The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-02-17

l Iue washington monument.
Highest Mons..ent Of Stone Ecer
Erected.
Eearly in the century it was de-
termined to erect in the city of
Washington a magnificent monument
which should, for all time, be me-
mortal of the esteem in which the
nstion held the great patriot alter
whom the city was named. A large
sum Of money was raised by public
Subscription and in the early sum-
mer Of lS4S the Washington Ma
tional Monument Society began the
erection of u monument near the
banks of the Potomac.
The original plan designed by
Robert Mills, included marble
pantheon from the center of which
arose a marble shaft. 1t was after
wards thought that the simple, un.
adorned shaft would be more suit
able for the purpose and so the sur
rounding temple at the base was
omitted.
The shaft at the base was 50 feet
wide with walls Is feet thick. After
eight years of work the monument
had 5cen raised TO = height of 1856
feet. The money then gaveout and
for twenty years nothing whatever
was done. In 1877 the Society
turned the monument over to the
United Statesgovernmentand money
was appropriated by Congress for
its completion.
1t was found that ON account of
ofits weak foundation the mOnu-
ment had settled on one side and
WIS out ofplumb. 10 remedy this
a nc~ foundation of concrete thir.
teen feet thick was placed beneath
the original foundation. A narrow
tunnel vSs Grrst dug beneath the
centre OF the Old foundation and fill
ed with concrete and after this had
hardened other tunnels were dugand
filled in the same way. The work
was so skiltully done that the monu-
ment was not only given new un-
derpining but its enormous bulk
weighing nearly $4,000 tons was
brought back to u perfectly vertical
position. This task consumed three
years and it took five years more to
run the walls up to the height
original planned; i. c. $50 feet.
Within the shaft is stairway
and an elevator and more than anil
lion of people have ascended to the
top to admire the beautiful view of
the city and surrounding country.
The interior walls are adorned
with hundreds of memorial tablets
presented by states and societies and
by foreign governments. In fact,
it is suggestive Of Westminster Alb
hey but here. in honor of one man.
For the benefit of those who are
contemplating joining the army Of
argonauts to the Klondike, it is we'll
to note the warning of the Mining
Bulletin of the Pennsylvania State
College which says that the total
length of all the gulches in the Bri-
tish Klondike fields which can pos
sibly be expected to contain gold in
sufficient quantities, to be even min
able, is at the very utmost $500
miles. The aggregate length Of the
creeks in which any gold at all has
been found is only 600 miles. As
suming then that this distance be
apportioned to the prospector and
miners at 200 feet Of length, the
average length which is allowed by
the government for the mine, there
will then be accommodations for less
than Is, 900 claims; neglecting those
which have already beenappropriat-
cd by the pioneers and those to be
taken up by the men who are now
wintering in Juneau, it is evident
that there il not much room for the
new comers of this spring. 1t is
well. therefore, for those who con-
template starting that they weigh
carefully all considerations. At this
same rate, the total length of all
gulches tributary to the Yukon in
the United States and British pos
Isessions would accommodate only
1 20O, 900 claims. OF the latter
'fuunther more than 7O.00O. are. now