The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-28

tain voice when he said that the attempt
Of preserving the stone by applying par
anne 70 Its surface was zone OF the
greatest pieces OF vandalism ever perpe-
trated in this country" The application
Of the parafilne coating did more mis-
chlef 10 the obelsk than the weather
or thousand years. 1t opened the
cracks and emptied them of the fungus
groWths that mad been accommodating
the parafiine confessed 20 have taken
away and carried off so pounds OF the
obelisk's substance from its cracks. and
the probability is that the amount was
at least twice as great.
As one stands and looks upon the obel
isk to-day, IL seems almost secrilegtOus
to have allowed such a noble monumenk
10 go TO ruin. IL is difhcult 10 realize
that this identical shaft standing there
before ones eyes had been taken from
the quarrics at Syene, IN Upper Egypt,
by Thothmes Ill, 1000 years before the
beginning of the Christian era. difficult,
also TO realize that ages after II had
been taken by the Emperor Augustus and
regretted at Alexandria; still more diff
cult to realize that this same mOnolitn,
whose story runs back to the very tWi-
light of the ages, now stands in the city
OF New York, a disgrace TO our modern
The obeIisk has seen the splendors of
the Roman empire under the Caesars. The
chariOts and the hOrsemen Of Egypt and
the legions of Augustus have passed be-
fore il. This obelisk is one Of pair
which originally stood before the temple
Of the sun in Heliopols. Its fellow was
for many years lost and lay buried beneath
Egyptian sands. 1t was afterward re-
covered and now stands on the Thames
embankment in London. New York should
not forget that she is indebted for this OBJ
elisk TO the liberalty of one OF its lead
ing citizens who was in Egypt at the OPP
ening of the Suez canal, and seeing the
stone, made arrangements for It's re-
mOval
The entire cost was $lO2. 7s2.Os.
The secret history OF the transporta-
ton of the obelisk from its old home on
the Nile to its present place In Central
park will probably never be fully known
Upon its arrival here some fifteen years
ago, Commander Gorringe, who had
charge Of the vessel IN which II was
brought, was asked If he had moved IL
according to the calculations commonly
used for Singing and moving cannon.
He admitted that he had, but that he had
miscalculated its center of gravity, and
that in the process of taking IL down II
fell several feet. 1t Is wonder that the
fall did not break it,
Upon it's arrival here the obelisk should
have been placed indoors. It's election
in Central Park was all a mistake, and
In ten years after its arrival scientinc
examination showed that the south and
west faces, which were exposed TO the
direct rays of the sun, were the most
weathered. IL also showed that the stone
was cracked on all sides, and that frag~
ments, some of which We're over a foot
long and nearly two inches In thickness,
had been detached. As long ago as 1886
Prof Eggleston made this pointed declara-
ton: Placing the obelisk In Central
Park where Il Is exposed 10 nearly every
agency that could tend to destroy IL, al
lowing the surface Of a stone already so
much weakened by dlslntegrauon to be
heated, thus causing further cracks to
be made in IL. was a greater monument
to public indifference and ignorance than
the shaft ever was to the dignitary VINO
first erected II or the events chronicled
in its hieroglyphlcs."
That eminent authority. Gen. Cesnolla,
has decided opinions upon the obelsk
and it's preservation. From the day the
obelisk was erected" he says. my opln-
ion has been that II would disintegrate
] had learned by experience, for / found
that my entire collection of relies from
the Cypriote country began to dislnte-
CRATE very early IN our climate, and
every object in the collection had TO be
put under glass"
Ten years ago, even five years ago. the
obelisk could have been preserved, but 1t
is too late now, and the rare old monolith
stands in Central Park, neglected, unhon-
ored and left for Father Time and Boreas
to keep IL company.