The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-12-27
The Corner Stone of this Great
Building to be Laid Today.
THE FINEST IN AMERICA
It VIII be the Greatest Religious
Structure in the World.
The Cost viii Exceed Ten Miliions-It
will be of the Round Arch Gothic
Order, Following Plans of
Early Christian Churches.

NEW YORK. Dec. 3D. Special. i-Ine
corner stone of what will be the greatest
religious structure in America, and pos
sibly as great as any in the world, will be
laid tomorrow with imposing ceremonies.
Almost twenty years have passed since
the board OF trustees was first organized
and as the construction will take fifteen
years longer it win be over a generation
from conception to completion. Tues
day was selected for the cornerstone lay
ing because it is st. Johns day alter
whom the cathedral is to be named.
Bishop Potter viii lay the cornerstone
and the speakers viii include Dean Hoff-
man and Bishop Doane of Albany.
The cornerstone is of Quincy granite
feet 4 inches long by feet inches wide
and feet TX inches thick. On the ex-
posed angle viii be a cross and the in
scription 'tDec. 9th, 1892 In the
stone under the cornerstone has been cut
a receptacle In this will be placed the
copper box containing the souvenirs and
records. Most of the bishops from the
seventy dioceses of the United States will
be in attendance and representatives from
Washington are also expected. special in
NlldGlO4S ldNAu& DCCA CAOOA0C0 W l. ACoA
dent Harrison and his cabinet. The crowd
will be cared for under a large tent in
which 2. 900 seats have been provided.
With the laying of the cornerstone
comes the first actual building on the great
Protestant Episcopal cathedral and as
soon as the weather permits the whole
excavation for the choir, which viii be
erected first, will be begun. The cost of
this Will be one million dollars and the
cost of the CathedraI will be not less than
SO, OO0, 900.
Some idea of its size may be gained
from a description of its dimensions. Its
total length will be 800 feet, its front
width 1s2 feet, the height of the towers
24s feet, the height of the central lantern.
which will be at the topmost point of the
structure, 445 feet, and the height of the
interior dome 253 feet. A building of
this size will contain easily not far from
10, 900 persons. The plans were accepted
in July 1891, after a warm competition
between architects, out of which the firm
OF Helms & LaFarge emmerged as victors.
The ground takes up the territory be-
tween Tenth avenue, Morning Side park,
One Hundred and Tenth and One Hun
dredth and Thirteenth streets. The
structure when completed will be of the
round-arch Gothic order, planned in
many details after the early Christian
churches, following notably the Santa
Sophia church at Constantinople and st.
Marks at Venice. But Gothic character
istics could not be laid aside with impun
ity, as the church was to some extent
welded to this style of OF architecture. So
thecentral dome is slrmounted by Gothic
spires, and the conspicuous feature of
this design is in the manner in which
these spires seem to grow out of the
structure, seeming to take root in the
very foundations.
The Latin form is followed in the plan,
but striking departures are made in the
termination OF the transepts, which are
simply the apses of the chancel swung
around. These accentuate the Roman
esque character of the design. The
twelve great piers which support the
dome are to be dedicated to the apostles,
the one of especial magn Ifcence being
designed for St. John. The dome is en-
riched by scenes from the Apocalypse.
The board of trustees is composed of the
following gentlemen: Bishop Potter,
George NJ. Miller, DR.. P. K. Cady, Nor
gan Dix. E. w. Donald, George H.
Houghton. w. F. Huntington, E. A.
Hoffmsnn, David II. Green, w. Bayard
Culling, W. W. Astor, r. T, Auchmuty,
J. Pierpont Morgan, Hamilton Fish, Cor
nelius Vanderbilt, J. R. Roosevelt, Sam
uel D. Babcock, S. P. Nash.