New-York tribune., 1901-08-25
CRACKS IN ST. PAUL,S
MANY SMALL FISSURES DUE To rr,-,
DRYING UP OF THE CLAY
FOUNDATION
From The London Globe.

From The London Globe.
There is probably building in the nnetron,,.-
ior which Londoners have greater veneratinn
Pauls. which. from the time of the Saxons doS, S,
cf1 ar aag mas oeen one OF our chief
dim historic past Alarmist paragraphs have me me
condition of the cathedral and these have srosa as
some public attention. A few years ago furtbsrr
dition OF the building, accompanied by a drawfng
showing the present alarming state Of the sonLs
said, to the various borrowings made naar Vas vas
part of the foundations With the object of .sl sat
Of he oSe 0n eaag tae matter
deacon Sinclair. who referred him E j. Hard-
much of the following information was Obtained ipa
II may be said at once that there are numerous.
cracks in the Cathedral; in fact the building "sst
tied down" even in Sir Christopher Wren's tims
anG chs FL famous mo apeneft &c naa 70 carry out certain
precautions were continued for about one hundrs9
years: iron ties were fixed in the walls where ths
stopped The cracks. however reopened at n
ing IL may be explained that the Cathedral 1 co1-
trary 70 tne generaly accepted view Is not built on
bed OF concrete. but on what ia known potter's
earth-yellOw clay-whch needs moisture 10 keen =
sod II the &c clay is drained i becomes Ike POWDER
Asked as to what had caused the recent Assures
cning TO give any definite opinion: but he Sac ss
that II had been known for many years that the
District Railway was made. followed by the eop
struction OF the electric line from Waterloo to the
City, and the numerous tunnellng opera tions car7
ried out by various authorities. the cracks which
had been carefully hlled up. again reopened willis
the Cathedral. the nearest point to where the tuD
fact that the slight assures in other porto5s aF @
sacred edifce remained practically stationary '"'
The Cathedral authorities are doing evsrvrbt,.
in their power TO lessen the evil caused bv tS
withdrawal Of moisture from the clay. One Of ths
WINDOWS IN the south trdnSept and the wall which
IS yis.a-vis TO it are In the worst condition The
bars Of wind VS. lust below, the Whispering Cal.
Iery are ShShtiy opckled and underneath are sew
eral cracks; while on the corresponding side there
beneath has Settled down at one end he eoTnISs
Der Of strong ties have been fixed in the walls en-
of the building are imperC epttIe to the ma akcd ave
ties Of cement, which stand ont about quarter or
that the slightest movement will cause the cernenS
TO break thus Indicating at once the seat 81 the
stated intervals. ard if anything wrong appears
steps are immedi9tel taken to put matters right
II may be pointed out that experience has proved
that the public works carried out during the last
twenty or thirty years have had the effect of draw
ing away some OF the moisture from the clay
The foundation Of St PauTs is several feet be-
twenty feet lower than the street level Tb nro or
posed new electric line from the city 10 Kensing-
ton which. if sanctioned would pass under Cartsr
Lane. close by. has caused some anxiety 10 ths
Dean and Chapter, for although in theory the
driving OF the shield toy means OF which the clay
IS got out 10 make room for the 'tUbe'D Is abs0-
lutely without danger to surrounding buildings IN
practlce 10 Is not aWaSS tne case because u cannot
he foretold what kind Of strata is likely to be-
parentiy been successfully carried out assures may
appear years later ; IN Shese buildings The walls
on tne Soutn SIDE OF 81 Rdul s, as has already.
been pointed out. contain many cracks. but owing
70 their slow development il is very difficult TO
lOCalize them In part Of the Cathedral there
a great assure. only number Of small ones all
tending in the same direction thus increasing the
danger by aggTa waiting the older ones. As showing
that the authorities fully alive the i'm
portanCe ~ keeping the Cathedral in thorough re-
pair. IL may he stated that there are about forty
men, representing practically the whole OF hs
building trades, permanently employed in carving
out what may be described IS repairing work
These are OF course in addition those who are
engaged from time 70 time in executing the larger
alterations
II has not yet been definitely decided what ac-
ton the Cathedral authorities will take in view H
the proposed new electric railway; in fact great
reticenCe is being observed in the matter; but
IL is understood that SOmers Clarke the con-
sulting architect. has been in communication
with a we'll known builder. and IL may
think be taken : practically certain that the
scheme will be opposed the ground that il will
tend to weaken the structure which the genius OF
Wren erected. and which IS regarded as the
trail object, the very palladium Of modern London.