Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-06-02
LEANING TOWER OF PISA.
One Cannot Help Geing Nervous In Look
ing From Its Top.


One Cannot Help Geing Nervous In Look
ing From Its Top.
In st. Nicholas, John Ward writes Of
"The Bell Towers Of Italy. Mr.. Ward
says of the most famous of them all:
Pisa seems like sleeping city, as she
lies so quietly and silently along the
two borders Of the river Arno. She fell
asleep several hundred years ago, after
she had struggled valiantly for her in
dependence and had won renown during
the fierce contests between the Guelphs
(partisans of the pope) and the Ghibel.
lines. .(partisans Of the emperor). Though
Pisa has long since forgotten the days
of her greatness the world cannot for
get them when it looks upon that won
drously beautiful group of four marble
white buildings standing apart in the
sacred corner-the cathedral, the bap.
tistery, the campo santo Cor burial
ground), and, what interests us most Of
all, the remarkable campanile, SO we'll
known as the leaning tower This
famous tower was built in 1174. It's
construction is peculiar. There is in the
center a hollow brick tube or cylinder;
around this plain round tower the arohi-
tects built eight stories of open galleries,
with beautiful, slender columns Of
white marble supporting semicircular
arches. The general effect is one of
great delieaoy and lightness, fairylike
tower of wonderful grace. The summit
is 179 feet from the ground. As you all
know, the tower leans 13 feet out of
the perpendicular and looks as if it
would surely fall over at any moment,
but, as the center of gravity is still
within its base, it is as safe as if it
were erect The foundations were prob
ably imperfectly built at the start, for
the tower began to lean before it was
half finished, and we can see where at
one point the builders tried to bring it
back as much as possible to the vertical
line by making the columns on the low
side higher than the others. The walls,
too, are strengthened with iron bars.
Fancy the CONSERVATION of the archi-
teots when they saw their beautiful
tower leaning over and its foundations
sinking la the ground! 1t requires very
steady nerves to carry us to the top, and
we find ourselves clinging to the wall
when we are OH the leaning side
This is what Charles Dickens says
about the tower in his "Pictures From
Italy" In the course of the ascent to
the top the inclination is not very ap-
parent, but at the summit it becomes
SO and gives one the sensation of being
in a ship that has heeled over through
the action of an ebb tide. The effect
upon the low side, SO to speak, looking
over from the gallery and seeing the
shaft recede to its base, is very star
tling, and saw nervous traveller hold
ON to the tower involuntarily after
glancing down. as if he had some idea
of propping it up.
When we reach the summit, we must
not forget that this was where the great
astronomer Galileo watched the stars,
experimental on the fall of bodies and
studied the law of gravitation. Here,
too, in the upper story, hang the six
BELLS the largest of which weighs more
than IL, 900 pounds. The bell founders
of Pisa had wide reputation for cast
ing bells of beautiful tone. sonorous
and harmonious. They lavished on
them all their art and their talent.
The Pasquareccia (the Paschal belly,
the most famous of the Pisan bells, the
one which was tolled when criminals
were taken to execution, is ornamented
with figure of the Virgin and the de-
vices of Pisa and has rich,. full tone.