The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-10-22
The sARrnoLol STATUE.

Present Coalition ef the PEDESTAL ana
| Hom the Statue WIN no Erected and An
ch0red.
General Stone, Engineering Chief Of
the Bartholdi Statue pedestal, was in
terviewed IS follows yesterday:
What is the present state of the
work on the pedestal. Generalp"
You are aware that the foundation
mass of twenty-three thousand five
hundred tons of concrete. was finished
last year in May, and the building of
the pedestal proper. of granite and
beton, was commenced. That work
continued until the funds were nearly
exhausted and the cold weather came
on, when building ceased and work
| was carried on only at the QuarrieS,
where we continued to get out and cut
the granite When work ceased in
| building the pedestal was up to the
| ninth course of masonry. There will
be forty-six courses of granite In the
finished pedestal, so there are thirty
six courses yet to build"
''Is any of the stone prepared"
''Oh, yes. A large quantity. Three
courses are already at Bedloes Island.
ready for setting. wildcat the quarries
at Lute's Island, there are five courses
dressed all ready to ship, and five
courses on which the cutters are at
work; so that in short time the stone
Tor one-haf the height will be ready for
setting"
THE statue, it is said, is made of
sheet copper. What will hold it in
form when set up, and how will it be
attached to the pedestal?'
''Inside the sheet copper win be
very strong framework of wrought
iron, consisting of four large angular
pillars braced with iron from bottom
to top. This iron structure is to come
from France with the statue, and
weighs about one hundred and twenty
tons-much more, in fact, than the
statue itself.
This iron framework will rest upon
and be attached to two strong steel
Orders, which we will place on the top
of the pedestal, and these two Orders
} will have two others directly under
, them at right angles. About sixty feet
below the top of the pedestal there will
be two other pairs of steel girders,
which will be connected with those on
top by steel eye-bars, so that the grid
ers which support the weight of the
statue and its framework will be
anchored to the masonry and held
securely by the weight of the pedestal
itself.
{ What is the extend of the steel
| work."
1.-The weight of the steel system will
: be about one hundred and fifty tons. !"
8 What is the necessity of such streng
} attachment"
"The statue, while colossal in size, is
by no means correspondingly heavy.
While one hundred and ffty-one feet
high, it, with its interior framework,
( weighs only about two hundred tons;
|. but it has great surface-nearly four
! | thousand square feet-exposed to the
I wind. With strong wind blowing on
this great surface the tendency would
!. be to overturn the statue, and in such
! an effort the wind, since the center of
. gravity is more than sixty feet above
r the top of the pedestal, would have the
/ advantage of great leverage. In case
/ violent gale should strike it. cyclone
!, such as has been known at Mount
]. Washington and in many parts of our
country, the wind effort to overturn
the statue would be nearly seven thou
8 sand foot tons. Now, the weight OF
Q the statue resting on base of only
Q forty feet square would not by any
g means suffice to overcome this effort Of
8 the wind, and it becomes necessary to
. attach the weight of the statue to the
u weight of great mass of the pedestal.
q This is accomplished by the system oil
It support and anchorage which have
a devised that twill be always accessible
in all its parts, SO that it can be
! watched and kept constantly in good
condition"
g "How will the statue be lighted wher
b completed?"
i "Instead of having lights streaming
" from the diadem as was first proposed
4 / would prefer, should it be found prac
= ticable by electricians. to have electric
% lights placed, with strong refectors
around the foot of the statue, casting 1
very strong light upon it, and thus Civ
10 ing it the appearance during the nigh
), of shining statue. Then would like
): to have great vertical beam of cleo
o trio lights spring from the top of thu
y uplifted torch. Such beam of ligh
!. would strike upon the lower stratum
], of clouds, and its reflection. when ever
% light clouds are over it, could be seer
u far out to sea and at considerable dis
Is lance inland where mountains do no
d intervene.
" "What do you think will be the i'm
= preston made by the work when com
{ pletedp'
81 think that it win be by far mort
7. grand than any of us can we'll conceiv,
% until we shall actually see it. There il
e nothing of the kind in the world a
: present with which we can compare it
"a Even the site chosen for the monument
q is such that it will appear as if all ha6
: been constructed by man, even th.
70 island, for the sole purpose of present
Is ing in beautiful artistic form the granc
d idea that Liberty enlightens th'
10 nations of the world. ~. T. World