Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-26
CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE.
The Egyptian Obelisk Rapidly Disinte
grating Under the Influence Of the
American Climate.

lisk in the world at Washington, writes
New York correspondent of the Pitts
burg Pa.) Dispatch, recalls attention
to the smaller but older and no less
noted shaft that stands in Central park,
in that city. the gift of the khedive OF
Egypt When it was brought here
from the Nile delta, few years ago,
much speculation was rife as to the eff
feet upon it of our American climate,
which, with its moisture and its sudden
and extreme changes of temperature.
differs so widely from that of Egypt,
which is dry and equable. Opinion
was freely expressed that the huge stone
would be destroyed, either scaling and
taking, like the brown stone with
which so many New York house fronts
are veneered. or crumbling away in fine
powder.
visited the park this week and took
a close look at the obelisk. 1t was
seemingly unchanged. The hieroglyphs
were as clearly cut as ever. Certainly
it was not ruined vet. Looking on the
ground Immediately surrounding its
base. however, saw something OF in
terest in the shape Of a reddish sand,
in some places lying quite thick. / had
no difficulty in gathering up spoonful
or more of it, which carried away for
examination. 1t 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. l took it home
and compared it, under a magnifying
glass, with a bit of the obelisk that had
been Clipped off in transportation, and
which / treasure among other bric-a-
brac. The two were identical. Evident
ly, said to myself, Cleopatra's needle
is going to the dogs.
Calling that day on Prof. Doremus,
the well-known chemist of the College
Of the City of New York, 1 expected to
surprise him with the result Of my in
yestigations. But l didn't. He knew
it all before me, and he had bottle
yes, two or three. or more bottles-full
of just such tiny bits of the obelisk as l
had gathered.
This is" said he, certain proof
that the stone is being disintegrated,
and. that, believe, by the action of our
climate. Now, l don't like to say i
told YOU so, but as a matter of fact /
did predict this when the obelisk was
first brought here. even urged Com
mander Gorringe and the others to
adopt some means of protecting it from
the weather, but they didn't. I sup
pose they thought that as it had stood
1900 years in Egypt it would stanu
1000 wears more in America. l 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 collec-
ton"
l 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 it was
crumbling away.
ut will doubtless go faster and faster,
year by year." he said. 1T, of course,
suffered a good deal in Egypt, as you
could see from the weather-worn APP
pearance of the carvings when it was
brought here But l suppose over there
disintegration was SO slow that, had it
been left there, four thousand years
hence the hieroglyphs would still have
been visible plainly
but it will not last so long herep"
mot by a good deal doubt 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, per-
haps, but no kind of stone is entirely
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" l ask
ed, ..of this disintegration?"
principally just this: The water en-
tiers the pores of the stone, freezes. and
splits the stone, just as it would break
water-pitcher if it were allowed to
freeze. All stones are porous. Those
that are most SO succumb quickest to
the weather; those that are least SO last
the longest"
"And how can it be prevented"
"Several ways are in vogue. One is
to pitch the surface of the stone. That
is expensive, and not always practica-
BILE. Besides, the polish will wear of
in time, and then the stone will be as
badly exposed as ever. Another 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 discOlors the stone and ruins
thn nf hill
best plan, l believe, is to apply par
affine. 1t is colorless. and only makes
the stone-work look fresh and bright,
and it lasts a great deal longer than lin
seed or any other oil. 1t has been used
with considerable success on many
buildings in this city and also in Eng
land. think the park board ought to
take the matter under serious consider
alton. and, if possible, in some way
preserve this remarkable monument for
future ages. In my opinion, paraffine
is the thing for it,
The park board officials told me they
had been overrun with offers of devices
for protecting the obelisk. '1n fact"
said one of them, '.lf we should give
each one trial the stone would be worn
out before we reached the end of the
list. And if we encouraged such pro-
posals by trying one of them, the next
day there would be one thousand new
Ones"
Devices of all sorts have been pre-
sented. DR.. Doremus proposed par
affine; others urged oils of various
kinds; others were sure paint was the
thing and vet others clamOred for var
nish. Liquid glass was strongly urged.
and some wanted to cover it with plates
of heavy window-glass. One man
wanted steam pipes rugged up the cor
ners, so as to keep it at an equable tenn
perature. One man offered to put it in
bath and cover it with electro-plating.
Some contend that building should be
erected over it. And there are those
who say that nothing will preserve it,
90 it would best be taken down at once
and cut up into tiny blocks, to be dis
tributed as mementoes among all the
citizens of New York