Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-18

| of the metropolis. One Sunday he went out
| for a stroll, and first thing he knew he
| was standing on the brink of a quarry. His
| curiosity led him TO inspect 1t, and what
| was his surprise to discover a hard granite
| with an unusual color-golden yellow He
| almost shouted his joy. The next day he
| told Mr.. La Fargo that he had found the
exterior stone they were looking for and
| La Fargo that his colleague was right
| This granite. which at close range pre-
/ sents an appearance like small particles of
| pure golden butter floating separately on
surface of milk. at a distance gives the i'm
preston that it has caught and reflects the
mellow golden glow Of "a setting SUM- And
until Mr.. Helms discovered it it was being
used for dams and similar work
| duck shooting trip led to the unearth-
ing of the limestone for the interior finish
| ing. -
of working the cathedral drawings, SO,
| let's take a short rest" Mr. La Fargo
| suggested. Mr.. Helms fell in with the idea,
and it was agreed to go duck hunting along
! the Mississippi river in Minnesota where
| Mr.. La FARCE had hunted as a bow. The
| two men had not been in Minnesota many
| DAYS before Mr.. La Fargo noticed a pecu-
| liar stone formation jutting out here and
there He had the stone examined and he
| found that. although 1t looked somewhat
| like limestone. it resisted the ordinary
limestone tests. Next thing Mr. La Fargo
| discovered that. while 1t had the softeninp
| effect of limestone. it's hardness made # a
| fine stone for carving purposes After a
| few more tests and little further inyesti-
| CATION both he and his partner knew they
F! had the interior stone at last Then thew
| quietly went to work and secured options
| and finally a lease that will insure the
| cathedral all the Frontenac limestone II will
need. The stone was SO named by Mr.. La
| Fargo because 1t was near the town of
| Front enac. Minnesota. that he first noticed
| the outcroppings.
| Years Spent on the Drawings.
| These two architects have been working
| with their assistants on the cathedral
| drawings since 1888. OF course there have
| been times when not much work has been
! put on the plans. but, on the other hand,
! there have been long stretches of months
| when practically the whole office force bent
| all energies on them. At present the plans
are in such shape that work on the choir
| can go right on until 1t is completed The
| Plans for the transepts and nave portions
| are still to be worked out in detail for they
| have been considered largely only in so far
as they have to do with the choir and the
| great tower that will surmount it. How
| manv hundreds of times the plans have
| been changed here, there, everywhere, the
| architects have wearied of counting; and
| they will be subject to still more hundreds
| Of changes in the years that are to come
| Just at present the architects are not do
| ing much the plans by reason of the
| fatality that has pursued the building COM
i
| who must pass on the drawings Dean
| Hoffman was this committees chairman
| He is dead. Only recently Samuel d. Bah
| cock. another member, died The third and
| only living member J. Roosevelt Roosevelt
| is in Europe. AS soon as he returns the
! trustees will appoint new committee IT
| IS hOped that this will not be far in the fu-
| ture.
! Nor will it be very long now before the
| first of the eight great monoliths for the
| choir will be delivered. Massachusetts
| quarryman has been working three years
| to get out these huge stones. each weighing
| 80 tons in the rough and 200 tons dressed
| and he yet has to quarry several They
| will be brought here by sea- and the real
run Will begin when they are started on
| their journey through the streets to their
! final resting place. The cathedral author.
| tiles fully expect to have to pay several
thousand dollars damages for broken man.
| and what not. And then, when the mono
| liths finally at the cathedral grounds
| some one will have to tackle the exceeding
| ly difficult problem of setting them. The
| setting of the fifteen-ton monolths in New
| Yorks new hall of records was considered
| quite a feat, but here are monoliths weigh
ing over thirteen times as much.
| Dimensions of the Cathedral.
The dimensions of the cathedral in the
| creating of which the architects had no
| modern guide, are interesting. AS planned
| now the external length is $40 feet and the
| internal length 30 feet less The total width
| through the transept is 296 feet of the
| front 192 feet of the nave 81 feet and OF
| the choir "a feet. The width of the central
! aisle of the nave Is "a feet and the side
faisles are each 10 feet wide. The length OF
| the transept Is SO feet, of the nave 1874 feet
| of the choir 12O feet of the portico 30 feet
| of the amulatory 10 feet and of the Belmont
| Chapel, the easternmost part, 80 feet. These
| lengths added give an internal length of
| 800 feet. The combined seating capacity
| of all the different parts Will be about 800
! The height of the nave is 1O6 feet and of
| the choir 2 feet more. The height of the
! dome is 30 feet and its diameter 106 feet.
| The height of the great tower Is 425 feet
| and Of the two lesser towers 24S feet, or
| only 30 feet lower than Trinity Church
| spire, which few years ago was OF
| New York's highest structures The
| heights, in feet, of towers of famous mid
| die ages cathedrals are as follows: Amiens,
| 40; Strasburg, 1853: Cologne, 80; Antwerp,
4O6; ST. Paul's, 800; Salisbury, 4O4: Ulm,
| $50. The external lengths. in feet, of sew
| eral noted cathedrals are as follows: st.
| Peters. 6S5; Notre Dame, 40 Cologne,
| 1853; Spires, 435: Milan, 500; Seville, 100;
| Canterbury 535 Westminster. $50.
| ST. Patrick's this city, has been building
| nearly forty years and 1t is not yet COM
| pleted. 1t is much smaller than the cathe-
| dral and the establishment, while liberal,