Evening star., 1900-07-24
WASHINGTON MONUMENT
~ o
COL. BINGHAM'S REPORT GIVES
MUCH IMPORTATION.
Repairs Made to Elevator Twice
Struck by lightning, but
Wfthout Damage.

Colonel Theo. L. L.5Binsham, the engineer
officer in charge of public buildings and
grounds, has made a report in regard to
! the Washington national monument which
contains much interesting information. He
says that the usual care has been extended
to maintain the mdnumeht and its machin-
| cry in good condition and to keep the in
| terror of the shaft clean. Only three ar
| rests were made during the past year of
| persons who were detected in defacing the
| monument.
| The elevator and all machinery con-
| nected Herewith have been carefully in
| spected each month by an agent Of the
| builders and pronounced in good and safe
| condition. Weekly inspections are also
made by the steam engineers at the monu-
ment, and tests of the safety appliances on
| the elevator car are made daily by the en-
ployes before starting to carry passengers
| to the top.
| The operation of the machinery was sus-
| pended once each quarter. the boilers
washed out, examined, and tested with cold
water pressure, and necessary repairs made
to furnaces, steam pipes and connections.
Repairs Made.
Necessary repairs were made to the ele-
vator engines forty-two feet of the main
| steam pipe covered with cork covering and
sixteen feet of the pipe wound with jute
| painted with asphaltum. New joints were
made on this main steam pipe as required.
Channel irons were placed on the tie rods
| OF the iron framework in the monument to
| stften them. Two iron plates or safety
| guards have been placed on step of eleva-
| tor car one at each end to prevent per-
son from being pushed off wnile entering
or leaving the car at the top landing. The
| old telephones in the car, engine room,
| boiler house and lodge house have been re-
placed with new instruments. Two self
1 1tarc for "a
| fluctuations in temperature during the
twenty-four hours of each day have been
| placed one on the top floor and the other
| on bottom floor, making four of these in
struments now at the monument, the other
| two being on the outside at the bottom, one
| on north face and the other on the south
| face. The two which had been placed on
| the outside face at the top have been taken
| down, as it was found th2t the stone
being stained from the brass of which they
are made.
The electric light plant has been main
tained in good condition and repairs made to
| engine and dynamos required New tap
wires have been run from the main wire to
the electric lamps from the top of the mon
| ument; 1.SUD feet of new wire and forty-siX
new porcelain receptacles having been used
! for the purpose.
At the lodge house repairs have been
made to the metal roof covering, the roof.
window sashes, casing in boiler pit and
floors In office room and waiting room
! painted and those floors and the outside
doors given a coat of hard oil finish.
Struck by Lightning.
During an electricsn storm on July 13,
| 1899. lightning struck the monument. The
| fluid followed the conducting columns in
the interior of the shaft down to the fifty
! foot landing, where it left the northwest
column. struck the floor plates in rear of
| elevator and exploded: thence into the en-
| gine room on the pipes or wires. where
| the only damage done was the burning out
| of the magnetic bell on the telephone,
| which broke the connection between the
| engine room and the boiler house. 1t is a
coincidence that each time the monument
| has been struck by lightning the fluid has
! left the columns at about the same place.
During this storm the lightning also went
| into the lodge house on the telephone wires
and burned out the telephone
Again, during an electrical storm the
afternoon of May 3, 1869, a man who was
standing on the lower floor of the monu-
ment and leaning against one of the iron
columns which support the stairways
ceived quite a heavy shock of electricity
in his arm and shoulder, and two men who
were looking out of one of the windows at
the top at the same time reported that the
flash seemed to come in the window over
their heads. They were blinded for a mo-
ment. No damage was done. The iron col
umns referred to act as lightning conduct
ors, the lightning rods the outside of
| the pyramidian being connected with them
for that purpose.
To Replace the Steam ElevatOrx.
On January 8, 1900, much steam was
found to be escaping in the engine room
that it was deemed best to shut down the
machinery for investigation. An examina-
| ton of the elevator engine, which was in
use during the entire time of the recon-
struction of the monument for the hoisting
| of material, showed that 1t was practically
worn out, and a special report as to it's
| condition was made to the chief of engi-
neers by letter of January 20 from this Of
| flee, with the recommendation that an es-
| timate amounting to $26.J0, for replacing
| the present system by an electric installation
| be submitted to Congress special esu-
mate for the ensuing fiscal year, sug-
gested in the annual report of this office
/ for 1899.
| In order to keep the elevator running for
| of visitors, necessary repairs were imme-
| diately made to the old engine. This neces-
| STATED the stopping of the elevator from
January IL to "A, inclusive, during which
period visitors We're compelled to make the
| ascent of the shaft by the stairway.
| BY (sundry civiD act approved June g.
1860 SIG, 800 were appropriated for re-
ment by an electric one and preliminary
| plans have been made and project sub
| mitted and approved. 1t is hoped to COM
/ plete the change much before the end OF
| another fiscal year.
| The total number of visitors to the top
| of the monument during the past fiscal
| year was 163114, of whom 10S,4SS made
stairway. Since the shaft was opened to
the public, october ., 1888, there have been
| 1853 S:S2 visitors to the top.
|