Huntsville gazette., 1885-06-13
THE BARTHoLDl STATUE.

Present Condition of the Pedestal and
How the Statue win Be Erected and An
chored.
I General Stone, Engineer-in-C Chief of
The Bartholdi Statue pedestal, was in
terviewed as follows yesterday:
what is the present state of the
work on the pedestal, General?'
''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.''
SIS any of the stone prepared"
''Oh, yes. A large quantity. Three
courses are already at Bedloe's Island,
ready for setting, while at 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 a short time the stone
for one-haf the height will be ready for
setting"
1.-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 will 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
girders, which we will place on the top
of the pedestal, and these two girders
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
itselfn
"What is the extend of the steel
work?" .-..---
'The weight of the steel system viii
be about one hundred and fifty tons"
'.What is the necessity of such strong
attachment" ~-
'.The statue, while colossal in size, is
by no means correspondingly heavy.
While one hundred and fifty-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
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
the top of the pedestal. would have the
advantage of great leverage. In case
violent gale should strike it, a acyclone
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
sand foot tons. Now, the weight of
the statue resting on base Of only
forty feet square would not by any
means suffice to overcome this effort of
the wind, and it becomes necessary to
attach the weight of the statue to the
weight of great mass of the pedestal.
This is accomplished by the system of
support and anchorage which L have
described. This system has been so
devised that twill be always accessible
in all its parts, SO that it can be
watched and kept constantly in good
condition"
"How will the statue delighted when
completed?"
Instead of having lights streaming
from the diadem as was first proposed,
] Iwould prefer, should it be found prac-
ticable by electricians, to have electric
lights placed, with strong refectcrs,
around the foot of the statue, casting q
very strong light upon it, and thus CIV
ing it the appearance during the night
OF shining statue. Then would like
to have great vertical beam of cleo
trio lights spring from the top of the
uplifted torch. Such beam of light
would strike upon the lower stratum
of clouds, and its reflection, when even
light clouds are over it, could be seen
far out to sea and at a considerable dis
tance inland where mountains do not
intervene" f
what do you think will be the i'm
preston made by the work when com
pleted?'
II think that it will be by far more
grand than any of US can well conceive
until we shall actually see it. There is
nothing of the kind in the world at
present with which we can compare it.
Even the site chosen for the monument
is such that it will appear as if all had
been constructed by man, even the
island, for the sole purpose of present
ing in beautiful artistic form the grand
idea that Liberty enlighteps the
nations of the world. IN. Y. World.
Julienne Soup.
d. have just learned the origin of
1~~vs 4