The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-01-30
CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE.
The Egyptian Obelisk Rapidly Disintegrating
Under the Influence of the American
Climate.

ton, writes New York CORE
spondent of The Pittsburgh (Pa.) Dis
patch, recalls attention to the smaller
but older and no less noted shaft thai
stands in Central park, in this city, the
gift of the khedive of Egypt. Wher
It was brought here from the Nile
4 delta a few years ago, much specula.
tion was rife as to the effect upon it OF
our American climate, which, with its
moisture and its sudden and extreme
changes of temperature, differ Sc
widely from that of Egypt, which is
dry and equable. Opinion was freely
expressed that the huge stone would
be destroyed, either scaling and flax
ING like the brown stone with which so
many New York house fronts are ven
eered, or crumbling away in fine pow
der.
" visited the park this week and took
close look at the obelisk. 1t was
seemingly unchanged. The heiro-
glyphics were as clearly cut as ever.
Certainly it was not ruined yet. Look
ing on the ground Immediately sur
rounding its base, however, L saw
something ofinterest in the shape of a
reddish sand, in some places lying
quite thick. l had no difficulty in
gathering up spoonful or more of it,
which l carried away for examination.
lit was stOne-dust, and no mistake.
Much of it was fine powder, but some
grains were as large as kernels of
wheat. 1t was just the color of the
obelisk. / took it home and compared
it, under magnifying glass, with a
bit of the obelisk that had been
Clipped off in transportation, and
which l treasure among other bric-a-
brac. The two were identical. Evil
IDENTIFY, said to myself. Cleopatra
needle is going to the dogs.
Calling that day on Prof. Doremus,
the we'll known chemist of the College
of the City of New York, expected to
surprise him with the result of my in
vestigations. But didn't. He knew
it all before me, and he had a bottle
yes, two OF three, or more bottles
full of just such tiny bits of the obelisk
as 1 had gathered.
that the stone is being disintegrated,
and that, I believe, by the action of
q. our climate. Now. don't like to say
II told you so, but as matter of fact
did predict this when the obelisk
was first brought here. 1 even urged
Commander Gorringe and the others
to adopt some means of protecting it
from the weather, but they didn't. I
suppose they thought that as it had
stood 1000 years in Egypt it would
stand 1000 years in America. have
been watching it closely ever since,
and from time to time have gathered
up samples of the fragments that fall
from it. have them in these bottles,
each lot labeled with the date of its
collection"
I asked the doctor how long the
shaft would probably last if left where
it now is. He said he had made no
satisfactory calculation of the rate at
which il was crumbling away.
at will doubtless go faster and fas-
ter, year by year, he said. alt, of
course, suffered good deal in Egypt,
as you could see from the weather
worn appearance of the carvings when
it was brought here. But 1 suppose
over there disintegration was so slow
that, had it been left there, four thou
sand years hence the hieroglyphs
would still have been visible plainly"
''But it will not last so long herep"
'Not by good deal. Idoubt if the
carvings will be distinguishable five
hundred years hence. This disintegra-
ton of stone in America is big sub
ject, you know, and it is one of my
pet hobbies. All our public buildings
and private houses are suffering from
it. You can see it as you pass along
the street. Brown stone suffers most,
perhaps, but no kind of stone is en-
tirely exempt. Even bricks, which
are by many people regarded as more
durable than stone, crumble away
from year to year"
EXACTLY what is the nature" 1
asked ''of this disintegration.
principally just this The water
enters the pores of the stone. freezes
and splits the stone, just as it would |
break water-pitcher if it were allow
ed to freeze. All stones are porous.
Those that are most so succumb quick |
est to the weather; those that are least
so last the longest"
And how can that be preventedP"
Several ways are in vogue. One
is to polish the surface of the stone.
That is expensive, and not always
practicable. Besides, the polish will
wear off in time, and then the stone
Will be as badly exposed as ever. An
other plan is to paint the stone with
linseed oil, which soaks in and fills up
the pores. But that only lasts short
time, and besides it dscolors the
stone and ruins the appearance of the
building. The best plan, believe, is
to apply parafline. tits colorless, and
only makes the stone-work look fresh
and bright, and it lasts great deal
longer than linseed or any other oil.
1t has been used with considerable
success on many buildings in this city
and also in England. | think the
park board ought to take the matter
under serious consideration, and, if
possible, in some way preserve this re-
markable monument for future ages.
In my opinion, paraf1ine is the thing
for il"
The park board officials told me
they had been overrun with offers of
devices for protecting the obelisk .In