St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-03-05

I the government took control was CON
! structed. The stones, just as they APP.
| pear on the outside. are of all shapes
laid unevenly, while the line of de-
Inarkatiop between them and the new
er structure is plain and distinct
Above. the beautifully laid tiers OF
snow-white marble from the guarrieS
of BERKSHIRE mark the later work. Far
up the diminishing aperture reaches
until il seems to terminate at the fouI
tiny streaks of light which indicate the
windows 500 feet above ground, the
only break in the wall Here where
the apex begins, the room is half as
large rs at the bottom and the walls
about 10 feet thick. Standing ut the
bottom, one is overwhelmed by the
masses of granite around and over him
Clrciing around the inside of the core
steps OF iron rise upon each other
They are i'll Is sets and each set con
tains 80 steps. Imagine the task OF
walking up. But that is obviated by
the big elevator that is kept running
up and down. There is no adjournment
nothing save the shaft, and the immen-
sity of it 10 make it interesting.
From the top a remarkable scene
spreads out. Below the feet nestles
Washington, lying fair in. the winter
sun. The capitol, treasury, White
House and new state department build
ings, all massive structures, are fiat
tened out into Lighthouses. The city
is one of pigmies, nothing of it seems
grand, save the plan, which, with its
interlacing of streets and avenues, one
sees now to advantage. From its sill
very thread ut Great Falls.t to the broad
lagoon far below Mt. Vernon, the Po-
tomac is in sight, washing the base
almost, of the monument. Alexandria
| quaint old town, lies in full view, and
further down, the eye can almost pick
| out Mt. Vernon hiding in its foliage
Just across the river, Arlington, seat OF
the Lees, its thousands of gravestones
! glistening in the sun, adds fitting
minor tone to these other reminders o.
| Washington, while back over the Vir-
ginia hills, swelling on to Richmond
the vision promises almost to include
! Fredericksburg aud Yorktow sugges.
tive alike of him in whose honor thi.
fabric is reared and of those later
events, which in truth made Virginia q
sacred soil. Far to the west the blue
line of the Alleghanies extends. an(
northward Baltimure's smoke is in fnl
sight. In such It presence mere piIins
of granite is forgotten and the mine
considers something besides the engi
neering skill displayed beneath. Out
lined across the western sky this mon
ument stands, as if having in its keep
ing the capitol and the nation.
YOu come down, step out upon tn,
ground, Uttered with the debris o
erection and the sheds. They seen
mean. Look up again and they ar,
forgotten in the grandeur of the pile
overhead.
The mechanical difficulties which
met the engineers need not be describ
ed, further than to allude to the put
! ting in of the new foundation. WheI
the work was resumed it was discover
ed that the supports would give way
under the added weight. The monu-
ment then weighed more than 33, 00t
tons, and to have gone on piiing stones
upon it would have resulted in simply
driving the foundations into the ground
| SO the whole foundation was dug away
save a core of earth A feet square, and
the monument was left poised upon
| that, while a larger mass of masonry
was spread, extending % feet beyond
| each face and - feet below the lowest
stone of the monument proper. All
the wiSeacreS said that it would fall
and the whole affair tOpple over, but
nothing Of the sort happened and the
engineers were indicated. Further
than that, while the masonry had to be
pretty carefully looked after, the diff
culties were not great.
Attic outset the idea was to have
the colorado ut the base ornamented
III various ways. So general invita-
ton was sent ont asking the cOntribu-
ton OF emblematic stones to be insert
ed in the walls rs proofs of good will.
There is a big shed in the shadow of
the monument full of these stones.
many of which have been there for 20
or 30 years. Many are tasteful and
appropriate, the gifts of foreign gov
ernmentS, states of the Union. towns
and villages, societies, Sunday schools,
etc. One is inscribed in Chinese, 9TH
ers in Greek and German. One is from
the sultan of Turkey, one from the
governor and commune of the islands
of ParOs and NaXos in the Grecian
archipelago, another from the Chero-
kee nation, while one bears the simple
inscription From Braddock's field. -
which recalls Washington's "baptisnl
of fire" There was II stone from the
pope. But one night, during the anti
Catholic excitement, II mob OYerpow-
cred the guards and wheeled it down
to the river, since which day no man
has set eyes upon it. Perhaps the most
touching of all is IA rough stone which
the old men abOut Alexandria, who
had known Washington, dug and
shaped as their tribute to his monu-
ment. How these will be used is not
decided, but in some way they will be
set to advantage before the work is de-
clared completed.
The monument has cost about ST.
600, 900, of which S26O,00O was raised
by subscription, and the rest has been
furnished by congress. No one has
been killed or seriously hurt during
the building.