The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-10-19

new 1Orks OCt. LII lSnop ROtter
recently went up to Morningside
Heights to inspect the work being done
on the largest cathedral that has been
undertaken in centuries. He was ac-
companied by an ecclesiastical friend
from the West, who. in the course of
the inspection. said to the Bishop:
81 can't begin to grasp the bigness
of this cathedral of yours. For the last
ten yeasr I've been hearing about the
record breaking dimensions of the Ca
thedral of st. John the Divine, and 1
have marveled thereat. But now that
| am here on the ground my mind. is
bewildered even more by what my
eyes have seen and my ears heard. 1
scarcely can comprehend the immensi-
ty of the task"
my dear brother was the Bishops
dry response. "we're in the same boat"
Then he added: And every time 1
come up here l get a new shock 1
haven't begun to think of the cathe-
dral as a complete whole, except In a
vague way. That's a little too much
to ask of any man except the archi-
tects, and even they are thinking by
>
tinually is the bigness of the little
things of the cathedral"
1t is only through comprehension of
these big little things that Bishop Pot
ter spoke of that the average lay
mind can grasp some tangible idea of
the magnificent proportions of the Ca
thedral of ST. John the Divine and of
the stupendously intricate and delicate
architectural problems that it's con-
! sturction has brought forward. No
such '-ilding has been projected since
the dark days of the Middle Ages,
when the only light left burning in
the minds of men was that of a fer
vid religion. Then it was that cathe-
) drals were begun that were not COM
pleted for hundreds of. years. Now in
: New York another such cathedral, a
e worthy rival of any of the olden times,
! has been building for full ten years,
: and, in the opinion of men who know.
! this cathedral certainly will not
, be finished In the lifetime
, of the present generation, and
: perhaps not in the lifetime of the
present generations grandchildren.
Years to Dress stone for Choir.
The citation of just one big little
thing will give a fair impression of
the vast task the cathedrals builders
have assumed.
[ 1t is the intention to begin work on
) the choir of the cathedral this fall. The
choir will be 120 feet long, 81 feet wide,
} and its ceiling los feet above the floor.
1t will have an area of $3.50 square feet.
J On the cathedral grounds is $4,000
stone mill, erected for the exclusive use
of the cathedral. Last year forty stone
cutters, with the aid of the latest inn
proved machinery, dressed and nm
ished 10000 cubic yards of stone. Work
ing at this rate, which means working
every day in the year, except Sundays
and holidays, it will take these forty
men ten years to dress and finish the
necessary amount of stone for the
choir's interior. The stone workers be-
gan this long task a few days ago.
Another big little thing will give some
faint idea of the almost Incompetent
sible amount of decoration that the
cathedral will require before it can be
called finished.
of immense stone pillars many feet in
diameter, reaching to the ceiling over
one hundred feet in the air, and weigh
ing ton on ton. The inches in eight
of these pillars will afford accommoda-
ton for 256 statues each one of which
is to be five feet in hight II just eight
pillars require all this decoration, what
will be needed for the rest of the choir
and the choir will be hardly one
third the entire size of the cathedral.
Fifty-Two Statues for Just One
Chapel.
The Belmont Chapel, now nearing
/ com pletion as far as the stone work
is concerned, also aptly illustrates the
great masses of material and human
energy that must be utilized before the
final touch is placed on the cathedral
This chapel the largest of seven to
be used for holding religious services
in foreign tongues for the benefit of
newcomers to America, presents
dwarflike proportions when it's lines
are compared with those of the cathe-
draI of which it is the easternmost
part Its fifty-five feet of length is
! lost sight of, in the cathedrals great
length of $40 feet; and the cathedral,
at it's widest point will be PCS feet,
or ten times, less four feet, as wide
as the chapel, which is being built by
money from the Golfers of August Bel
/ mont as a memorial to his wife Yet
this small portion of the cathedral has
consumed $1,000 cubic yards of ex-
! terror and interior stone, and its two
/ small wings, each only several feet
! wide and about 20 feet in hight. have
required more bricks for interior lining
than arc used for a six-story apart
ment house.
| And then consider the decorations
essential to the proper ornamentation
of this chapel. There are So inches
for five-foot statues. There are hun
dreds of opportunities for fret work,
for bosses, for carvings and sculptur-
ing of all kinds. ]. @. c. Hamilton,
the sculptor, has begun the task Of
supplying the necessary stone and
marble decora ton.
Mr. Hamilton is known in the art
world as the man who has more stat
ues scattered about this continent than
+, any other living man, ]. @. A. Ward
halone excepted. He also is known wide
ly by reason of what many consider
his masterpiece. the largest carved cru
cif1c in the world. 1t stands in a Buff
falo, N Y, cemetery. Il is go feet
high. twelve feet across the arms and
surnnounted by a Christ ten feet in
hight. IL was carved from a single
stone weighing 120 tons and the upright
piece is five feet square.