New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-24

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pe el, 10 remind one in year or two that Bedlow'
is1 Tt was once Government post -,
Inc bulk of the pcdestal's foun latlon will, o
| Soutse' De out of sgnt when the landscape gar
aener has finished his work on the approaches e
.ne sIa'ue. IL starts. in fact. beneath the Ole
parade ground at thirteen feet above the mean low
| wa.er mark. In shape it is something ike q
| runcated pyramid. with q gentle slope .
~ does not RISE however. with a continuous wall
out WIN series OF great layers OF coucrete each
one TRUE smaller than the 1t rests npOn. lhf
Top reaches up above the fort walls. hftyJwo feet
zen inches irom me base There is no break to the
very Top. The whole thing is a vast mass OF con-
c,e,e ana rock which m. asure5 on Its upper tIce
ABOUT slxty-ive fret square.
WELL-BUILT PEDESTAL.
Inc pedestal proper at its base is sixty-two feet
square, and begins at an elevation above tide
oil sixiy-iye feet In the middle of each face. just
on level with the proposed terrace, is a doorway,
Iive ieet wide and thirteen feet high. On each
side OF every doo- is projecting disk of stone on
winch the arms of the United States and of France
Will be cut in relief. Above the doors is a broad
oand OF stone running around tho pedestal and
broken into forty smooth-faced medalons ten on
each SIDE on which the of the various
States will PROBABLY be placed. Still higher than
tho rneaalons are four large panels, twenty three
feet and six inches long aud five feet and three
lncIes from top to bottom. These will also be
coveted with appropriate inscriptions and design
with the panels decided break in the pedestal
proper occurs. The sides shrink in n foot or two
anu the smooth stonework of the first section is
succeeded by free roughedged Arrangement
winch relieves the eye aud gives chance for
further smooth work higher up. From the base Of
the PEDESTAL to the top of the big panels is seventy
two feet and eight inches. Here tne four walls
recede except for hal-dOzen feet at each corner.
and leave four balconies each i've feet and eight
inches IN width, set of with II low stone rail and
f.uF oil f,a,.,
balconies Oh the shaft inside, around which the
spiral stair winds dzzly aud mp which an elevator
VIII probably run some day. These shaded
balconies are q delightful retreat after the Oog.
not cllnb and from them spread out on every side
rs th1 ever-changing picture OF the busting
harbor the farDtt hills tipped with blue and green,
and spires.
Who're. the walls join again there is a jutting
irleze oil piain granite, Gro yned with low open
balcony on which iOIr doors open again from the
shalt within. Here the third section begins. The
walls Contract several feet, though the balcony rail
breaks the sharpness of the effect from below. IL
is but few tiers now 10 the top Of the pedestal,
hid from view by the rich draperY of the gOddesss
tunic: The topmost platform is thirty nine feet
aud four and three-eigIths inches square and 15i
feet above low-water mark.
The pedestal is Ia its way most graceful and
modest structure IL is neither monotonous nor
heavy. and has been made to look sma Ter than 1t
really il. The goddess, IN fact. gains IN point OF
elevation by this suppression and towers easily
over every thing eese, but the effect is III no way
lOTcPu OF Sllll-Ilko. Inc sou gray SlHlt Oh tLo
pedesta blends well with tho -eddish brown of the
copper, and the whteuess of the rough QuOlns
shows tar across the water in the santng rays OF
the early morning or late afternoon sun. The
granite used is from quarry on Lectes Island in
Connecticut. and the SIZE of the blocks made the
building Of the pedestal enc of tho heaviest pieces
of masonry ever nndert tkcn about New-forS
General Charles =. Stone the chef engineer of
the work. Richard NJ. HINT the architect and
David II. King. ir.. the builder The PEDESTAL cost
i'll all about S25O,LOO.
THE t.0flnESSS GpEAr SrPENGTI
BarthoIdi has given some account of the work on
the statue in his sketch for the French Anne rican
Union. After settling down a particular image
of Liberty NJ made tiny model less than four
feet high. This first study was followed by figure
nearly nine ieet high. which was then enlarged
four Zines by the ordinary processes. The result
,nQ model measured about thriy-fOur feet III
height This made accurate possible and
then divided into sections. each one OF which was
to be enlarged once more tour times No further
changes couM now be- made the sculptor could
only aim 1t great precision aud subsection every
where OF minor details.
The sectious we're reproduced luadrupled IN
plaster on a frame OF iatb. Each Dali-head and
point Lad 10 he measured SIX times and verified rs
often; AMI with 1900 points. some $4,000
measurements were necessary. Wooden monlls
were then ntted to The plaster cast and the copper
sheeiings hammered ont roughly. The profile of
the forms was then taken in detail with sh cts OF
lead, and the copper sheets worked over more
accurately.
Once ~ shape they were knit together from point
10 point BY iron braces. VIII oh we're forged ITO the
form Of the cop or when IT'S outline was completely
modelled. The copper pieces were then brought
together and tastenel on the powerful trusswOrk
oil iron beams, which now serves ~ support Tor the
whOle envelope of the statue The core of this
trnsswor is sort of pylon with four points OF at
tachnent. each point held in place by three boIed
braces SIX inches in diameter and running twenty
five ie { into the masonry OF tile foundation to a
iram, of iron beams
These detail. are gwen because they to
settle tonclnSlvely the question OF the statues
power of resistance to high wind, Taken as
basis the fercest hurricanes recorlel in either
Europe or America. calculations have shown that
the goddess could withstand any known gale.
COLOSSAL SIZE OF THE FIGURE.
Tho statue measures l5l feet and l inch from
tho bottom of the plinth to the tip OF tho torch
dame, AMI stands IN all 800 feet and IL inches
above low-water marx. Tue fore5nger of the god
desss light hand is over seven feet long and over
four feet IN circumference at tue second JOINT The
eve - two feet wide and the nose more than three
feet long The total weight of the statue is about
twenty-five tons; 1T cost in making over II million
of francs.
The Goddess of Liberty is the largest work of it's
KIND that has ever been completed. The legendary
Colossus OF Rhodes cou not possibly have mad
the shape or blgness attributed to il. The colossal
statue OF Arminius, in Bavaria, is about ninety
Tour teet IN height; that of ST. Charles Borroneo
on the shores OF Lake Muggiore, seveDty-fve feet.
The virgin of Puy comes next, rfy-two feet. and
the statue of Bavaria last scarcely more than
loot shorter All of them shrink ont OF countenance
beside the gigantic copper figure on Bedow's
Island.
The colossal in art it is generally understood.
can he used to express only limited number of
IDEAS 10 must represent. if possible, some vast
abstraction. and carry with it always the sug
grstlon OF power, majesty infnity. Its peculiar
euect i mat OF tho physically sublime, touched
and heightened by the idea of moral -ublimity.
Ana so It IL not tho mere legendary goddess, with
more nah manly strength and more than w0manly
,,a;toneSs elear-eyed, and wise and patient, like
represent.
Inc hgurc of 4 graceful, deep-browed woman is
fheIe whose richly -pleated robes hang in soft
rouhneu IoIds about her shapey breast and limbs.
tns pure. clear face anu the uxuriant hair crowned
WIN q sparkling fiadem OF light. But through it
an snlnes' as 1t ought 10 shine, tho sug-
9estIon OF That eager. PROSECUTING passion for
IlDsrtY ior which the men of the Revolut'on
and which IN modern days " only one OF sheaf Of