The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-11-04
THE GREAT STATUE.

Inc BdrtlOI0l statue OF liberty Is
the most gigantic production of the
sculptors chisel that has ever been
executed. Beside it all the famous
statues of ancient and medieval times
sink into insignifcance. 1t weighs In
all 10000 pounds, or 225 tons, and its
total height, from the foundation of the
pedestal to the torch, is 46 meters, or
Isl feet inches Its total height a
bove mean low-water mark is 305 feet
6 inches, and it towers high above any
building in New York or Brooklyn.
The renowned Colossus of Rhodes, &C
cording to all the legends about it
which have come down from antiquity,
was but a miniature In comparison,
and other great statues seen proper
tionally small. The great Bavaria, at
Munich, measures but Is meters 20
centimeters, the Virgin of Puy is 16
meters and the st. Charles Borromeo
% meters. The massive Vendome
column, in Paris, is only A meters in
height An idea of the immensely of
the statues proportions may be form
ed from following dimensions of its
component parts: The foretinger Is s
feet in length and Z feet and six inch
es in circumference at the second joint;
the nail of the finger measures l foot
3 inches by l foot The nose is 4 feet
6 inches in length and the eyes each
2 feet inches in width. Forty per
sons can stand without discomfort in
the head, while the torch itself has ca
pacity for twelve, and it is possible for
several men to ascend through the arm
to the torch together without squeez-
ing, The right arm is AZ feet long
and II feet in its greatest thickness.
The waist is 35 feet through, the head
10 feet The hand is 16 feet long and
the mouth three feet wide. The total
number of steps in the staircase lead
ing from the base of the foundation to
the top of the pedestal there are 1876
steps and in the statue proper 154.
The ladder leading up through the
extended right arm to the torch has
54 rounds.
The pedestal is so feet high and is
81 feet square at the base, tapering to
40 feet at the summit The Grecian
columns above the base are each Y
feet s inches in height. The fonda
ton on which the pedestal rests is 65
feet high 1t is 81 feet square at the
bottom, tapering gradually to 81 feet
at the top. The pedestal is shell of
smoothly hewn granite, held in place
by several thousand barrels of cement.
Its entire cost was S250,000, of which
100000 was raised by popular sub
scription to the pedestal fund of The
New York World The remainder
was appropriated by congress.
Ground was broken for the foundation
in April 1883, and it was completed IN
April, 1885. The pedestal was com
pleted late in the spring of the present
year. The first rivet was driven on
the statue July IL, 1886.
The statue itself represents an out
lay of more than 100000 francs. It
is made of sheet of beaten copper fix
ed on pylonic iron trusswork, which
serves as a support for the shell-like
covering. The copper plates are kept
in shape by iron bands and supported
by iron braces, which are clamped on
the central core. They do not bear in
the least on the lower plates, and their
weight is always independent of all
that is above and below. Exhaustive
mathematical calculations were made
upon the resisting power of the iron
pieces, upon the center of gravity, and
upon the action of high winds. The
calculations were made by taking as a
base the most powerful hurricanes
which have been recorded in America
or Europe. The copper plates are two
and one-haf millimeters in thickness.
The copper plating of the statue of
st. Charles Borromeo is only one MILL
meter thick, and it has stood for two
centuries.