Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-11-16
AN ELEVATED PERCH.
HIGH ELEVATION OF A NOTED
MAN OF THE PAST.
The Big Statue of william Penn
Now Ready TO he Put Up Will Be
Highe Than the Top OF the Tail.
est Building.

The Big Statue OF william Penn
Now Ready to BE Put Up Will r.
Higher Than the Top OF the Tail
est Building.
| Higher than St. Peters at Rome
higher than the Strasburg Cathedral
higher than the Great Pyramid, high
er than the Cologne Cathedral will bt
the statue OF William Penn in Phila
delphia within a'few weeks. The hal
OF the good quaker will overtop every
other structure in this or any other
country, except the -Eif1el tower al
Paris and the Memorial shaft to
Washington at the capital; but as
neither of these is building, com.
parison is hardly fair.
The Washington monument is 555
feet high, the Eitfel tower 9S4 feet.
The crown OF William Pcnn's hat will
be 547 feet from the ground. The
next structure in height, the Cologne
Cathedral is $40 feet.
The city hall OF Philadelphia is an
immense structure OF marble and
brick and iron. 1t has been building
since 1871. It's main tower on the
north side of the building is 80 feet
square at the base. Great marble
blocks rest upon foundation of eight
feet OF concrete laid 90 feet below the
surface of the ground. Some OF these
blocks weigh five tons. The walls in
places are % feet through. The
whole building is 40 by 4Sj feet. 1t
is the largest single structure on the
continent.
There is an elevator in the great
tower which carries passengers almost
to the top of the stonework. From
that point up however, the climb
must now be made by rough stairways
and slender ladders. 1t is hard work
getting up to where the men are work.
ing. 1t tries the nerves despite the
fact that cage OF iron beams incloses
the climber.
a powerful crane, from which drops
wire rope, brings up the iron frames
and other materials. It is operated
by steam engine which also furnishes
the power to swing the pieces of metal
into place.
There are over one hundred feet OF
this iron work already down. The
structure looks like half of a great
eel-basket without top. The iron
trusses run perpendicularly, but they
are stayed by many cross-pieces and
braced with beams parallel to the base
OF the structure.
The men who work at this dizzy
height 60 about unconcernedty. They
are used to working at great heights.
They straddle the beams and hammer
away just as if they were twenty and
not four hundred feet and more in the
air. But they take care not to run
unnecessary risks all the same. Most
OF them wear rubber-soled shoes, and
they hold tight to supports when
moving from place to place. On
good days they work nine hours.
When the weather is wet they can't
work at all. Everything is then slip
perry and hard to handle. Even when
at the street level only a gentle breeze
is blowing, up where they are q regular
gale will be whistling through the
iron beams, making exposed places
decidedly uncomfortable.
William Penn's statue is no ordi-
nary one. 1t weighs 10000 pounds.
1t is thirty-seven feet in height. The
Quaker's broad sweeping hat is three
feet in diameter, and around the brim
is twenty-three feet. His passive face
is marked by nose thirteen inches
long and eyes twelve inches long and
four inches wide, and the hair which
falls in graceful wave over his collar
is four feet in length. His shoulders
are eleven feet across. and tape
measure to 60 around them would
need to be twenty-eight feet long.
His straight-cut coat hangs somewhat
away from his body and it is twenty
four feet in circumference at the
waist.
From the ankle to the knee is ten
feet. and his tight-drawn stockings
end in broad, low shoes with bows on
them, each of which is twenty-five
inches wide and five feet four inches
long. Flowing sleeves of metal lace
droop over hands four feet in length
and three feet across. But for all this,
when Penn is in position, looking over
the city he founded, he won't appear
from the ground any larger than his
children.
Rare Stamps.