaps a
few feet longer than either, it may seem that
it has nothing to lose by looking at it from
any point of elevation. Everything else grows
minute from the top of the monument except
the white splendor of the Capitol. 1t seems
to be a mountain instead of a hill, and amid
the diminishing of every other object the great
! white dome stands grandly out, so high that
it looks as though poised in air.
\ look at the elevator and proposition to
descend is enough to kill any enthusiasm, how
ever. But it is by comparison with the ascent
simply delightful. There is no mountain OF
stone to make one fancy how it would feel to
90 to the bottom of the hideous hole with it.
To the simultaneous earnest assurance made
to the elevator man that nobody in the party
would ever do so anymore, he Sardonlcnlly re-
piled, ".All of 'em says that!'