The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-05-31
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
What Il Was, What II u Now, and
Il II TO 30.
History Of Whit VIII he the Highest
ktraclurc Ever Raised By
Mans Hand.
washington 1'elerram.l

IWnHhinRton TeleEfHm.I
Probably tow persons outside Of Washing
ton realize that tho time has come to speak
respectfully Of tho Washington Monument
Tho nniahtly column --ns itwas fer 70 ,nany
yoars--whieh asoi tn stand us a big ssono
stump between the loniu pnttlco of tho
1r.a nrs ani the broad plittnrng shallpws
Of tho Potomac, ha., within tho PM two
soara, ri.on INTO i stat IL ohrliss, whese
marble sltlep 9lcana III the sni.--.a tlmpe and
tmpasing hAft, which will one day l,r malos-
TIC. Tho para rapers WHO aru etill joking
about H. aic Lob MI tho ngo. Il II NV
higher than any oi thr Egyptian pyramids,
except TINT OF thools md its companion
pyramid, King shalfn al and when II ~ eum-
llcsed Il viii 10 miro than 40 feet htphcr
than either Of these, and will be moi on y
tne hiEAh known structure In tho word,
but, N IL lssaid The highest structure viii Il
IL known 10 have over heen ratt.d by The
hand oil man Tho great tpire ot tile str T.
lug Cathedral iuns np to the height of us
f,ct, tile height Ut tho tower oil the "a hs.
dral ut Coognc Is put at Ill feet; ~
Peters from tho layemont to the Iaso
al thu lantern II us feet, and I'M Milan taa
theara II 10 feet To tho very to- ot tho
static of the Madonna Tho WashthNtt n
Monument II now 40 ieet nboy. the iin"i ot
the shaik When cen,u ueted, ms II will b. by
December, isSa, Mt tho latest, II Will q ~
feos high, or more ,han forty feet highcf
than tho very tip II the y ender I naaelcS
A. elogne lhn conn arison \ an awkward
one, perhaps hut It has It's usos nescithe.
less u plan shatt ~ not - o compared,
architrcturaliy. With u cathedral Or ryra.
mid, but lt l. OF some interest To r.mem.
ber that While the taMcr ot the Cologne ca
the,lral Will probably tnyer into the mir with
VERY small diaMetcr, tho Wnsh ngten Mon.
nnenA ia fOO feet or almost cAa tiy thi
same h isht, viii show width OF thirty nsd
teet on en IA uf It's four In o., At the In .
each ot these idcs have a width " itty~isJ
leei
re engineering feat by which new aud
enlarged foundation was inserted under 4
structure iao ieet high and weighing Il, stN,a
uupanaas, ~ the monument was when
Musls was begun In lSts il ono which can
.nly he afc luately Described by Co. tasey,
tls capiaecr In charge, and hc sass that
though utton urSed to de SO, he shali noe
wiite a l.no nlo't tlta suh,c 1 NIL Tho IN, n.
nmeat 1. compile ea Perhaps 1t will mako
the story more iatelig bic 10 30 lack ! Z
tie. a plan VI u monument u Washing.
tna III tue ely bearing hls name was aA
many NIL fememher formally arpnnved ev
Congress III q r. aaintion pa S,a /, a than 4
10 tntgh. after iis dcath, aud which 10
guessed thai his family pcrmi, IL 10 y 70
Il. aep, sited undcr L. To monument Mas
II - erected lN tho United statss Tut netli-
Ing was done In isNa an assoc n
tirn of icadtng citizens here W.
money hy private subscription 70
hcNsn walA, set'Mea the sita iiom Con-
clcsS in ISIS and laid tho corner stone IN
luly 1 ~ that yeaa In tho eight wears fol.
