Evening journal., 1897-03-24


THE sARCoPHAGus AT GRANTS TOMB.
the chisel was frightened away before hav-
ing completed the task he had set himself
To do.
Whom tho sarcophagus arrived from Mon
tello, Wis, it was securely boxed In two
inch planklng. rs much with the intention
Of protecting it from wanton damage as
from accidental Injury incident to ham
ding The pillow blocks aud capstones
were similarly packed, and 80 remained
until late on Monday afternoon, when the
pillow blocks wore set upon the bedpioce
in the crypt and were then uncased. II was
the intention to lower the monolith upon
them yesterday. and the niscreant awaited
himself of bis first opportunity The desc
Grafton was discovered by Charles b. Can
field of the monument company whou he
visited the tomb at half past o'clock yes
terday morning.
Two Cuts Made.
The pillow blocks arc of deep reddish
brown granite. the same as the sarcOpha-
gus itself. zach is feet long, "a inches
high and lG inches wide across the base.
All the surfaces are polished TO the high
est degree possible except the top and bot.
tom. IL was on one of these rough faces
that the injury was done. Two cuts, one
about s inches long, and the other about
inches shorter and each about inches
wide. somewhat elliptical in shape, had
been rapidly made, apparently by what
stonemasons call a granite point Mr..
Garfield said that 1t looked as though
whoever had dane it had intended 10 sink
the tool into a proportionate depth and
Nil - Str I,t4f
had not had chance to do so, and in
stead had Clipped oil as much as could be
rapidly removed from the surface marked
out. Ia places fragments had been broken
out to depth of at least / = inches. That
mere wanton destruction was not the aim
IS shown by the fact that the vandal did
not attack the polished surfaces, which
were just as accessible and where the dam
age would have been irreparable
After questioning everybody about the
place Mr.. Garfield and his son, G. W. Can
field, who has direct charge Of the work Of
setting tho sarcophagus, came 10 the con
clusion that no outsider had done the
work, but that the guilty person was
some one Of the numerous stone workers
now employed about the tomb.
The great edifioe is closed every night
by two temporary wooden doors which
are locked. and watchman, John Nc.
Kevitt, makes regular rounds about and
through the structure. In addition 10 this
! the little brick vault where the body o.
General Grant has lain since the funeral
is under constant police guard, and a.
! it is only stones throw from the tomb a
night maraudcr would be likely To be OBJ
served from there.
As % rule, work ceases about the tomi
! init az 1f Ia .iff nflf Us
Monday evening an exception was made
John ". Mcknight, who is attending to
the work Of laying the sidewalks about
the structure took charge OF the grounds.
and his men worked well into the even.
ing, finishing the section laid during The
day. Their hustle and activity without
may have made the yandal's oppnrmnity
within The opinion 0f the Caniields,
however, Is that the stone probably was
cut by some workman who happened %
find himself alouo in the crypt during reg.
ular working hours and who was sud
denly possessed Of a desire 90 obtain me
mento 10 guard against a repetition OF
the act which might be attended with
more serious consequences, special guard
was placed In the crypt last night, and the
sarcophagus and its supports will be
watched night and day from now on.
sarchophagus Is Lowered.
As the injury was not such as to Affect
the sustaining strength of the pillow block
men were put 10 work moving the. sarcoph-
agus into the tomb, and by nlghtfall it
had been lowered into its place. lt took q
force Of about q dozen men nearly all day
60 do this work, but when the monolti
settled into place Il required only a few
minutes to wrench away the rough planka
that inclosed it,
Great was the surprise 90 find it almost
half full Of dirty water. no doubt from
rain that had streamcd I'm through thC
cracks on the top Of the box. Pals and
shoyels soon emptied it however, and il
was then sponged dry and left ready TO re
oeive the casket
John T. Brady Of % East Forty-second
street. the builder OF the tomb, said yes
terday that attempts were made almost
every day By relic hunters to break of
pieces Of stone to carry away, but they are
seldom successful. He told that soon after
the cornerstone was laid and before the
fence protecting thework had been erected
he saw an apparently respectable, middle
aged woman walk leisurely up to the cor
nerstone After swift glance around
to satisfy herself that no one was looking
she drew rock Weighing several pound:
from the folds Of her skirt and dashed II
I against the edge Of the cornerstone. Th'
, stone didn't break, however and Mr.
Brady drove her away before she could re
peat the attempt He did not think q
would do any good if he had her arrested
There is little reason to fear that van
, dals will TO able to injure the caskct
which still remains sealed in the steel cas-
in which 10 was riyeted at the time OF th'
funeral, and from which IL will be tasl
Of several days for machinists 60 remove 1t
GIVE THEM A TRIAL.