Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-11-08
WARRINGTON MONUMENT.
Some Interesting Data Concerning This
Public Memorial.

WASHlAUTJN MOH UMENT.
Some Interesting Data Concerning Thi
Public Memorial.
A correspondent who has assembled tn
shaft of the Washington monument re
Gently wrote:
The elevator stopped about 4S6 fee
| above the ground floor of the monument
The walls rose Just four feet higher thai
this. The scene from the top, soon to be
familiar one to the citizens of Washing
ton and visitors to the city, is truly mag
niicent. The floor of the monument is OF
the pile of stonework II feet above tn,
ground. The shaft is now 400 feet above
that, making 507 feet Engineers will APP
preciate the difficulty of underpinning ;
vast mass of masonry like this, hut, to the
uninitiated at least, the putting in place o.
the last stones of the marble roof woulC
seem to be a tougher problem to solve
Colonel Caseys solution of it was made
clear to his inquisitive companion by the
aid of wooden model; but it is not such
an easy matter to impart the information
thus conveyed to the reader without the
aid of diagrams. Without venturing upor
technical details then, it may be briefly
stated that the framework of the derrick
so long a familiar object on top of the
white shaft, will only be in Use Il few DAYS
longer, to put in place the last five courses
of stone necessary to bring the work to q
hight Of 500 feet above the ground floor
at which hight the roof will be put on
The laying of these remaining courses, if
the work is not delayed by bad weather OF
accident, will occupy the worllmen during
this month and a part of the next
Earl Y in October, however, the public is
promised grand transformation scene on
top of the monument All of the frame
work will be cleared away, and in its place
a lofty derrick will be erected, composed OF
four stout masts starting from the tops OF
the iron columns near the angles and lean
ing toward each other until they meet at a
height Of - feet above the top of the mon
ument. Around these masts, little below
their junction, will be circle OF metal.
and around this circle the horizontal arm
of the derrick viii swing free in every d.
rection. On stout iron beams laid across
the top Of the monument and projecting 20
feet over the edge on the east side, strong
platform will be built The roof stones
will be hoisted by the elevator in the usual
way to the top of the monument, and will
then be placed on an iron carriage and run
out on the projecting platform. The arm
of the derrick will then be swung over the
stone, and it viii be hoisted and deposited
in the place for which it is intended.
The roof will be pyramid in FORM like
that on Bunker Hill Monument, but much
larger. The corbels, when finished, will
be the stone ribs or supports of the roof.
There are three projecting from the inner
surface Of each wall. The four middle ones
will be brought closer and closer together
until they have nearly met, and then a
" feur-way" keystone will be set, uniting
them. They will then present the appear
ance of two Gothic arches crossing each
other at right angles. The intermediate
eight, after two in each angle have come
together, will he keyed by large stones
fitting closely. On the stone rib-work thus
formed the large Hat roof stones will be
laid in such manner that each course will
rest upon the marble ribs and not on the
course below. These ribs viii he set in the
regular courses by the aid of The derrick
until the course immediately below the
arm is set, and then, of course, the derrick
must come down and other means be de-
vised for setting the capstone. To 90 this it
will be necessary to build scafold on the
outside Of the roof, and from tl.is s,.aflold.
by an ingenious arrangement, the capstone.
with It's copper apex, viii bc put in place
by workman, who Will then come down
through hole left in the stone for the
purpose. The thrust Of the roof against
the walls : overcome by iron rods connect
ing the opposite sides. In the lower course
of roof stones two wide openings will be cut
on each side at hight convenient for the
eye. This viii give an outlook from eight
windows at the hight of 500 feet, or rather
5l7 feet, above the ground
Speaking Of the copper point on the
summit stone, Colonel Casey said that ii
would be connected with the iron columns
which he had connected with the well
under the monument when he began
work. This, he said, had served to main
tain the electrical equilibrium between
the upper air and the ground, and the
shaft had not been struck by lightning
since he had had charge of the work.
though 1t had been struck before 4 clos
ing word about the memorial stones ::
There are ninety vet on hand, not count
ing ole in the river-the stone sent by the
Pope, which was broken up and thrown
there during the Know Nothing excite
ment Some of these stones-those from
foreign Governments and States in the
Union-should have place in the monu-
ment. But there is certainly no good rea-
son why the work should be defaced with
stones from scattering corporations, mill
tary organizations and fire companies
(some Of them now extinct, which stones,
in many cases, bear the names, prominently
craven, of the stonecutters who carved
them. These stonecutters may have been
very good men in their way, and worthy
of having their virtues set forth in eulo-
CYSTIC Inscriptions on their tombstones, if
their patrons were willing to pay for and
allow such advertisements; but that is no
reason why posterity should be eternally
confronted with their names on the monu-
ment erected to the memory of the illus
triouS Washington.