The Brookhaven leader., 1883-09-06
BarthOldi's Great Statue.

The immense scatfolding that can be
seen in the direction of the Rue do
Chaselles, reaching over the highest
houses in the neighborhood, on close
examination displays the lines of n hui
man form, and the gigantic folds of the
robe that Grapes it. 1t is in truth statue,
the greatest that was ever constructed
up to the present time-the statue OF
Liberty which the sculptor Bartholdi
conceived, and which is destined to
serve as beacon at the entrance to the
port of New York. From eighty to
ninety artisans are kept constantly EN-
ploycd upon the work. The statue is
already completed up to the chest.
Perhaps in its present condition it can
be seen to the best advantage. Its eX-
traordinary proportions can be viewed,
and, as it is not completed, it is posi-
bic to take in all the details of the con-
struction of this gigantic work, which
will probably remain uncqualed among
the works of bronze. The plaster molds
of the enormous limbs thrown across
the yard, and the busy workmen COW
ering them with innumerable pieces of
wood that reproduce all the contours
and lines rem nj one of the well-knOwn
Sttnt vi bulllNtl at lLlIlDuls Iic Hl'I
look like tiny dwarfs endeavoring to
bind giant. And if by miracle that
great hand could become alive and
simply open its closed fingers, all that
solid woodwork would fly in splintcrs,
and the immense scaiiolding itself would
come down like castle of cards.
The first model was enlarged four
times. Then it was cut into slices, and
these slices are taken one after the 9TH
er and again enlarged to four times
their original size, and thus the dimen-
siOns of the colossal statue are obtained.
At present the WOrkmen are engaged
upon the portion that forms the chest
The model of it can be seen in the shed.
1t looks like little hill, over which the
men are constantly crossing. When
the draught or model OF a portion is
made, impressions are taken of it. In
order to do this it is necessary to gather
together hundreds of little planKs, cut
precisely upon the outlines of the model,
and in this way woman mold is OBJ
/ tanned, and is divided into as many
fragments as are necessary. Upon
! these fragments the copper is cut and
! hammered until it copies the precise
| forms. Then Chinese gOngs would not
make greater noise than is made all
| day long in the corner of the shed
where the copper is hammered, and this
continuous and deafening noise contrib
utes not little to the strange impress
sion that one gets from the visit.
When the shaping of a piece of the
copper is completed it becomes part
of the statue, and there is nothing fur
Their to do with it except to put it in its
place. just now they are engaged in
the work of finishing the left hand.
The nail on the first finger would make
a good-sized shield. The top of the
finger would make helmet for the
largest head, and, in default of better
cuirass, William the Conquerer, who
passed for the biggest man of his time,
might easily get into one of the
phalanges.
In six months the whole work will
be finished. There remain only the
chest and left arm to complete. The
head, which is large enough to contain
forty people, has already been exhibit
ed, in 1876, and the right hand has
just come back from America, where il
was sent to give some little idea of tbs
great size of the statue. After the
Parisians have had ample time to adj
mire the work it will be taken down
and sent to New YORK in more than
three hundred pieces. Temps.
DIR. Moffat, the father-in-law of Or
Livingstone, whose death has been an.
nounced, was for many years a mission
airy in Africa. In 1870 he returned to
England, and he was presented soon
afterward by his friends in that country
with the sum of $50, 900 in recognition
of his great services in the missionary
field. Such recognition is too rarely
accorded to missionaries who have
spent the best part of their lives in an
apparently thankless work.-M r.
Tribune.
-Pug-dogs have gone out of fashion
as ladies pets, and Japanese spaniels
and Italian greyhounds have taken
their place. - Chicago Journal,