The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-12-28
DISTINCTION MONUMENT.
cast. Appearance and 0Onstruo-
The OO1 tion-In the Elevator.

majestic thing to stand below
II = upon this wonderful shaft
ana IOT has even at the top, the extent
when l-;derable house. and at the base
OF , 80 sixty feet square. 1t has cost
Is $4,000, but more than fifth OF
aOouY ~ snent fixing the old founda-
tnls as to render it sure that the
sons, If the shaft could be supported.
veg olmost regrets to see this monu-
U cent finished when he thinks oil the
Iasn. .aI cIatter made by the innumera-
nus 9Dorlnen with their wooden mallets
Die sold chisels cutting away at the
anu The anvil Chorus" was hardly
',O.s. pleasing to the ear. The monu-
nv &c not situated on very high
me- ND It is probably not more than
IyT-l or fifty feet above the tide. But 1t
!oiit5 the very eye of Washington, IN
Is ~ bv all the. hills, and there are
ciUs so beautiful effects from this noble
SOM SOM which is, think, over 500 feet
AlsI. Won 90 into Washington from the
,-tb Won can see this shaft, now rising
ihloCb Nun the Capitol, which is on hill,
Del 5 the monument is about a mile
a 9Lrtber off. Yet the shaft clearly rises
l III. noe eve above the dome of the Capitol
hon tbe passenger is some two miles
"a f-om the dome. The shaft is seen TO
% IlO nearer and nearer the dome, and
eooIIv stands right behind it, like tall
Lnnn looking down on a kite. Slowly
tbo shaft passes off to the left, and seems
70 ,f he working through the air. 1t is all
made of a very nice quality Of Ameri-
oan marble from a little way out of Bal
t;more. The monument marks rather
q new era in the building of great shafts.
No other shaft now existing that know
Of was constructed by the aid of steam.
when this monument was begun the
work of building it was either done by
hand or by some small hosting engine.
The stones when put into the base Of the
monument were very irregular IN size,
and that part of the work which pro
Ceeded somewhere between 1910 and 1855
is the worst portion of the monument.
When the work was taken up by
direct government appropriation the
largest and best elevator was immediate
" purchased and set up in the centre of
the monument, where 1t is to remain
perpetually and carry up passengers.
The elevator runs between trussed iron
uprights, all open, leaving a frightful
chasm between the open elevator and
the sides of the monument. AS you go
up higher and higher, and begin TO real
ize the stupendous descent in case of an
accident, feeling very like horror oc-
ours to even a courageous man. The
seems to grow small and lean.
The supports at the corners looks like
straws. 1t goes up slowly, carrying the
stone, generally about sixteen
feet long by eight feet thick and wide,
and when the top is reached there four
cranes of iron which seem to have the
sagacity of the human hand. They
reach for that stone as blind man finds
his bread on the table. When they take
hold of it, in a perfectly nOiseless way,
it is lifted up into the air and brought
down, and then the crane seems to feel
for the spot in the wet hydraulic cement
where the stone is finally disposed al
most without heintervention of human
beings. In this way the monument has
literally walked into the air.