Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-17
THE BARTHoLDI STATUE.
It VIII be Placed ia Position bT the Con
tractors for the Pension Building


Roof.
Fgons shs WlaAjn0fon Post
Yes, sir; when we leave here, in six
weeks time, / hope, we will set up the
Bartboldi statue" said Foreman Watson,
Of the Shippler Bridge Company, Of Pitts-
hurg, to reporter as he stood amid the
iron trusses Of the pension building roof.
what rigging Will we use; IL is i'm.
possible 70 tell until we get there. The
work is something out Of the ordinary,
and the rigging must be arranged to suit
the occasion. think, however, scallold-
ing VIII be used as the work will be done
from inside, and we can build the scaffolds
As we work up"
"Will any Of the men back out on ac-
count Of the height to be reached?'
Il guess not, " said MIR. Watson, with a
smile. ut Will be- nearly three times "a
high as those fellows are sitting up there,
but don't think they win mind it a bit
more.
''The work OF placing in position the
heavy iron trusses for the roof Of this
building is no easy matter" continued
Mr.. Watson. at was regular Chinese
puzzle and made me dubious, especially
when ! saw we could not use scatiOlding
on account Of the length of material TO be
raised. 1t took me two weeks Of steady
thinking to finally decide upon the best
rigging for this job. You see these two
masts rising from the galleries on each
side Of the building? They are - feet
long and 10 inches in diameter at the
bottom and 3 at the top. They are fur
nished with heavy guy lines, and sustain
All the STRAIN of lifting. The hosting APP
parAtus is attached directly TO the masts,
there being no boom used. II is maze OF
~ inch MANILA rope, and when rugged
for raising the heavy trusses Its breaking
strain is 33 tons, while each truss
only weighs 80 tons. / have raised with
that same rigging 30 tons. To prevent &C
cident, "a inch safety lines are used.
The lifting is done bv steam power. The
trusses are raised in two sections and
coupled in the air by men on the rigging
Just before being placed in position. The
raising is the most difficult part OF the
work. because OF the numerous galleries
and other distractions which must be
avoided At these times the whole
force taxes hold, and the truss is turned
and twisted I'm and out and up and down
enough to puzzle Philadelphia lawyer.
We were four working steadily
lifting one OF those things the other day.
When the top is reached the top men run
up the trusses and quickly drive home
the bolts in the centre, making all Sc
cure.V
DO the men ever get dizzy when up so
high?"
Not in the least. The men who 90 up
there would just as soon and can just as
safely work there as if they were only ten
feet up. | have never seen but one man
hurt in my experience, and that was the
effect OF his own carelessness. He stepped
OF a scatfolding while not looking where
be was walking"
Are sailors good men for this work"
ono, sir: they are no account at all for
it. have had three OF them. They are
used to water beneath them, and ropes
and rigging around to hold on 10. You
see those men running along up there
without anything to hold to but the trusses
they are on2 II a sailor was up there doing
that coupling, he would fool over it four
hours before he'ddO it,"
''What do you pay good man?'
1.-TWO or three dollars day. And when
we get a good one we keep him right
along. | have two cOlOred men up there
that am making frst-rate hands of. l
picked them up here"
The immense cOurtOf the pension build
ing looks very different now to what 1t
did on the night of March 4. The grand
ballroom, with its decorations Of flowers
and banners. had given place to bare
walls and pillars of brick; the polished
dancing floors which supported the thou
sands Of merry couples who fitted through
the dance was changed to dusty earth, on
which, scattered in confusion, lay iron
and brick and tools and implements Of
building. Groups Of hardy iron-workers
made music with their hammers, and
high above their fellow workmen. perched
on the iron trusses of the roof, on the
ends of masts and on narrow scattOlds,
were busily engaged in putting the enorm-
GUS roof in position.