The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-07
HIGHER THAN EIFFEL'S.
Chicagoans to Look Down From an Altitude
Of Nearly 1900 Feet.

From IN altitude Of 1,15O feet Chicago
proposes to look down upon the rest of the
world, says the New York Herald. A tower
which surpasses in height the Eifrel struc-
ture OF Paris, is projected by the citizens OF
the Windy City, and already land on which
to build has been secured and actual work
has begun.
The cloud disturbing structure IL the out
come OF n patriotic desire 10y Chlcagoans to
| fly the American flag higher than any other
banner In the world. The structure Is to be
| known ns the City Tower, and rs an attrac-
| tion, 1t will outriyal anything before under
taken, except the Worlds Fair. The base Of
| the tower is to be 326 feet square, and will
| occupy an entire city block.
| At the base from the four corner supports
each Of which is SO feet square, will rise
arches 200 feet across and the same In height.
| These utches Will support the first landing,
which will have 30, 600 square feet of floor
ing, where 22,000 persons can be accommo-
dated at one time. There Is distance OF
225 feet from the ground TO this first landing.
After passing the first landing there IL no
other landing until one ascends another 225
| feet up In the air. There at u height OF 450
feet ls to be the platform 100 feet square.
This second platform Is about as high as the
| top OF the Great Pyramid OF Egypt, or the
| Washington Monument. Six hundred and
seventy-llye feet above the ground is the
third landing, far higher than any building
| in Chicago. At an elevation OF 1000 feet
above the earth Is the fourth landing. and
from there stairs lead up to the very top OF
| the tower.
Thirty-four elevators are to be used In this
tower They will be operated by electricity.
the power being derived from the plant used
In lighting the structure. There will be
enough steel used In the construction of the
tower to build and equip u small railway.
| The plan OF construction Is very similar to
that employed in the Einel Tower. The
steel framework narrows as II rises In the
air, until at the height of / 200 feet, the
fourth landing is but 25 feet In diameter, OF
one-tenth TIE size of the lower landing.
There are to be many unique features In
connection with this scheme, but they are
| not to be all amusement features. Besides
| fireworks, balloons, parachutes and tight
rope performances, there is TO be n restaur-
ant ON each landing. A theater In which
there will be continuous performances, and
| n bicycle rink are also to be provided. while
at the very topmost landing there will be
| powerful telescopes and also sonrchlights.
| The plan of having United States meteo-
| rological station at the very top of the tower
when II is completed has already been dis
cussed at Washington and favorably consid'
| cred by the officials, and IL Is very probable
that not only will Chicago boast the highes
structure of mans making upon which I,
float the Stars and Stripes, higher than the
tri-color OF France or the red cross of st
George, but the city will have the most re
markable scientific observation station OF
earth-an astronomical observation abov'
the very clouds, yet In the midst OF the city
n laboratory of the Chicago University and ,
cloud surrounded signal tower for the gov
ernment weather man.
The most important observations Of all oi
such tower would be those relating to at
mospheric electricity. What changes TAX
place at this hight, which are not duplicate
at the earth's surface? A few observation
ut the Washington monument have alread
shown some remarkable comparisons. Their
Is hardly point regarding dirunal change
abnormal change or seasonable change O
meteorological element that would not be sue
cessfully aided by records from such tower
To guard against the possibility of acc
dent from gales the tower will be peculiarl
braced and bolted. Engineers claim tha
when properly constructed there is les
danger In such q structure from the wind o
! earthquake than In many less lofty build
ing.
At the corner OF each landing there is to b
built small circular booth, small as com
pared with the rest of the building, but 1
reality very sizable structure. There wi
be accommodations In the tower for 4000
people at one time, and In that respect II wi
be the largest building In the world. leas
of the tower for ten years has already bee
signed by a syndicate of Chicago and Ne'
York men, and the constructors claim tina
the tower will be completed and ready 10
business next summer.