National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-05-24
A Reporters Visit to tho Top Of the Washing
ton Monument
How the World Looks when Seen from
That Dizzy Height
Houses Seem Like Toys and Men on Bicycles Like
Crawling Gna!s.
strange visitors who Have Climbed the
Stairs to Meet Death.

NOu luOuuulOub IpnhoIuAl hANOAhNbh INV
almost brushed its moist edges against a
REPUBLICAN, reporter who stood on tho edge,
asa feet above the earth. Tho busy hum Of
the active city far below had a distant sound,
while the view reminded ono of Gulliver's
Liliputian cities. Not the least interesting
feature of this trip TO tho clouds was tho
ascent on platform elevator, which
went trembling up tho height as
though it was painting and straining in tho
effort. The ascent required nine minutes,
during four of which the party was in almost
total darkness. As tho elevator neared tho
top and tho passengers realized that there
were 400 feet of thin air between tho elevator
floor and tho ground, they naturally became
little squeamish Mr.. j. NJ. Perreard, o
small Frenchmau, who was among the num-
Der, caused the others to laugh heartily by
gradually inclinng his body toward the
center of the unrailed elevator platform until
IL had reached an angle of 40 degrees. Ho
explained that there was no railing
or other object to hold on TO, and that
some invisible magnetic power seemed worry
anxious to draw him to the edge. Tho trip
WAC similar in some respects to tho passage
through long railroad tunnel.
Tho elevator stops with jerk when the
top is reached. The passengers do not alight
from tho platform at once but stand enrap-
tured for few moments gazing ut tho
picturesque scene which Is spread out in
stantly before them as If some mysterious
panoramic spring had been touched. The
brisk hammcring and hoarse shouting OF
tho force Of workmon arc alike un-
needed. The eye is enchanted and
the cor hoareth not" Tho gaze il
first attracted by tho broad muddy surface
of tho Potomac, stretching away to the south
ward. The green and fostering flats are seen
Al,,sw I.t,tI rtu fhn
Long bridge south and north. Old Fort
Washington, fourteen miles away, can be
plainly seen, its grim and gray battlements
outlined against the dark green hills beyond
The two and three-masted schoOners, with
sails set, appeared as worry small toy sailboats
scudding about on town lot pond. The
old fashioned town of Alexandria was per-
fectly visible, although crested by somber
clouds of dust and smoke, and seemed TO be
nesting as close as possible to the red Po-
tomac
A broad, green country stretched away to
the west and southwest dotted with farm
houses and backed by towering green hills.
Beyond these hills the tops OF the historic
Blue Ridge mountains sixty-fvo miles away,
were easily seen through pair of ordinary
opera glasses. They had the appearance of
clouds of blue mist on the far-away horizon.
Long stretches of yellow breast-works and
Notifications constructed during the late war
relieved the deep green of tho fields OF inter
walls
The bird's-oye Wow of Washington city,
from the cast and north, is beautiful almost
beyond imagination. Even the capitol, with
its high dome. appeared to BIO nesting as close
TO the Garth as 1t could get. To look at the
bronze Goddess of Liberty on tho dome top
from the monument instantly gives tho OBJ
server a gauge to the enormous height of tho
latter. The Goddess is far below.
The series Of parks south of Pennsylvania
avenue, from the botanical garden to tho
Washington monument, presented pretty
picture, with their green swards, curving and
intersocting roadways, and innumorablo gar
den plots, with masses of bright oolored
flowers ipterspersing. The thousands of
red brick buildings in the center of Wash
ington gave tho city general red appearance,
which was only relieved by the white marble
public buildings. Men, horses, and wagons
on the broad circular roadway in the white
house park beneath the monument appeared
so minute that IL seemed possible to hold
them In ones closed hand. A file of bicyclists
riding over the same roadway, looked like q
procession of very small, lOng-legged gnats.
Visitors to the monument top are impressed
with the worry cool and careless manner in
which the workmen walk around on the
very edge Of the shaft. Climbing about in
tho fral safety netting beyond the edge, they
remind the observer of human spiders in
their webs. Notwithstanding this apparent
recklessness, the superintendent said that
not one accident had occurred since the work
began.
Several queer incidents have occurred on
top of the great monument, On one occasion
o gaunt and hungry cat assembled the winding
stairs to the summit. 1t probably took her
twenty .four hours 10 make the
ascent. Upon reaching the top, she
looked wildly about for moment
and probably becoming frightened at tho
workmen and the noise they made she ran
to the edge and sprang of. During the do
scent the poor animal turned rapidly like u
whirligig, but landed on the ground on all
fours. Remarkable as 1t may aeem, that cat
was not killed by the fall, but after collecting
her senses for minute she started to run
away. A large dog Bped her at this juncture,
and quickly killed tho feline heroine of the
greagst aerial trip on record. Last season
five rats climbed up tho stairs to tho top at
different times to get tho crumbs from the
workmen's lunches. The men chased them
around In each instance until they sprang
off. These little animals were not so lucky rs
tho cat. They were crushed into shapeless
masses by the fall, During the summer
thousands of wasps Fly to the top and build
their nests among the iron girders. A flock
of pigeons from tho city have also discovered
that point 43i feet above the habitations of
man is O pretty slfc place to roOst at night.
They fly up to the top at twilight, after the
men have stopped work, and remain on the
iron frame work until daylight.
Ono Of the stone masOns told tho reporter
that the summit Of tho monument is q terri
bic place to be during thunder storm. lie
had seen the lightning flashing about, above,
aud below him, while the thunder peals al
most knocked him from his feet. ~ have
seem" he said, "a great flash Of lightning
blaze aud CraGkle among tho iron work above
my head, and then follow tho girders through
the inside to the ground, brilliantly FLU
minatng tho dark interior for an instant
and filling tho air with strong RulphurOus
SMELL"
The Washington monument will DO tho
highest work of man to DO found In tho
world. 1t reached height of I34 feet
yesterday and the enormous weight Of 10000
tons. The highest point reached by man 80
lar is tho spiro OF tho cathedral ut Cologne,
which IS $50 feet high, and was completed in
lso2, Tho Washington monument will DO
555 feet high when completed. Tho tallest
OF tho great pyramids is only $50 feet in
height The monument viii DO capped with
q pyramidal peak 80 feet high. Visitors will
be allowed TO look through large windows on
each Of the four sides 500 feet from the
ground,
There Is quadTangular staircase on tho
inside from the bottom TO the top, and an
elevator, which carries up stone and visitors
who obtain pass. Tho structure is not rs
dark as might he supposed, considering that
there arc no windowa in the shaft the light
coming in through two doors at tho base and
at the TOP. When completed it will doubtless
be lighted with electricity. The number Of
H.. ~. -. n q