Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1894-09-26
THE NEW ATLANTIS.

To build an island in the sea seems q
preposterous thing to most persons, but
by next spring the undertaking will be
an accomplished fact. This new Allan
tis, now preparing to be built in the At
lantic Ocean, will be situated about
eleven miles from the Long Island
shore and about seventeen miles east OF
the Navesink Highlands. The first of
the series of buildings to be erected will
rest on large iron cylinders, filled solid
with cement, and with their lower ends
buried in the sand sufficient depth to
guarantee their remaining there for all
time. The Casino will contain a large
number of rooms for hotel purposes
with every convenience, and furnished
luxuriously; will have large piazzas,
extensive public promenades, dining
rooms, kitchens, lavatories, &c. Steam
heat and electricity for lighting pur.
poses will be used in every room and de-
partment. The Casino will be open
during the entire year. Steamers will
ply between Atlantis and New York,
Brooklyn aud Jersey City during stated
hours of the day and night, making the
trip in about one and one-halfhours.
The object of locating Atlantis at so
great distance from the shores of the
United States is for the purpose of Sc
curing resort where the public may
obtain the same benefit from the ocean
air as would be realized by a trans
atlantic voyage aud at the same time
avoid the unpleasant consequences OF
seasickness. Atlantis will prove to be
one of the most popular sanitariums in
the world The buildings will be en-
tirely of glass, thing, cement, iron, Steel
aud other metals, thus rendering them
fre-proof. The main floors will be sit
uated far above the sea level, and it
would require wave thirty feet higher
than has ever been measured in the At
lantic ocean to even touch the girders
of the lower floor A grand amphi-
theatre will be located within the
main building, the lower or principal
floor of which will accommodate about
10000 people and the galleries about
5000 more. The roof garden will be
capable Of seating 5000, and from this
place may be viewed a grand marine
panorama of ocean steamers and sailing
vessels approaching and departing from
New York.
The iron work is approaching COM
pletion and the braces and supports re-
quisite in the sinking and adjustment of
the pillars are being manufactured
under the superintendent of competent
engineers.
The protector of the enterprise says:
In the construction Of the Casino about
900 sections Of iron pipe all ten feet in
inches thick will be used. These sec
tions are bolted together by tanges up
on the inside. The joints will pe alb
solutely water tight. Each will be 15S
feet long, put together in shallow water
near wharf or shore. In the first or
bottom section is bolted a false
bottom which is water tight. This
section is then set into the water.
We then bolt on another section eight
feet long and when this is done we be.
gin to put up the bracing. This pre-
vents any possible turning over of the
cylinders, which are set on their ends
Then we continue to add section after
section until we have our sections 80
feet long. We then put our hoisting
and pumping engines and other ma
chinery aboard, attach two or three
tugs and start for Atlantis. After we
have arrived we sink the foundation in
the place already located. Each cylin-
der sinks independently of others, and
thus avoids any trouble in striking an
uneven surface. When we have To-
Gated the entire foundation we send
diver down in each cylinder to re-
lease the false bottom. After this
has been done we drcdge out the sand from
the inside of the cylinder and its weight
forces it down. Alter each cylinder has de-
seconded sixty feet we consider we are far
enough. The cylinders are then filled with
concrete the entire depth. After we have sunk
the cylinders for the foundation, which is min
ty feet deep, We continue to add tho other
section at the topas they are sunken, and we
then add enough sections to raise them thirty
eight feet above high tide, which is far above
any wave measured in the Atlantic DC an
! After this hes been completed the building is
! erected on the foundation. Means for landing
steamers all the year around have been pro-
vided.
The new island will never be resort for
questionable characters. The administration
| will be strict, and will rigidly enforce rules
for the maintenance of order to make the
island as safe place of resort as any that