St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-02-22
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.
The Inception, Growth and Appearance
of the Monument.
Snecial tn the Globe

Special to the Globe.
| WASHINGTON, Feb. 81. Il went to the top
of the Washington monument shaft this af :
ternoon for the first time since its mple-
| ton, and the sensation experienced in gaZ-
| ing out the windows or port holes was GER
tainy peculiar. The capitol, which is over
a mile from the monument, looked more like
a small model of the real building than the
structure itself. One pecuiarity about the
bview of the capitol that l noticed was that
one could not see the flags on either end of
the building from the top of the monument,
! but when one was on the ground both the
flags over the house aud senate end could
easily be seen. 1t is an easy matter to see
| these flags twice the distance from any or
binary view of the capitol. but when one is
on top OF the monument they cannot
be seen with the naked eye.
The White house and several other public
buildings, which are about quarter Of mile
distant from the monument, looked from the
| top to be near its base, and it seemed that
they were just adjoining the monument il
| self Sugar-loaf mountain, thirty-fve miles
distant, in West Virginia, doomed up in the
! background and only appeared TO be three or
| four miles distant. Alexandria, Va. seemed to
be only square or two distant,w while the real
| distance is eight miles. Many of the houses
| in the city looked like small models of build
! ings, and, although apparently reduced in
! size, the most distant Object appeared TO be
the nearest. 1t required ten minutes for the
| elevator to ascend and ten minutes
more for it TO descend. While the
| temperature appeared to be comfortably
! warm on the earth, when we reached the top
al the visitors seemed to be chilled through
and were really glad when the conductor OF
| the elevator announced that he was Ready for
the descent. The highest point that visitors
| are allowed to go is five hundred feet above
the ground. while the roof above that point
goes up 55 feet higher.
The construction of the monument was
begun in the early summer Of 1S4S by the
Washington National Mon ument society.
The structure, as designed By Robert Mills,
was an obesk 600 feet in height, with very
Hat apex, surrounded at the base by pan
theon, with q peristyle of marble columns
100 feet high. Shortly after the commence
ment of the work the height of the obelsk
was reduced TO 500 feet. and the building of
The foundation of the obelisk as constructed
was 50 feet square at the bed of foundation.
and this bed was placed : feet s inches
below the general level of the
ground about the structure. The
foundation was % feet inches thick, and
was IS feet inches square at its top. 1t
was built of large pieces of bluestone gneiss,
put in the masonry as they came from the
quarry, the interstiees between the masses
being filled with spawls and mortal COM
posed largely of fat lime and sand.
The shaft was commenced 55 feet II
inches square at the base, with walls 5 feet
thick. These walls bad a facing Of large
grained white marble, in blocks of 2 feet
rise and from Is inches to Is inches thick
ness sawed without reference to the quarry
bed, and rubbed smooth; and backing of
blue gneiss stone rubble. The walls as con
structed contemplated finished height of
600 feet for the shaft. By the year 1854 the
obelisk had been built to the height of 152
feet, and by 1856 some 4 feet more
we're added, making the total height of
the marble shaft 1916 feet 4 Is inches. At its
top the sides averaged As feet OK inches in
length. The well in the interior was 25 feet
l Inch square. The axis of the shaft leaned
| 81 inches to the northward The thickness
of the walls at the top was IL feet 10 5-l6
inches. The weight of this obelisk and its
foundation was some 81, l52 tons, and the
cost Of the structure about $500, 900. On the
18th Of January, 1877, the Washington
National Monument society conveyed by
deed all their property, easements, rights
and privileges in the monument tn the
United States. but no further work was done
toward continuing the obeisk until 1878,
when, under the act Of August 2, 1876, pro-
yiding for the completion Of the Washing
ton monument and the Joint resolution Of
June Ia, 1878, to enable the joint commits
sion to carry this act into effect work was
commenced upon the strengthening Of the
foundation, 10 the end that the obeisk might
be completed to the height of 525 feet.
The work of strengthening the foundation
was com pleted on the Doth Of May, 1880, and
ae finished the new foundation is 80 feet,
10 inches in depth, aud extends down to a
level 6 inches below the permanent level OF
water in the site upon which the work Is sit
uated The work Of building the obelisk
was commenced Aug. z, 1880, the old
shaft having first been reduced to a height
Of $50 feet and, as before stated, the ma
sonry Of the obelisk was completed Dec
G, 1884. AS finished, the monument is
5jJ feet, 5L inches in height, the shaft
being 500 feet, 51z inches high, and the
pyramidion or apex 55 feet. The topmost
point is 597 feet. 9 inches above mean low
water in the Potomac aud 500 feet 9.36
inches above the mean level Of the Atlantic
at Sandy Hook, n. z, as determined Dec.
l, 1884, by the United States coast
and geodetic survey. The shaft as completed
is 30 feet, u inches square at the base, and
"a feet, 81 inches square at the top, where
the walls have a thickness of foot, 6 inches.
The batter Of the sides is .247 Of an
inch TO one foot In rise. The height OF this
shaft is slightly greater than nine times the
width Of the base. Its width at top Is sths
the width Of the base, and II would come to
point at height ~ its present height. The
walls Of the new portion are faced with fine
grained white marble from the Beaver Dam
quarry in Baltimore county, Maryland, and
hacked with granite from several Of the New
England quarries. The courses are uni
forrnly 2 feet in rise, the blocks Of wider
bed than their rise, and the bond, the Fleul-
ish, alternate header and stretcher. The mar
bic IS very strong. fne-grsined, and durable,
and weighs 17S1T pounds 70 the cubic foot.
The walls at the level Of 100 feet we're re-
duced in thickness TO s feet 2 inches, but
from that level are carried up plumb on the
inside, giving veil OF 81 feet 81 inches
square. An iron frame, supporting z stair
case and elevator machinery, is carried from
the floor TO the top Of the shaft. The
weight Of the structure is 51.12O tons.
Up to the 1st Of January the cost Of the strife
ture had been 81, 157. 7lO.3l. Of this the
Washington Monument society had ex-
pended about 100000 and the United
States Sss7,71O.3
At the Close Of the working season OF 1893
the shaft had been carried To the height Of
410 feet above the floor. During the past
sezson tie remainder Of the shaft. and the
entire pyramidion, 81 feet in height, have
been finished, adding AS feet to the struc-