Los Angeles herald., 1890-04-06
LA TOUR EIFFEL. !"
Description of the Marvellous
Structure.
It's Summit Kisses the Sapphire
Sky.
The Electric Light Has Been Seen
Fifty-three Miles Away.
Major Ben c. Truman's Impressions of the
Work Set Forth in an interest
ing Letter.

/
EDITORS HERALD-"La Tour Eiffel' is
at once the most marvellous and the
most majestic, spectacular and enchant-
ing mechanical achievement of any time.
Looking up at it from the Trocadero, or
from the central dome, or from the
fountain underneath, or down upon it
from its summit, or from any of its
! floors, there is delight and an inn
pressiyeness that is produced by no
other structure of ancient or modern
times. Mr.. Dana, of the New York Sun,
taking in the panorama from the top of
the tower, wrote to his paper: ''The
scene is overwhelming. The Champ-de-
it, the vast areas enclosed, the
Seine imprisoned and its bridges
contiscated, the Trocadero attached,
the Invalides assimilated, the be-
wildering outburst of color, the incon-
ceivable gayety and animation of the
scene, all produce an impression ON the
mind such as no humanly-contrived
spectacle ever before effected. l look
down from the summit Of Eiffel
Tower, the greatest piece of engineering
known. All the occasions of spectacular
delight that have ever been known,
whether they sprang from an industry
OF a people or from the pride of a con-
queror, pale into utter insignificance be-
fore the display now made in Paris. To
see it, and to absorb it's variety, day by
dow ic q 1ibaro1 oJ,1ootio, o,,J N ,,oct
potent and irresistible incentive to pro-
gress and endeavor."
Birds Eye View of the Tower.
Its summit kisses the sapphire sky,
and the severest tempest on record at the
Paris Observatory could not produce a
vibratory motion of more than six or
seven inches. 1t is nearly 900 feet
from it's base to the top of it's flagstaff,
and it looms up 430 feet higher than the
Washington monument, or 1852 feet
higher than the Cathedral at Cologne,
which is the third highest thing in the
world made by human hands. 1t can
be seen from any part of Paris and its
environs, and its electric flashes can be
viewed as far off as Fontainbleau. and
have even been witnessed from the
Chartres cathedral, 53miles away.
You behold its noble form by day and
you dream of it at night. 1t at once
fascinates and impresses, and truly is
monarch for all it surveys" 1t is vast,
spectacular, brilliant, grand and wonder
full; and no one who has seen it can ever
forget its stupendous and magnificent
proportions. 1t stands upon four legs"
or inclined pillars, each leg or pillar
having an Otis elevator, which carries
about 700 persons up to the first and sec
ond floors hourly, or $500 in all. 1t
takes just &c seconds to reach the first
floor, which is 165 feet from the ground
upon this floor are great many bazars
and tour restaurants, each of which is
l05 feet in length, and four corner pa
vlllons, each about fifty feet square. A
splendid gallery ten feet wide runs clear
round the first floor, and as many as
5000 people have been upon this gallery
and in the restaurants at one time. All
Paris may be seen from this gallery
and, IN my opinion, it is the best view
OF all-certainly much better and more
satisfactory one than that obtained
from the upper floor. The same elevator
takes you in siXty-eight seconds to the
second platform, 173 feet higher, where
there are a great many stores and a
saloons. This floor has an area of about
$4,000 square feet, land it also has gallery
nearly, if not quite, as broad as the one
upon the first floor, To get to the (pub-
lic) top there are 524 feet more to accom-
plish, which takes about four minutes
(Which includes one minute for transfer)
and which is made by two ocounterweight
lifts OF 262 feet each, and which take up
some 800 people an hour. The second
time l ascended the tower there were
o,oOo people in it; and, while it was
raining hard a hundred feet below the
upper story, it was the gayest
OF sunshine above. The upper story. or
f1oor, contains number of bazars, &C..
and has an area of $500 square feet. A
lew yards higher is the sanctum of Mr..
Elifel, and above him, few feet, is the
apldlng place OF the managers of the
electric lights, which are flashed all over
Pans from :30 in the evening until 10.
Beside the elevator and lifts there are
stalrcases from bottom to top, but |
nave never met a person who has ever
made the trip either way afoot the sec
ond time. The stairways to the domi
cile OF Mr.. Eiffel and to the rooms
still further above are private, and few
have been invited to go up to the yerv
tlp-top.
An Arizona Cowboy "On Top"
1t is noteworthy fact, however, that
an American cowboy-"Arizona Joe'-
was the first human being to reach the
top OF the Tower Eiffel after it's COM
pletion and public opening, as the
upper elevator Gan Edoux lift) was in
augurated on the 10th of June, 1889;
and the first party to go up was the
Prince and Princess of Wales, Duke and
Duchess Uzes, Marquis and Marquise de
Perigord, Colonel frederick Clarke, Cap
tain Carter Centurrier, Colonel Viii
liam F. Cody. Major John M. Burke,
Annie Oakley and "Arizona Joe," the
four last named being members of the
Buffalo Bill'' show Joe stepped out
OF the lift first, then ascended the pri-
vate stairway, and pinned lithograph
OF Cody upon the lightning-rod of
the highest tower in the world. M.
Eiffel had planted the French
flag upon the uppermost part of this
colossal piece Of mechanism on the 31st
OF March preceding, however, but the
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