The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-08-29

It is wRsteiof time to ask him how the
powders Of Stonehenge were conveyed 70
their resting place, bow the walls Of Ffe-
sole or Mycene were bgik; these marvels
represent the power " hich.lies IN the brute
force of multitudes, and there's an end of
the question. Engineering nopvis an art
and a science, with which The rude work
Of the savegea has no sort of, connection.
One must potsinquire why he takes it for
granted that SsonehenR, fw example, was
built by saxages, where The brute multi
tlds csne from, how they subsisted on
| Salisbury Plain, or why 1t is necessary 20
assume THAI they were unacquainted with
| mechanics.
! All THAI Is chose jugee-beyond dispute
| IF You cite records of antiquity which tell
Of works he cannot rival that fac1 alone is
proof that the record is a lie; for how can
| II possibly be thstmere Greeks andS RoCnans
should have been able 20 do what che build
ers Of the Ehfei tower and the Forth bridge
cannot accomplish We had an amusing
instance of this feeling lstsly. The In
genious n EAfei and the artistic NJ. Bar
thofdi have been grave2y pondering the
Colossus Of Rhodes-meas1ring It and
weighing it Is per description. and they
conclude that the thing was simply impos-
sible.
THE COLOSSEUM
It could not have been set mp, to begin
with, and-when set up 1t could not have
stood the pressure Of the wind This is
demonstrated by all the rules of modern
science, and he who does not admit the
demonstration must be prepared to show
that swo and t10 do not make four Those
antique personages who ,professed 70 have
seen the Colossus were Victims Of 40, oculax
deluKion or fat story teilers, and that
greater number who mention ie incident
ally, as Be Enight meation the ruins of the
Colosseum, were eredulous gossips. The
fact Is that ~Messrs. ESffel and Barthold
argue In the fashion usual with engineers.
Not all Of them would pretend that they
know any law Of nstuss which appljAs in
sach case. But very few would listen
patiently if il were urged that the ancients
knew some laws with which they were I'M
acquainted.
So it appears, however, to the disinter-
ested student, and we can bring forward
evidence enough. If IL be true~that the
Colossus of Rhodes is really proved "im-
possible" according TO the best modern
authorities, this is good illustration to
begin with, for its existence Is assvell au-
thenticated as the templeaat Delphi and
the statue Of OlynsE,ihn Deus, or tbs Tower
of London, for that matter TO one who
has never seen 10 BY SOME means. it was
set up, and by adaptation of some natural
laws il was made TO stand until an earth
quake overthrow it. One is embarrassed
by the number and variety ofillustra6fons
to the same effect which crowd upon the
mind ~
Since the Colosseum has been mentioned
we may choose examples OF the class. Is
NJ. Eiffel prepared to put an awning over
Trafalgar square wheh the; sun shines, and
remove it promptly without the aid of a
central support Of steam engines or even
chainsP TheaFes Of she. COLOSSEUM b. Ger
tainky not less. This may ,eem CStrihing
matter TO sthe thogghticss because they
have never consideFed it. Rosass7 engineers
covered in that vast expanse with some
woolen material; and they worked the
ponderous sheee so easily and smoothly
that it was drawn and withdrawn as the
sky changed The hulk OF it must have
weighed hundreds OF tons, all depending
by ropes from tho circumference. But the
sncients thought so little Of this feat that
they have left as cnly one trivial detail Of
the method.
AhRxANDBR's GIGANTIC TENT
So Julins Caesar stretched an awning
above the Forum Rezzanum and great part
Of the Via Sacra IN the space Of single
night. Have any of our modern engineers
pondered the contemporary descriptions of
Alexander's durbar tent before Rahylons
That, again, appears to have had no cen
trail support. 1t was upheld, says Ply
larcfus, by eight piilass Of solid gold OF
the glorious plenishingwtthin we have not
to speak, since our theme is rneohauica
Around the throne and the great courtieYs
stood 800 Macedonian guards; m q circle
beyond them 500 Persian guards; beyond
these again 1000 aFchers. To fix a tent
which held 2,0O0 soldiers on duty with
arms and accoutrernenes, surrounding. IN
successive circles, the most gorgeous ON
entail court that ever was, with hundreds
Of sztraps, councillors, generals, eunuchs
and slaves. would perplex mechanician
Of the Nineteeneh eentay.
He will reply uhzt Tie story is false
must be. because he could not match il,
the awning Of the Colosseum
glands beyond dispoee, apd@A1ezaodeR's
lent is a small matter compsr& with that
But We undertook topdeaf with che eu2in-
eering Of the sncieusssn c0nasction with
the theatre, having cfmced on that class
Of nlust<sGon. Phny tells how Msoelius
Scaurus, Hdae, buklt a wundfDus edince,
jealousy. It may be worth while in pass-
we anesil SO much interested in |
.he theatre nowadays and chink 30 much
of our new ones 10 ten what sort Of
building that was witch Oorio set himself |
% outdo. Il bad SEQ marb3eeolurns, each |
b feet high and 90 feet apGt. Above z, 600 |
bronze statues sct,Od among them The /
,tage had three Aoors, Is was usual-she
,owest paved and 1rred with marble, tbs |
,ecmd with glass, the laird gilded, bosrds
md all II held 80, ooe people.
Such was the wcndaT which Ourio 10
'oiyed TO beat, AND feeling himself unable
% vie in outlay he summoned the enzfn- |
,ers Of Ire period 20 design sonsthing /
which woald "fetoh" the public They |
quilt two enoroous theatres Of wood each
o contain an ssdienoe Of Is 900, which
itood back 70 back
When the spectators assembled IN the
orenoOn Curio vac co afed, no doubt, on
be ksS1e Of his attempt TO excel ScanruA.
BIT the audience returned IN the after
loon, for these entertainments wers de-
'oted 20 enc names Of CuEio's father and
asted month. In the place Of two thea
res back 70 back they found a. anphi-
hsstre hOldlng 5000 persons, wherein
,lsdiasorx and wild beasts commended until
levy eve. Ths tEo great 0uildings bad
zen swung round and uni.ed. and day By
lay for the month following this colossal
rick Vas Pepeztsd-St- James Gazette.