Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-02-08
WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
A Trip in the Elevator to the Top of
the Great Shaft.
Sensations Experienced In Making the As
cent-Magnificent and Impressive View
of the city and Surrounding Coun-
try-A Memorable Visit.

Vicinity, which Jney can carry away III
their memories AS one OF their most
precious souvenirs. A trip up, with
the car loaded. occupies about ten
minutes. Ten minutes are spent at the
top to give tho visitors n chance to look
out OF the windows, and then those
who wish to go down are taken back
to the lower regions. about nine min
utes being occupied by the descent.
Those who wish to remain above, how
ever are permitted to do so, but they
must wait for the next downward trip
OF the car, since no visitors are al
lowed TO ascend or descend by means
OF the stairway.
At last the word was given, the door
was shut with n bang, and the con-
ductor, with a glance around the car,
pulled the hand-cable downward Sow
eral times in succession. There was
slight tremble or shake rs the car was
lifted from the floor, and then the
hoads of tho Waterman, and the floor
man. and the square doorway full OF
light seemed to slip down, down, until
| they were lost. The car moved noise
lessly and smoothly as II slid up the
longest elevator shaft in the world.
The eye, turned instinctively upward,
winlked at the immense vista, through
which the strong. stiff RED cables
twins they looked like-spin them
selves up and over two great wheels in
the roof, five hundred feet overhead.
| The light from tho incandescent lamps
| filtered through the grated roof and
| sides OF the car, giving Il spotted APP
| pearance To the passengers On either
| side were the rough, uneven courses
! OF the old masonry. the stones ragged
and the same zigaaging without regard
| TO uniformity.
Tho eye had about tired of the
monotony of the surroundings when
some ono exclaimed at the appearance
| OF the first of the celebrated memorial
| stones set In tho walls. This first
series occurs on the thirty-foot level.
by the way, every thing in the nonu-
ment 10 located by "levels." The bot
tom is called tho ground level, and
every landing is known by the number
OF feet OF its elevation. On the thirty
foot level arc the stones of Maine,
| Delaware, Arkansas and the National
Grays, of Washington. From this
point to the halfway level the trip Is
full OF interest, the attention bong
drawn to alternate sides of the car to
note the various tablets and inscrip-
tons A good plan to follow is To take
one side going up and the other going
down. paying strict attention to each
in its turn. Tho level at forty feet
contains tho stones from Nashville,
| Tom, Louisiana, Colorado, Alabama
and tho Columbia Typographical
Society, Thence tho States and
all sorts OF societies and military
companies are intermingled. On the
sixty foot level is an old square tablet,
so badly weathor-bcaton that it is IL
legiblo from tho eur. On the next
level is II magnificent stone from Mas
sachusetts and one from Connecticut.
The latter is worn so on the left-hand
side that some OF the raised lettering
| Is very indistinct, while that on the
other side Is sharp and clear. The
City of Washingtou's tribute to her
godfather is neighbor of the stones
from Maryland and Virginia on the
| olghty-foot level. On the two hundred
foot level is ono of handsomost collec-
lions OF stone in the monument. The
| tablet from Bremen is a rich piece of
dark stone highly polished, standing
out two inches from the wall, with
rounded edges. The lettering Is Gle
gantly gilded on tho surface. In the
center of the landing is stone, in re-
lief from Turkish temple. The rich
Oriental ornamentatiou is in sharp
costrast to the simplicity exhibited in
the majority of the stones, and at
tracts instant attention.
To the right, under the Bremen
stone, is Il large tablet from the Swiss
Federation, This shows to greater
extent than any other stone in the
shaft the vandalism OF visitors that
finally forced the now extinct Monu.
ment Commission to close the shaft to
he-public. Five or six of the large
raised letters of tho stone have been
bodily removed and tho tablet other
wise injured. In many instances the
stones have been blackened perma
nently by the close application of can
die flames. This occurred wher
every visitor was obliged to carry
with him candle or u lantern to light
the way up tho steps through the
Egyptian darkness of the shaft. Michi
gan ID represented oG the two hundred
and ten-foot level by solid block oi
copper suitably inscribed, and ten
feet above is the gem of the collection,
stone from Nevada, bearing the
name of the State in letters of solid
silver, set into the block, flush with
the surface. On this same level is {
stone from Salt Lake City, with th(
characteristic beehive carved on the
front. The tablets extend to half-wa.
up the shaft. The last ones are on the
, two hundred and forty-foot level. o
these the highest is that from Wakes
a handsome black stone, highly pol
ished, and bearing an inscription il