Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1891-07-31
THEIR FeATS OF SKILL WHICH MOD
ERNS CANNOT EQUAL.


granted that Stouehenge, for example, was
built by savages where the brute multi
tude came from, how they subsistcl on
Salisbury Plain, or why it il necessary to
assume that they were unacquaiuted with
mechanics.
All that is chose jugce-beyond dispute
If you cte records of antiquity which toll
Of works he cannot rival that fact alone is
proof that the record is a lie for how can
it possibly be that mere Greeks and Romans
should have been able to do whf& the build
ers Of the Eiffel tower and the Forth bridge
cannot accomplish We had an amusing
instance Of this feeling lately. The in
genious NJ Eiffel and the artistic NJ Bar
tholdi have been gravely bordering tho
Colossus of Rhodes-measuring it and
weighing it rs 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 it could not have
stood the pressure of the wind. This is
demonstrated 10y all the rules Of modern
science, and lie who does not admit the
demonstration must be prepared t. show
that two and two do not make four. Those
antique personages who protested to have
seen the Colossus We're victims Of an ocular
delusion or fat story tcllers, and that
greater number who mention il inrideut-
ally, as we might mention the ruins of the
Colosseum were credulous gossips. TAs
fact is that Mes,rs. EiNel and Barthold-
argue in the fashion usual with engineers.
Not all Of them would pretend that they
know any law Of mature which applies IN
such a cuse But very few would listen
patiently if it were urged that the aucients
.-s.I L. II
acquainted
SO it appears, however, to the disiDter-
ested student, and we can bring forward
evidence enough. If it be true that the
Colossus Of Rhodes is really proved i'm
possible" according to the best modern
authorities, this is a good illustration 10
begin with, for its existence > rs well au-
thentiCated as the temple at Delphi and
the statue Of Olympian Xe,s or the Tower
of London. for that matter, to one who
has never seen it. BY some means it was
set up, and by adaptation Of some natural
laws it was made 10 stand until an earth
quake overt brew it. One is embarrassed
by the number and variety of illustrations
to the same effect which crowd upon the
mirS
Since the Colosseum has been mentioned
we may choose examples Of the class. Is
VI. Einel prepared 70 put an awning over
Trafa,csr square when the sun shines, and
remove il promptly without the aid of a
central support of steam engines or even
cnaiuss The area Of the Colosseum is GER
t4lu.y not los. This may seem q trIdIug
matter 70 The thoIzlt.e-~ .c.a'lse they
have never considered IT, Roman -.urDrs
covered in that vast cEnIuse with some
wooden material, AMI they worked rho
u0nlerous sheet Sd easily and smoothly
hat it was drawn and Withdrawn as the
SKY changed. The bulk of 1t must have
weighed hundreds Of tons, all depending
by ropes from the circumference. But the
aucients thought SO little Of this feat that
they have left US only one trivial detail OF
the method.
ALEXANDER'S GIG ANIIC TENT.
So julius Caesar stretched an awning
above the Forum Romanuu and great part
Of the Via Sacra in the space of - single
night Have any of OUr modern engineers
pondered the contemporary descriptions If
AleXanders dUrbar tent before Babylou'
That, again appears to have had no CEN
trail support. 1t was upheld, says Ply
larchus, 10y eight pillars Of solid gold. OF
the glorious plenishing within We have not
10 speak. since orr theme ia mechanics
Around the throne and the great court.ers
stood 800 Macedonian guards, in a circle
beyond them 800 Persian guards beyond
these again 1000 arChers. To fix tent
which held 900 soldiers on duty with
arms and accoutrementS, surrounding, in
successive circles, the most gorgeous ORR
entail court that ever was with hundreds
of satraps, councillors, generals, e1nuchs
and slaves, would uerpl,X "a mechauiu ian
Of the Nineteenth century
He will reply that the story is false
must be, because he could not match il.
Happily the awning Of the Colosseum
stands beyond dispute, and A!eNlndcrs
tent is "a small matter compared with that
/ But we undertook to deal with the euC.4-
eering of the ancients in connection with
the theatre, having CHANGED On that class
OF illustration. Pliny tells how Metelus
Scaurus, A1dile, built a wondrouS eLiLce
which stirred his rival c. Curio to frantic
jealousy. II may be worth while In pass
ing-since we are all so much interested in
the theatre nowadays and think SO much
of our new ones to tell what sort II a
building that was which Curio set himself
10 outdo. 1t had 800 marble columns rac'
80 feet high and IS feet apart. Above 1900
bronze statues stood among them The
stage had three floors, was usual-the
lowest paved and fitted with marble, the
second with glass, the third Zi.Lod, boards
and all. 1t held $1,000 people
Such was the wonder which Curio re
solved TO boat, and feeling himself unable
to vie in outlay he summoned the ensIn-
GERS Of the period to design something
which would fetch" the public They
built two enormous theatres of wood, each
to contain an audience of 5000, which
stood back to back
When the spectators assembled in the
forenoon Curio was chaiIed, no doubt, on
the issue Of his attempt 10 excel ocAuIuo.
But the audience returned in the after
noon. for these entertainments were de-
voted TO the names Of Curlo's father nlI
lasted a month. In the place of two thea
tres back to back they found an amphi-
theatre holding s0,oOO persons, wherein
gladiators and wild beasts coutended uut.
dewy eve The two great buildings had
been swung round and united, and day boy
day for the month following this colossa.
trick was repested.-St James Gazette
WomaD ARC lDugpr lived than men