The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-27

unsafe. Asked as to what had caused
the recent assures. Mr.. Harding was
very cautious in his reply, declining to
give any definite opinion; but ne stated
that il had been known for many
wears that the walls of the building
were cracking. When the Dlstrlct
Railway was made. followed by the
construction of the electric line from
Waterloo to the city, and the numerous
tunnelling operations carried out by
various authorities, the cracks, Whlch
had been carefully filled up, again re-
opened, while others appeared. Ihese
were on the south side of the Cathe-
dral. the nearest point to where the
tunnelling work had been done. And IL
is a significant fact that the slight MS
sures in other portions of the sacred
edifice remained practically stationary.
The Cathedral authorities are doing
everything in their power to lessen the
evil caused by the withdrawal of mois-
ture from the clay. One of the windows
in the south transept and the wall
which is "vis-a a. Wis., to it are in the
worst condition The bars of windows
just below the whispering Gallery are
slightly buckled, and underneath are
several cracks; while on the correspon-
ding side there are similar assures, and
in addition the cornice beneath has
of strong ties have been fixed in the
walls on either side, and as the re-
suits of the movements of the building
are imperceptible to the naked eye. ties
of cement, which stand out about a
quarter of an inch, have been placed
across the cracks, so that the slight
est movement will cause the cement to
break, thus indicating at once the seat
of the mischief. These ties of cement
81 81 int nd
if anything wrong appears steps are
Immediately taken to put matters right.
1t may be pointed out that experience
has proved that the public works car
ried out during the last twenty or
thirty years have had the effect of
drawing away some of the moisture
from the clay.
The foundation of st. Paul's is sew
eral feet below the floor of the crypt,
or about fifteen or twenty feet lower
than the street level. The proposed
new electric line from the city to Ken
sington, which, If sanctioned, would
pass under Carter Lane, close by, has
caused some anxiety to the Dean and
Chapter, for although in theory the
driving of the shield (by means of
which the clay is got out to make room
for the "tube') is absolutely without
danger to surrounding buildings, in
practice it is not always the case, be-
cause it cannot be foretold what kind
of strata is likely to be tapped, and
even when the operations have appar-
emily been successfully carried out fis-
sures may appear years later in these
buildings. The walls on the south side
of st. PauPs, as has already been point
ed out. contain many cracks, but owing
to their slow development, 1t is very
difficult to localize them. In no part
of the Cathedral is there a great fis-
sure, only a number of small ones, all
tending in the same direction, thus in
| creasing the danger by aggravating the
older ones. AS showing that the au-
thorities are fully alive to the import
ance of keeping the Cathedral in thor
ough repair, 1t may be stated that there
are about forty men, representing prac-
| tically the whole of the building trades.
permanently employed in carrying out
what may be described as repairing
work. These are, of course, in addition
to those who are engaged from time
to time in executing the larger altera-
| tions.
1t has not yet been definitely decided
what action the Cathedral authorities
will take in view of the proposed new
electris railway; in fact, great reticence
is being observed in the matter: but
| it is understood that Somers Clarke
the consulting architect, has been in
communication with a we'll known
builder. and IL may, we think, be taken
| as practically certain that the scheme
| will be opposed on the ground that II
| Will tend to weaken the structure which
the genius of Wren erected, and which
| is regarded as the central object, the
very palladium of modern London.