The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-12
SWINGS AND GROWS TALLER
The Washington Monument is Surpris
ing the Man Who Watches 1t.


ing the Man Who Watches It.
There Is much speculation In Washington
just now over the statement that the Wash
ington monument, SIS feet high and 80 feet
square at the base, is perceptibly inolining
from the perpendicular. Custodian Haw-
kins, In charge of the shaft, recently made
an interesting explanation of the situation
to the w ashiugton Post he said
"The monumentis inolining for fact.
but it has done that ever since il was hrst
built, and the direction is just now to the
southwest. Come and can show you how
1t behaves
Mr. Hawkins took from bis desk some
rolls OF drawing paper. Each sheet had on
il circle of about ten inches diameter and
divided by cross lines into ouadrants
Down in the southwest quadrant there
was succession Of pencil lines like a thin
cobweb, interpreted with small red
figures.
THAT" said he, 'tis chart of the move
ment of the monument for the month. The
figures are the dates and the lines show the
direction. Inside the shaft there are two
plumb lines. One on the north gives the
inclination of the monument Co the east
or west, and one on the west gives the
movement to the north or south. The lines
are heavy wires, both inclosed in metal
castings to keep them from being disturbed
by any outside influence The weights are
large pieces OF lead immersed In thin oil to
keep them steady against any minor vibra.
ton. The movement of the shaft is really
SO minute es to be unperceivable by the
naked eye, and there are two telescopes
with slow moving screws that can be
brought to bear on each plumb line, so that
the variations of the line along the scale be-
hind 1t can be read to l,000th Of an inch.
'Ihls circle in which the chart of the
shafts daily movement is plotted is equal to
tenth of an inch on the plumb-line SCALE
being enlarged in this way to make the
movement visible. The shaft has a slow
and tolerably regular yearly movement,
which seldom exceeds Tooth of an inch. ID
travels round In a circle, and now you see IL
is down In the southwest. Then there is
also movement which is the one you see
plotted here for the last two weeks and in
the daily movement, too, of the shaft,
there is also somewhat circular
movement, swinging around from day TO
day between l-l000 and 1-100 OF an inch
each way. A strong, steady wind has one
minute effect upon the inclination Of the
shaft. but the principal movement comes
from the effect of the SUMS heat upon the
stone
There are level readings taken from
time to time to determine whether or not
the foundation of the monument has sunk.
AT the corner of the monument, near the
ground, there is an iron plate with a hole
in 1t projecting from the wall. 1t is to hold
the level rod steady while resting on the
iron plate set in the pavement beneath. On
the northeast side of the terrace there is
bench mark, over which the instrument is
set when the reading is takeu. Strange to
say, the last readings show that the founda-
ton has raised instead of lowering. The
movement is measured in thousandths of an
inch, and is wholly imperceptible to any
thing but a leveling telescope, but It is re-
assuring to the patriotic mind to know that
the monument Is growing, aud If 1t stands
reason to feel quite proud of its progressive
spirit"