Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-02-27
low THEY MOVED THE ODE
LiSK.

The tnMIItken w Nht A-'p
Work of Gorfipgc. schroeder hnd Price
Speaking VI Engineer Tricc reminds
ne OF the unwritten history OF the re-
moval Of Cleopalra's Needle from the
banks of the cid harbor OF Alexandra,
near the Ram'eh Railway Station, writes
Colonel J. Miliken in Frank Ls'lieS
PoD1tlar MOHfhIH Squire" DAVIS,
ship carrenter Of Nowank, Conn, and In.
rineer Price, OF Trenton, y. D., arrived
in Alexandria about a month before the
others of the party. When Commaan-
der Gorringe and Lieutenant Schroeder
arrived. they met with active opposition
from the residents OF all ns'ionaltie'i
but eventually the American flag wa
hoisted on the obeli.E and steps were
taken towards its change of base.
All the mathematical work, with the
direct superintendent of the laborersi
was in charge of Lieutenant Schroeder.
The entire needle" wa jyered with
a casing Of pine boards by Squire DAVIS
and his gang of Arabs, while Engineer
Price and his Maltese machlnists placed
the trunnions and supports, and did the
immense amount o! irOnwork required.
At last, when everything was clear
end the obalisk rested on the supports
like an immense cannon standing per-
endicularly on its carriage -Gorringe
thought he was ready to turn 1t down
to horizontal position, which visa the
first step toward lowering 1t t. the
ground; so he invited the principal dig
nitaries of the city and couatry to WI
ness the operation. There was n Rus
sian squadron in the harbor at the time,
and the Admira! and his officers, with
large lowering party Of Russian sail
ors, were on hand. In fact it was areg-
ular Alexand ion holiday, and The good
people turned out en- maSse for the pur-
pose of taking a farewell look at their
cherished monument. The blocks and
tackle we're attached to the top, the
Hussian sailors laid hold and when the
word was given pulled with a will. A.
the obei,k swaycd great cheer went
hp. which moment later turned into
1erisiye laughter. 1t on V moved n lew
feet at the to. , and all the hauling Of
the Russian Navy conld no. bulge Il
further.
Our Americans had made q seri)us
blunder bottom of the obclisk was
square and fiat, as was the top Of the
forty-ton pede,tal, and in raising the
monolith sufficient space had rot been
allowed for the turn. 1t was humii-
ating moment fer our gallant comman-
der when he was compelled to dismiss
hi, guests with the obelisk in the posi-
ton of the Leaning Tower at Pi-a
What fun there was that night in Alex
andria ut his expense, for every patriotic
Egyptian rejoiced at his failure. The
following morning he had the Italian
stonecutters chip off enough from the
lower corner next the city to permit the
turn. But what Gorringe at the time
considered his greatet discontinue
was in reality, the best bit OF luck he
could have had for, a surely as the
turn had been made that first day, We
should have received &C eopatras Nee
de- in two or more pieces
Gorringe and Schroeder hal calcula
ted that they had placed the trunnior q
at the center Of gravity, and cor e
quently fastened only three-inch rope
to the bottom, intending to allow the
monolith, evenly balanced, to be gently
pulled down to the horizontal. On the
first day they had not taken tse pre-
caution of making a re sting place for 1t,
relying entirely upon the block and
tackle below; but as they had a large
force of lab orers on hand on the morn
ing of the second day, and nothing else
for them to do, they SCI them to build
a crib of three-inch planks to the re-
quired height. When the sailors startea,
that afternoon, to pull, the lower rope
snapped lie packthreid and down
came the Delisk by the ruu, smashing
the planks and scattering them as
though they had been pile of matches.
Their elasticity alone saved it from
breaking. Our engineer had misca'
culated the center of gravity about
fifty tons.
The obelisk was finally lowered into
a Sow, built under it on ways. Com
mander Gorringe then invited the Off
Gals to see the launch, and there was
another Alexandrian laugh at his ex-
pense, as it did not take place at the
time specified scow stuck on IL =
ways. Wnen. by liberal use of grease
time and jacks, the launch did take
place, the guests had departed 1t
then appeared that another slight mis-
calculation had been made, as the nose
of the scow was run into the bottom OF
the harbor.