Morning journal and courier., 1885-08-12
ALosT ART REVIVED.
Discovery: How The Pyramids 0f
 Egypt Were Made.

Discovery: How The Pyramids of
 Egypt Were Made.
 Cheops, or the great pyramid of Esy pt,
 which is supposed to have been erected to the sun more than five thousand years ago, is
 still, and will in all human probability re-
 main forever, one of earth's greatest wonders.
 Its massive proportions and solidity of stl uc-
 ture has been the admiration of travellers and
 poets, and it stands to-day as a monument to
 the genius of that once great end glorious
 but now effete Egyptian empire. When we contemplate the fact that there are single
 blocks of stone in the pyramid 90 feet long and feet square, at an altitude of over 400 feet from it's base, the natural conjecture is, how cortd they have been raised to their position? There is but one material solution, and that is that these immense stones were artificial. There is no doubt that the pyra- mids of Egypt were constr ucted out of the sands of the deselS by 8 chemical combina- tion But the art of making stone has long
 been dead one. Many attempts have been
 made to at least initiate it, but all have
 proved complete failure; none have as yet
 been a success. Those which cene nearest
 to success are M. de Lesseps', who, it may be
 remembered, had great deal to do with the
 Suez canal When the canal was in course
 of construction considerable fear was felt
 that on account of the sandy nature of the
 earth which composed the banks they would
 prove unstable. The worst approximations
 were realized before the canal was half com
 pleted along large part of the distance; the
 banks completely gave away, and one part
 fell in while another was being repaired, un-
 til expenses threatened to become unman-
 ageable, and their efforts promised to simply
 tally so many failures and the
 whole project, in which the French
 govel nment had spent millions, was
 about to be given up as failure. Just at
 this time little hint of science came to the
 aid of capitals helpless millions. M. de
 Lesseps discovered a fluid which, mixed with
 the sand of the canal walls, made them al
 most like rock, and the difficulty was over
 come. The sand on either side of the great canal was turned into stone and has proved
 to stand the water and has slightly
 increased in strength since it's com
 pletion. Filing, compressed asphalt, broken stone and other such materials, while good enough for the purpose, are not comparable to the great original stone in either resisting
 weight or the softening effects of heat, cold or moisture It is well known fact that artificial stone is long lost art. Besides the pyramids there also stand to-day, in the city of Gibraltar and other ancient places,
 buildings made of artificial stone which has stood for many centuries, and is to-day hard CT and far superior to the natural stone We may mention also the wells of Solomon among the monuments of the long lost art.
 It is interesting as well as wonderful to trace up the history of useful inventions
 No country can compare with our own 1n it's advantages as school for such study. Just as the Frenchmans mind lightly turns to thoughts of love, so turns the American mind to thoughts of utility. No one would imagine the intimate relations which exist between the grandest inventions and the most trivial discoveries. Watts found that by stopping the spout of tea kettle he could raise the nd' ana n we we nave in embryo the steam engine in all it's hun dreds of variations. Franklin got caught in thunder storm, and we have the telegraph, the telephone the electric light; and now the sandy banks of 8 transoceanic canal fall in and we have substitute for the grandest of rocks.
 No sooner is new fact discovered than a hundred minds are at work on the question, how can dollars be made out of it? and it is seldom long before the answer comes. Econ omy in time, economy in labor, economy in |
 Encouraged by the late industry of manu. featuring artificial stone, MT. Reimers, of | this city, struggled on with varying signs of success, and at last he has | found a composition which so far | has given perfect satisfaction in I standing every test which has been pro | posed that is to say, while he cannot yet | claim perfection, possibly never can, he does ! demonstrate that this composition is far su- | perior to either of the most staple natural | building stone, marble granite, in appear l ance generally, in durability and impermea- ! biIity always. The time has been, | and but very recently has ceased I to be, when red brick houses were @ necessity The great mass of the peo- ! pie could not build of more durable materi- l als because of the enormous excess in cost of | marble and granite. More durable materials | have always been looked upon as the sym bols of wealth and durability. The houses | which have been built of them will always l stand as monuments of wealth. but modern | in beauty and surpassed it in ! and durability.
 MT. Reimers made us stone and sample | of marble at his works, 150 and 152 State | street, which was in every way satisfactory. | It certainly is gratifying to have such men as MT. Reimers with JUS. We have no doubt Il this business will add much to our manufac- | turing interests and be the means of furnish | ing steady employment to our laboring men, who are much in nc ed.
 Investigation into the character of this | stone by many of the best citizens selected | for that purpose leaves no reason to doubt | that it is all he recommends it to be. We are only too glad to give our support and en- | and trust our citizens will join | us in our endeavors to build up our city's industries.