Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-03
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

| In1S76 Senator Sherman introduced what
was considered a buncombe resolution,
| providing that whatever was returned
| from the government appropriation from
! the Centennial should be returned and APP
! prOpriated to building the Washington
monument. This passed the Senate and
went to the House, where Mr.. Holman,
the famous director, was Chairman of the
Appropriations Committee. Under a freak
of generosity his committee amended the
resolution and appropriated$20O,0 600 direct,
to be given in installmentS of $4,000 per
year. This passed with the prOvisO that
commission be appointed to examine
the foundation. The foundation was found
| to be insufficient. Nearly 100000 was
spent in making this foundation stronger.
1t was at that time 1856 feet high, and
when finished, in the course of a few
days, will be 500 feet. The roof or
apex is to be So feet, making the
in round numbers, about $1,O00,000, and
will be by the time it is COM
pleted nearly $1,500,000, for there
is much work yet to be done
inside the monument after the stones are
laid and the roof finished. The base is 30
feet square, the foundation being 1867
feet square. The marble of which it is
built comes from Baltimore county, Nd.
The stones are 2 feet thick, so that there
are half as many tiers of stones as there
are feet to the top of the monument where
the roof begins. Thes monument is only
veneered with marble, but, as it is over 9
feet thick, it is tOlerably substantial.
When completed it will be 80 feet higher
than any other work of man. The highest
point now attained is by the spire Of the
cathedral at Cologne-525 feet; the next
is the CheOps, 480. The Strasburg Cathe-
dral is 463 feet, st. Peters at Rome is 457,
the capitol at Washington is BOG, and
Bunker Hill monument 220 feet. To reach
the top there will be $50 steps, and also
an elevator, which now carries easily six
tons of stone at load. Nearly 100 "me-
mortal stones" have been sent. There
was, as indicated above, a stone from the
Pope, also several from foreign govern
ments, and one from each of the States
and Territories, excepting Texas, Idaho,
Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon, and
large numbers from societies and lodges
and corporations. One of these, sent by
Virginia, says: ''Virginia, who gave
Washington to the country, gives this
granite to his monument One, from
Georgia, bears the inscription, "The
Union as it was. the constitution as it is"
Louisiana, which sent her stone shortly
before the war, bears the inscription,
"Fnthful to the constitution and the
Union" Michigan sends solid copper
block Ak feet from her mines with silver
about the "poOrest of the lot" is of red
pipe clay and has no inscription, also those
ofArkansas and South Carolina. The block
sent by Brigham Young has upon it the
Mormon seal, with the word ''Deseret"
beneath it, the name which he chose for
Utah. Another block is one 3x11% feet
from Mount VesuvIus, sent by William
Terrill, of Georgia. Among the stones
sent from abroad is one from China, with
a long inscription in Chinese characters
speaking in the highest terms of Washing
ton, and saying that in qualities of great
ness he even surpassed their greatest
men. There are others from Greece, Tur-
key, Brazil, the Grecian Archipelago and
elsewhere, while France, Germany and
England are conspicuous by their absence
in offerings of this nature.
Two men who have attracted much
attention in political circles this
week have been Gen. Longstreet and
Gen. Swain. The details of the charges
against each of them have been already
given to the public, but their faces will be
of some interest. Gen. Longstreet has
probably held Office under the government
longer than any other eX-Confederate. He
was appointed Surveyor of Customs at