The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-09-06
Bartholdi's Great Statue.

The immense scafolding that can be
seen in the direction of the Rue de
Chaselles, reaching over the highest
houses in the neighborhood, on close
examination displays the lines of a hui
man form, and the gigantic folds of the
robe that drapesit. Itisi 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-
ployed 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-
BILE to take in all the details of the con-
struction of this gigantic work, which
will probably remain unequaled 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 remind one of the well-known
scene of CULVER at Liliput. The men
look like tiny dwarfS endeavoring to
bind a giant. And if by miracle that
great hand could become alive and
simply open its closed fingers, all that
solid woodwork would fly in splinters.
and the immense scaffolding itself would
come down like a 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 necessaryto 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 moi
make a greater noise than is made ali
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 piece of the
copper is completed it becomes a 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
good-sized shield The top of the
finger would make a 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 it
was sent to give some little idea of the
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 thar
three hundred pieces.-Paris Temps.