The morning news., 1889-01-18
MRS. JAY GoULD's TOMB.
The Great Nausoleum in q New York
Cemetery.


From the Baltimore Atuericdn.
Woodlawn cemetery, where is located the
mausoleum in which the remains Of Mrs.
Jay Gould were placed, is widely known as
the burying place of some Of the famous
people Of the world. The remains of Lester
Wallack, Frank Leslie, Tim Eastman and
others rest here, and the wealthy families
who formerly owned lots at GREENWOOD
have turned their attention to Woodlawn,
which is on the Harlem road, this side of
Mount Vernon.
The lots are sold at fabulous prices. jay
Gould paid $50, 900 for little less than an
acre of land, and it was Mrs. Gould who
persuaded him to buy it and to build the
famous tomb. They were walking one day
through the cemetery, when Mrs. Gould
suggested to her husband that he buy lot
nearer the center of the grounds and build
the mausoleur. Gould always deferred to
his wife in matters of the kind, and he at
once turned over his old lot to the cemetery
authorities, after buying the site of the now
famous Gould tomb, the highest elevation
in the cemetery, being one foot above that
of Sidney Dillon.
Mr.. Gould, after buying the $4,000 acre
lot, invited plans from three architects, and
made but three stipulations as to the con-
strdction of the mausoleum; first, that 1t
ouOuAO bc OullO dS SJt dlN eho 'SAJ
as possible, that it should not be too large,
and that simplicity in construction should
be observed. The mausoleum is Ionic in
architecture 1t is built Of Rhode Island
granite, is % feet wide, 33 feet long and 20
feet high to the apex of the roof. The col
umns are l01S feet high, and 13 inches in
diameter. Three rows of steps running all
around, lead up to the temple and form the
exterior Of its base.
fIha for mia frOntS tbn cO11fh and hafnra
The doorway the columns part, or there is
gap-apparently left by the taking out of
the center column. In the doorway are
two doors of bronze opening inward. They
are eight feet high and two feet wide, and
weigh ton each. The lower part of the
doors is of solid bronze, panelled, and each
part is ornamented on the outside with a
dragons head, a big IRON ring swinging in
the mouth of each dragon The upper part
of the doors is a fret%ork of cherubs and
vines. The open spaces in the fretwork are
large, comparatively, and through these a
perfect view of the interior crypt can be
obtained.
The interior is twenty feet long, seven
feet wide. and thirteen feet high. The
roof of it is one solid slab of granite, which
weighs six tons The ceiling border is
paneled with egg and dart moulding. The
floor is one plain slab of marble. Along
the sides Of the interior are the catacambs.
There are tweaty-ten on each side, in four
rows of five each, the rows on each side
being separated in the middle by granite
slab. The catacombs are each seven and
a-half feet long aud two and a-half feet
wide, and the catacomb walls, from the
inside of the catdcomb to the outside of
the mauSoleum. are Is inches thick. These
walls are granite, of course, but the inner
walls, those facing the interior of the crypt,
are of light pink and cream-colored Tennes
see marble, highly polished so that the in
terror of the nausoleum has a warm tint.
These interior walls are, in fact, simple
slabs of marble, closely fitting into the
openings of the catacombs, and capable of
being removed so as to allow the coffin to he
set in or withdrawn. Upon the front and at
the end of each slab are bronze rings fitted
upon the slab by means of bands or bronze,
and by these the slabs may be lifted out. A
stained glass window at the back lights the
crypt. 1t pictures a heavenly choir of an
gels. The faces of the choir are refulgent
in the light of grand candelabra. The
arched window is feet high and feet
wide.
The whole temple weighs about 300
tons 1t rests on solid concrete founda-
tion, s feet thick, which was very slowly
and carefully laid. 1t is understood that
the cost of the mausoleum was about
$50 900.