The Washington times., 1901-08-25
AN HISTORIC CATHEDRAL.
story of Old st. PnuPs'
With a Checkered Career.

CT Paurs. which is at present executing
,t,ention. has had a checkereo s'oi
Three times fire has brought II u .ne
gro,,nd and the cracks in the walls Which
are lust now being talked ABOUT prihs "
mind the sight which good Samuei fepys
saw as he walked up Ludgate nm s'o
years ago. Il stopped at 81 faui >,
saws in his diary. and did see h'oeou'
sight of the walls of the church rea'S u
fall. that | was in fear as long as l "a' IA
II g" The very sight OF the stones iaii-
;,e, from the ton of the steeple do make
nc eeasick'' the famous diar1st wrote
AGAIN We are not likely to see st Paui
as penvs saw it. but any peril in It's con-
ditiou is legitimate cause OF nauona'
anxiety.
Those who know their London can ma
few places so inspiring. that carry the
mind back so far in history as underneath
the great dome. Christianity mas peen
represented by church on This site since
Augustine brought the Gospel TO fngiahu,
and all through the centuries u hatiohai
interest has been taken in the Cathedral
of St Pauls After the destruction ny
FIRE in the reign Of the Conqueror the new
st. Pauls was built from the offerings OIL
thousands of people. to whom the pishopS
granted special indulgences IN return lor
their subscriptions. Then the spire was
struck by lightning in the middle OF the
fifteenth century, and a hundreu YEARS
later in 1861. the tall steepie oecdiiie "
ruin Divers persons. in time of the tenn
pest, being in the fields near aoJoihins u
he city. affirmed that they saw long
and spear-pointed flame OF nre run
through the top of the shaft of St Paui s
nalists of that day should set down the
calamity to the lightning. II a later writ
or is TO be believed. however. plumber
afterward confessed that the destruction
was caused through his careiessness IN
leaving a pan of burning coal in the stee-
,le while he went home to dinner.
A hundred thousand pounds was spent
in restoring the Cathedral. and the work
was finished in time to allow the great
Oliver to stable his horses there In COM
fort Twenty years after the great hre
burned St Paurs once more to ashes. Inc
GROUND WAS so hot. says Evelyn that IL
burned the soies of his shoes. Hair Lon
don had schemes for rebuilding the Ia
nous church st. Paui's was still smol-
dering when Wren submitted his ideas to
the King, within two days OF the confla-
grafton. He had little hope. The cost he
said would brighten the age" But at
last the work was begun. and the pulling
down of the ruin was for days one of the
sights of the metropolis. The heaps OF
rubbish were 50 great that scaffoids had
to be erettei; over them to save delay
while the men were clearing it away, and
when II BECAME necessary 10 remove the
high tower. the workmen qualled before
The task of mounting 200 feet to cast II
Town. and gunpowder was resorted to
a box containing eighteen pounds of
pnyder was placed in a hole under the
ninr. and the explosion caused the tower
10 rise visibly. in the mass for quite nine
inches before IL fcll. BY an accident a
niece of stone was shot into Il room in
which t.;.o women were at work, and this
ia 10 the prohipitiOn Of the use OF pow
der Wren provided an ingenious substi-
trte i'm the form of an ancient bdtterinS
I'm with which he kept thirty men beat
ing against the same part OF one or the
crf,at walls for n whole day. On the sec
md day the wall trembicd at the top, and
| in "A few hours the last rum of old St
Pauts fell with crash like an earth
With IL passed n strange phase of life
| in uri.ut London For generations St
prtlIs had been the rendezvous Of all
sorts and conditions of men. The benches
! II the door Of the choir We're the com
mon resort Of heggars and druntards. and
| large ,iunghii lay within one OF the
doors The aisle through the centre of
| the cathe dral WAS known as Paul Walk.
and Rotten Row Is not more popular in
our udy than Paul Walk was then. a