The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-09-20

cede before fact, no matter how dear to me my
theory" / hope the Indianapolis library will
procure this work
Mr.. Petrie generously acknowledges the serv
ices of Prof. Piazzi Smyth, but his (Petrie's)
more delicate instruments and longer. more
patient, and more scientific investigation
has thrown more light upon the Great
pyramid than all previous investigators. Now,
what does he find in PiazZi Smyths favorite
sarcophagus as the standard for all pyramid di
mansions and the standard for good many
other thingsi Why Mr. Petrie found the said
sarcophagus "a rather careless piece of work"
Indeed, his accurate surveys and measure
ments took in the sawmarks upon
the stone, which indicated that more than
once the masons cut deeper than they intended,
and that they then tried to polish away their
mistakes, but without succeeding. Now, if this
perfect standard of Piazzi Smyth had been
what he claimed there would have been no errors,
no mistakes in any part of it Neither would
which contained the famous sarcophagus
any error in the leveling if the thing had been
matter of inspiration direct from heaven, as
Piazza Smyth leaves his enthusiastic admirers
to infer. The fact is that in that Chamber of
the King" though it is composed entirely Of
gigantic granite blocks from Syene (the modern
Assouan) which for the greater part were
wrought in the finest style of the masons art,
there is, says Mr.. Petrie, ian error In the lev
cling, causing a difference of two and a
and the southwest" / am perfectly sure that
the holy Of holes and the ark of the covenant
designed by the Great Architect for the Jews
had no errors of that kind
But the measurements of Mr.. Petrie have
been 80 exact that we know the very size and
weight of the stones composing the Kings Cham
Der. Fancy the stones of a ceiling weighing o4
TONS or 120, $50 pounds each. Mr.. Petrie was
the Great Pyramid. The pyramid was, as may
be remembered, covered with an exterior cas-
ing of white limestone, which the Arabs, after
the conquest of Egypt, made use of for fortlhca-
tions in Kahira Cairo In the reign OF the
great Moslem ruler Saladin, whose name both
history and fiction have made better known to
US than any other of .Mahommetg successors,
except Caliph Haroun al Raschid, the three great
pyramids were used as quarries for materials
with which various imposing edifces at Cairo
ed. One piece only of this beautiful limestone
casing is left sin stu far up the
sides of the Great Pyramid. But Mr. Petrie
first conjectured that the sands had accumu-
lated at the base in the days of the Ro-
mans, and next Mr.. Petrie conceived that the
Arabs, in working off that upper casing, more
than six hundred years ago, must have caused
lot OF debris to fall around the base. He caused
excavations to be made and there. buried be-
meath accumulated heaps of stone and sands of
the desert he reached the ground tiers of the out
side casing, which had been untouched by time.
He got at exactly the true slope of the Great
Pyramid In February last l stood with
Hon. j. W. Bookwalter. of Ohio, and
looked with amazement at the casing; and at
the basalt regular black Laval pavement on the
eastern SIDE and the limestone pavement and
platform on the other sides, laid bare by the
labors of Mr.. Petre. The basalt blocks of the
eastern platform were all sawn and fitted to-
gsther with the greatest accuracy, and the
lower part of the casing-the only part which
remains entire. is exQuisitely wrought could
not insert pen knife blade between the joints
of these vast blocks of stone that weigh from
twelve to twenty tons each Mr. Petrie says
that "the means employed for casing and &C.
menting the blocks of soft limestone, weighing
dozen to twenty tons each, with such hair-iike
joints, are almost inconceivable at present. and
the accuracy of the leveling is marvellous" The
than that higher up, and MIR Petrie thinks that
the architect of the first period of the building
died in the midst of his work, and that the
succeeding architects left stones undressed that
were to be dressed lin situ, and that other
work was sighted or hastily finished. l should
think this very likely, as old Khufu tCheops)
reigned for fifty years-two years longer
than Queen Victoria has now reigned-
and doubtless the first architect died before the
completion, in laboring at a vast work that
originally had a base Of 768 feet a perpendicular
height of 482 feet. and sloping sides of formerly
610 feet in height; building which, without
counting the six chambers and galleries, had the
cubic contents of no less than 1927, 900 cubic
yards and weight of nearly 900 600 tons. wish
some one in Indianapolis would state the exact
size, every way, of the new Capitol, the dimen
sons of the largest stones. solid cubic contents
used in the construction, the solid cubic contents
and the area covered by the building The Great
Pyramid, though diminished greatly from the
original proportions THAT is height now 45l,
length of sides of base $50, present cubic con-
tents, 3,O57.0 900 cubic yardsl, still covers an
area of nearly thirteen acres.
Mr.. Petrie throws much interesting light on
the tools employed in working the beautiful
hard red granite syenite) brought from 500
miles up the Nile
1t was thought that we had found something
new under the sun when in modern times, our
engineers invented diamond drills to perforate
the hardest rocks; but listen to Mr. Petrie 1.-The
tools employed in working the granite which is
used ia the interior of the pyramids were bronze
saws over eight feet lorg, set with jewels; tubu
lar drills similarly set with Jewels and circular
saws" He says that the jewels were either
diamonds or corundum which is nearly allied
to the sapphire. He found cases evidently
broken from tubular drill hole. which could
only be explained by the use Of a fixed jewel
point.
| think mentioned in former letter that
Gen. Lew Wallace said to me, when viewing,
in the great museum at Naples, the mechanical
and agricultural tools brought from Pompeii and
Herculaneuml, Cooley, the ancient Romans had
everything but che locomotive and the tele-
graph" Well, amidst all the mechanical imple
ments from Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are
not saws with teeth set with Jewels no tubular
drills set with diamonds, and no circular saws.
For these we have to go to the Great Pyramid
WHICH was built more than 5000 years be fore
Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in
the days of the Emperor Titus.
j. c. FLETCHER
Emery Storrs and the Millionaires.