Daily globe., 1883-05-13
THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

Judge Goodrich Demonstrates that IL is
Not Mach ofG WOnder after All.
To the Editor of the Globe:
The following extract appeared in the
GLOBE few days ago:
g LEANING TOWER OF PIsA.'
''This wonderful shaft is a campanile, or bell
tower, commenced in l174, by Bonanno, of Pisa,
and William of Innspruck. It is cylindrical in
shape, fifty feet in diameter, l79 feet high, and
leans about thirteen feet out of perpendicular
1t is divided into eight stories, each having an
exterior collonade or gallery. The top is reach
ed by $50 steps. 1t was not purposely built to
lean. The foundation settled more on one s. de
than on the other sntl it reached the present
inclination, which it has maintained with scarce
ly any perceptible increase for hundreds of
years. The defect in the foundation was dis
covered before its completion, and the upper
part of the structure was built in g. manner to
counteract in part the inclination; and the grand
chime of bells, seven in number, of which the
largest alone weighs Il, 900 pounds, is mounted
with reference to counteracting this fault stlll
further. This magnificent tower is Justly re-
garded as one of the wonders of the world.''
The above contains the average amount
of truth and fiction to be found in the
many descriptions of that beautiful and
deserVedly celebrated tower which have
been written, so far as my observation ex-
tends, during the last century possibly, the
last five hundred years. In no instance
have l seen correct statement of its arch
itectural design. There have beeen occa-
sional hints that its inclination was de-
signed, yet the authors of these sugges-
tions have generally discredited them. To
vindicate the truth of history is said to be
one of our highest duties. When we re-
member that "a lie travels a thousand
miles, while truth pulls on his boots" who
can hope to expunge these oft repeated
falsehoods from the minds of the present
generation? Yet, here the truth should be
told though none believe.
Any observing man, he need not be Gu
rious in architecture, should be able, after
an inspection of this tower, to explode the
statement that, sit was not built to lean"
that the foundation settled more on one
side than on the other, until it reached its
present inclination. That 'the defect in
the foundation was discovered before its
completion and the upper part of the
structure was built in manner to counter
act in part the inclination"
To prove the error of these statements
and establish the truth of my own, invoke
the unimpeachable testimony of the rocks
of which this wonderful tower is con-
structed, they do not speak in the Ian
guage of Delphi, their silent utterances,
like the word of Caesar, "may stand against
the world"
"Well did they to trust thee with their story,
Thou hast preserved thy founders fame,
Thou art thy masters glory"
These stones say to all competent to
consult them, this tOaUer lUdS pr1poSely
built to lean. The foundation has not
settled; no defect existed or has thus far
been detected therein, nor was the upper
part built in manner different from that
contemplated in the original design.
The truth of these negations are estab
Iished by the tower itself. The projecting
foundation upon which it stands, appeared
as perfect and level at the time I saw it,
as when first constructed. Upon this plane
WAS laid the first stone or circle of stones
upon which the shaft or tower arose, this
course or tier of stone was cut in the form
of cant or lUedge, and at such an angle as
to give the tower its present and designed
inclination.
AS the object of the architect was to OBJ
tain the greatest possible inclination COM
patible with stability, it is but natural that
the most weighty bell should swing at a
point as nearly perpendicular with the
base of the tower as was possible.
Had any defect been discovered before
the tower had rea ched its intended altitude,
it is most certain that the columns or
pillars of which it is chiefly composed,
would have been lowered by the derrick
which had reared them. until the plane or
base was freed from the material designed
g.. L., ,aH,, ox1l kIO ,1cA:
perfected, if need be. This was not done,
nor was there any abandonment of, or
change in the original plan of construction.
! Call it whim or freak of the builders, if
you will, this leaning tower has attracted
| more attention from the curious world
than would thousand perpendicular
shafts of equal height and beauty.
The town or city of Pisa, now more than
| 1000 years old, stands out grandly upon
the historic page; she was in early time,
| as now, celebrated for her university and a
| library of $4,000 volumes.
In commerce and the arts, in peace and
in war, she occupies proud page in the
annals of our race. Though the learned
Galileo swung his pendulum from this tow
er, who can surely say he possessed a more
perfect knowledge of the laws of gravita-
ton than they who designed and reared it?
When from the apex of this tower, en-
canopied by cloudless sky, lit up by a
bright autumnal sun, beheld the plains
of Pisa, the lovely Arno, spanned by
bridges of marvellous beauty, city adorn-
ed by ancient palaces and marred by mold
ering ruins, towering above which stands a
wonderful cathedral, its baptistery and the
famed Campo Santo, where the honored
| dead repose beneath the sacred soil of Cal
vary, places rendered memorable, grand
and beautiful by the genius of Brunelles-
Chi, Michael Angelo, Andrea del Sarto and
others of the learned, the brave, the beau
tiful and good, long since gathered to their
fathers:-
''Names that adorn and dignity the scroll
Whose leaves contain their country's history"
The memories of other days and the
deeds of other times seemed passing in re-
view. 1 doubted whether the great Hebrew
w-giver had been permitted while stand
ing upon Mount Nebo, to look down upon
scene so touchingly suggestive of the
history of our race.
seemed to be listening to ancient:-
'Tales of the peasant and the peer,
Tales OF the bridal and the bier,
Il 50