The Penn's Grove record., 1885-09-05
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@LCA 'A@A'Dft W. So
you a pass to go all over it,
wherever your personal safety
permits. Let's have a min
ute's confab on one ofthe thous-
and points of interest there
the corner Of stairwavs. One
is finished and open, the cor-
ner opposite our western door.
There is to be a similar stair
way in every corner. The one
in the southwest corner is now
building.
In the southwest tower of
St. Paul's Cathedral, London
is a similar stairway, called in
the guide books the "geomet-
rical staircase" 1t is spiral.
Every step is a separate stone.
As you go up, the lower near
corner of every successive
stone is sustained by the up
per far corner of the stone be
low it. The Guide will tell
you the whole stair rests on the
bottom single stone; rising cir
Gle on circle more than a hun
dred steps of ponderous stone.
1t has been the wonder of trav-
elers for two hundred years
a humorous stroke in the mas
terpiecc of Sir Christopher
Wren.
The City Hall stairway is
much the greater wonder. 1t
SCALED the hanging stairway
here. The stones of which it
is built seem to hang from the
walls of the. overwhelming
under them-nothing to hind
er their tumbling. That stair
way of more than a hundred
and-hfty granite steps must
weigh by a rough calculation
between four and fve-hundred
tons. 1t literally hangs from
the walls ofthe tower,
1t isn't true, as the Guide
Book says, that the weight of
every step is wholly borne by
the step below. An incident
in the building here proves
that it isn't true. A stone was
broken. Time was required
to place it. The stairway
didn't wait, The stone was
skipped and slipped in after
wards. Now the wonder is
bigger than ever. That stair
way is worth a journey to see.
There's still greater won
der in it. Twenty long wide
landing are interspersed be-
tween one-hundred-and-thirt
six steps. The landings are
single stones as the steps are
single stones. The Landing
stones are more than twenty
feet long and ten feet wide.
The steps are a triAe; MJmay
be hung from the wall; but how
is that broad stone pavement
hung from the wall?
You will not solve the puz-
zle by looking. 1t is a miracle
to look at. The architects
function is supposed to call for
double skill: to make his struc-
ture strong; and to give it that
senblance of strength that
cheats us into unconsciously
trusting its strength. But here
he reverses the latter princi-
pie. He gives this stairway
such seeming weakness that
you scarcely dare to stand be-
and look up at it. An
other leaning Tower Of Pisa!
Too much Of a puzzle to tell OF
here and leave unsolved.
Within, the tower is octag-
onal. The stones of the steps
and landings are set far into
the wall-singly set into the
wall. Not altogether singly,
The steps do bear somcweight
on the stones below-enough
to give them a certain one
ness-enough to prevent a
breaking strain on any single
stone. The steps are rectan-
gular; they rest on one anoth-
er, and the bottom one of a
flight rests on the landing be
low. But the landings are cut
al tl,c ends at such an angle
that the thrust of the flight of
steps above (if there is any
thrust is directed against the
octagonal wall. And, strange
as it may seem, that landing
tests SO far upon the wall
arond two angles that it
wouldn't stir if the steps below
it we're taken away and the
weight of the wall above were
taxed away, The landings are
firm on the wall as well as in
the wall. The steps are firm
in the wall and rest on the
landings besides, To the