Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-05

tionably have received a rather painful
scraping. The other workman was tied in
a similar manner. and was at work as near
the edge as his fellow.
The point where the men were at work
yesterday is thirty feet higher than the OBJ
servation room in the tower, representing
the thirteenth story of the building, which
will be the limit of the ascent of visitors
when the building is completed. The plat
form is At the base of the surrounding PIN
nacle. the top of which is 30S feet from the
ground. The apex is now merely a steel
frame. Within a week, however, it IS eX-
pected that the work of roofing 1t in will
be begun: and then pasSers-by will have
something worth looking at In order to
construct the roof which will be of slate.
It will be necessary to run beams out from
the five small windows on each of the four
sides of the tower. which, by the way, are
the highest apertureS of the building, and
lay planks upon them. From this founda-
ton scaffold will be gradually built up as
the slate roofers ascend. The finishing off
of the top of the tower will be without
quest ton perilouS undertaking. Some diff
ficult work already finished was the recent
toning and cleaning of the outer walls of
the tower and the removal of rigging from
the boom of a derrick that was located on
the upper platform. All the derricks are
now down.
As Seen From the Tower.
The view of the city and surrounding
country from the tower is naturally an ex-
than the Catholic University. the Naval OBJ
servatory and the Soldiers Home. In fact,
the post office tower bows only to the
Washington monument and the Capitol,
and but very slightly to the latter. From
the tower some idea is gained, at a glance,
of how much more thckly settled certain
portions of the city are than others; the
several angles taken by Pennsylvania and
Massa chusetts avenues. and of the beauty
of the monument grounds and other parks.
The tower is destined to be one of the most
popular attract of the city to visitors
as it will be more easily accessible than
either the top of the monument or the dome
of the Capitol. and the view is practically
as far-reaching and satisfactory as from
the two higher points.
All the material used in the construction
OF the tower was hoisted by derrick but
tt at for the finishing work must be carried
up by hand. At the altitude of 80 feet
there is today to be seen blacksmith's
furnace The workmen at the top ascend
at 30 o'clock in the morning and do not
descend until the work has ended for the
day. They carry their luncheon with them,
and haul up tools in bucket attached to
the end of a long rope. The landing just
below the 270-foot level is at present strewn
with lumber for the upper flooring. At this
unusual height is a water pipe, with spigot
and running water. The pipe of course
runs from the ground, and the water is
forced up by a pump. the former being
used in the mixing of mortar.
An Observation Room.
The thirteenth story is the observation
floor. and is to be a balcony room, entirely
open. Each side of the tower is supplied
with three large window openings The
floor will be nicely finished and provided
with drainage facilities, as the rain will
have full sweep within. In order to reach
the observation floor it will be necessary
for visitors to walk from the elevator land
ing on the ninth floor. making use of
SPIRAL stairway in the southeast corner of
the tower.
A nice piece of work was the raising and
setting of four big box Orders. weighing
ten tons each, just below the floor of the
observation room and Immediately above
the clock arches. The idea in placing the
Orders at that point is to remove the
greater part of the weight of the structure
above from the arches. 1t was necessary
to erect huge derrick and support 1t with
false work extending through three stories
below its base. The girders were brought
up from the inside. After the rigging had