lawn Y tho shaft Was carried to the height oi
lai svcN where wask VAS saspcn lcd far
lack III funds, ami no stone Mas laid on tho
shat, from that t,me until August \ 1891
an Interval of tW.n.y-tof years during
which tho slavery agitation, tho civil Wal
and thu cconsusssahs growing out ot u, united
u distract tue public mind from Wafk
Why tho How ii little subscriptions fsom al
oNes the lana Was ssorrcd, was the hc'
lief. which lecame general, that ths
foundation was not strong ennush Y
When NJ coseoran, nr John h hlak,
iii inducing Congress- TO undertake
tho co,nnletion. which II did hy resolution
IN tho Centennial year constituting a loshl
commission, Il was found that this belief
WAS correct Tho monuments (which, ~
already stated, showed 4 breadth of ~ f.c
ON each cf its faces Mt the base line. rcs,e,
npan u foan,tato On oalv Sa ( ct square am,
ss feet deep, and poorly constructed at N
Relow this Was the ground, offather a Yield
Ing nature Il they had gone on heArans
stone nrcn tho monument tho ~
suit would simply have eeen that the weigh Z
ID would probably have settled uncvenly
and we should have had either new lean
Ing tower of lisa, or perhaps no tower as all
which would have taiai>hed either way
fnerAsagrarh for the newsr apef CORE pond
cnts hut would not probably have been .
much benefit to any other class IN the com
obviously, the foundation needed to b
strengthened, and Cel Casey Addrse Ell him
sc(s 10 task which good many eng ncet
would have lrefeared not 10 eaaersaS,
GaAg down lo,oa tho foundation Mlf,ad
h,tllss he dur iaoln under IL al around, i.aN
Ing a easa Vt earth ~ fees square uirest,
MMaer tho center OF tho ioNndA ION IN
monuments and tho si,NN,NN pounds Z
weight stood on this pillar of earth IN
new excavation was .t depth u " 1,e'
and mSsts 4 cellar under the foundation 4
feet SauasN TAss WAS allcd With solid IN;
sonry, except where The core q earth steoS
which waS not remoNcd, Then the ssdes I
the old foundation ahovc Mcsc torn daw
Tor 4 considerable distance under tie wal
OF tho shaf1 rebuilt Of hestcr material
and spa.al out further over the no
hase below, thus distributing the pre- . II
over much larger area So tns.es
of foundation only ~ faet square, that
extending oals lsls teet hcyona each OF q
four iaees> there l. nov a foundation IN fe
square, extending - feet hcsond caeh TAG
aud running Ii feet deeper good ma,
engineers have come at different times
. visit the monument and Inspect this tnte
eStinS Melk tine of them looked NJ u
long time without saying anything, IN
hc remarked quietly, sWelL that's ca
enough 10 do hnss don't know one engine
In Il thousand who would want 10 try II
, The result proves how we'll tho work h
heca aonc Since tho laying of stone VI
10 eMcd ~ tcns af stone have been Aa
!, cd 10 tho p.lc and the settlement of Il
!, shaft duo u this load has heen Just one ~
, quarter inches The settlement il
! csca that tho greatest sariati'
I in the sinking II tho four corners is dine
!, .nee of ioar hun,ireths of an inch lowe
| tn s,n,hwcs, and northeast corners, Al
!, other two have settled exactly alike, es'
i IL tho hau,ileth part cf an inch The II,
! pressure n ~ hurne hy the bed Of found
ian il ASH tens or - rcr cent
!, tie Whole pressure that will he placed up
1 ID Tho hue at which the work restct
!, isa van plainly he seen. tho old portion
TIE nnnuin.n hcns dasker and mo
Mehher-hcaten than the new, The 50
IA Q At which com ractors are ahle 10 delis
TIE marble regu 'ates the progress af I
monument Tie emr ne which Congress
ar aiS appropriated, about $4,000 IN !
VII suffice I, complete the shaft aad y.
Y anaid,on. AS 1t is caleb, the pyramid VIII
i~tat u the shaft at the lie ght II Sn Il
a r.se for M y-sise feet pant of II being
~ n - n AsN4H