, 1891-11-07
GRANTS TOMB.
MOVING THE BODY 10 ITS FINAL
RESTING PLACE.
Slow and Tedious work VARS.
Grant a Daily Visitor at the
Tomb of Her HUSBAND.

Tomb of Her Husband.
NEW York, Nov. 1.-THE extremely diff
fcult task of removing the temporary
tomb Of General Grant to its final resting
place in Riverside Park is completed and
the body of the hero is in the spot where it
will remain forever.
1t was the original intention 7of the ex-
ecutiye committee of the association to
have the temporary tomb removed in sec
tions. This. however, whould involve the
exposure of the steel coffin, and the COM
mittee therefore decided to have the tomb
removed with the coffin in position.
DIFFICULTIES OF THE TASK.
The generals bodygwas in very heavy
steel box, but not fastened to the marble
stands and simply rests on them If in
moving the tomb it should by any means
be thrown out of plumb there was great
danger that it would slip, and if it should
fall in the direction Of the doors which
face the west its weight would break them
open and the steel case itself might be
broken.
The foundation of the permanent maui
soleum is to be 10Y feet square, and work
was begun on this several months ago
There have been 100 men working on the
foundation night and day, and it has pro-
gressed rapidly on the two northeast piers
and the southwest pier. The southeast
section has not been touched, and it was
here that the temporary tomb was. The
heavy foundation rose around it to height
of fifteen feet, and the problem of getting
the tomb to the top without injury was
given to the contractor to solve.
PROGRESS VERY SLOW AT FIRST.
The tomb rested on a bed of concrete that
had to be cut with chisels, as blasting was
out of the question. 1t not only took sew
enty-tWo hours to build the tomb, but it
was evidently meant to stay. 1t took the
workmen longer than this to get through
the concrete on one side of the tomb. and
it was ten days before an opening was
made all around it. The contractor esti.
mated the weight Of the structure at 200
tons. Digging under it to make place for
the timbers was made very difficult, from
the fact that the foundation rested upon a
bed of sand, which kept running in al
most as fast as it was taken out. Several
times the tomb shifted slightly, and the
contractor kept watch through the glass
door to see whether the coffin moved.
1t took three days to get the first layer of
timbers down, and when all the props were
put against the tomb, the heavy jacks were
puG unuef Gne STRUCTURE ana Ghe work OF
eleVaglllg eVlg II pegan' oW1hg 10 the uncertain
ll louIiuaGlo1 ChaG Une 0efs fesUed on, the
CoIlp Gould llob pe raised evenly all around,
anu a. Gne contractor feared mat ghe struc-
ture might crack at anv moment. Two
inches an hour was the average speed, and
at every six inches the workmen stopped
70 tS, oulld m GRID unaef me tomb. several OF
tne Iihlpers gov oub q Place las6a ~ onday,
ana , Iof rev moments there was great dam
gef Gllag Gl1e ~ neaYy structure W2h1d fal on
tlle tlle neaos Oh GIle Wofkmeh.
MRS. GRANT WATCHES THE WORK
Mrs. Grant returned to tbe city from ba,.
country home last Tuesday and droL1a 81
once to Riverside Park Tbis was oeG tbe Grst sst
visit she had made since the heeiSnino 81 IF
the summer. It is her custom t6 % to efba
tomb every Sunday morning when She ID n
The citv. On Tuesday the bottom '' Of The
tomb was at the level of the concrate fo,11,.
dation and the tomb's doors were a bonf ten
feet above. Mrs. Grant had heard fhat tba
tomb was Going to he removed INT did ,nof
know that the work had been begI1n untii
her arrival ia the city. She had heard
that the tomb narrowly escaned faIIing
the dav before and she cIimbad m tb6e
hill to the ton IF the foundatinn and FanI1
iously inquired Of the workmen wbetber
there was any DANGER When She ues al
sureCt that there Vas none her mind ypa 111
greatly relieved. She did NOT look info tbe
tomb as is her custom. altbough the work
men offered to bnild a aniatform to tba doar
for her accommodations Since then Mrs
Grant has visited the tomb every dav II
men from the Riverside drive.
A track of three heavy tlmbers was built
Tiluel ole eollIp olI sTeGlesaay, ana on