Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-31
BASE OF LEANING
TOWER IN WATER
ROYAL Commissioners Find That
Slant Is Result of Acct
dent, Not Design

MILAN, July 3O.-"Why is the lean
ing tower of Pisa out of the perpen-
dicular?" because so constructed" is
the wonted reply. Now, however, an
by royal commission Of
experts has not only demolished this
antiq lie legend, but, moreover, has re-
vealed the startling fact that unless
measures are AIKEN to pre-
serve it the celebrated campanile, with
its glorious eight-tiered structure of
marble colonnades, wherefrom Calico
made his famous experiments on the
law of Cravitation, is likely to follow
the fate of ST. Marks campanile in
Venice
"Our explorations" say the experts,
"led to the wholly unforeseen and dis
tressing discovery that, instead of be-
ing founded upon massive spacious
base, as was generally believed since
Grassi, in 1881, and Rohault de Fleury,
in 1859, published their collections Of
plans, the actual foundation simply
consists of ring-shaped~ masonry ex-
actly corresponding in girth to the
huge cylindrical mass superimposed
thereon. In fact, the diameter Of the
inner ring foundations is metres 40
centimetres, which is precisely that of
the space inside the tower. This dis
covery, taken together with the fur
ther astonishing fact that the founda-
tions are merely metres @ feet 8
inches) beneath the surface, consti-
tutes henceforth incontrovertible proof
that the campanile was originally
built perpendicularly, and that its
leaning propensities, which are be-
coming more and more accentuated,
are due to other causes than the in
fapfioO of IFS constructors
In 1929 it was 4 metres 3S8 mill
metres out of vertical line, but during
the last eighty years the commission
affirms that the tower leans an addi-
tional 55 rnilimetres for every metre
of it's fffty-fCur metres in altitude.
The reasons given for this dangerous
state are principally that the base of
the tower has always been immersed
in water and that a Geep cistern dug
seventy years ago with the unsuccess-
full object of draining a basin around
the foot of the tower made matters
worse.
The tower had already been consid-
erabIy weakened by earlier eXcava-
tion. Later, in 1884, the severest shock
of earthquake ever felt at Pisa left
the leaning tower some thirteen CEN
timetres more out of the straight. An
other main source of responsibility is
unQOuDIeQly IIl6 OSCllldlIOl lIOIil llo
peal of seven bells.
Cardinal Maff1, archbishop of Pisa,
himself an illustrious mathematician,
has straightway offered to cooperate
with the italian government in every
possible way for the preservation of
this fifth among the seven wonders of
the world. The cardinal has already
given orders to suspend the ringing
of the two biggest bells, called the
and the Crucified Christ,
which though fixed on the non-inclined
side of the campanile, weigh together
over 1900 pounds. AS for the smaller
bells. they are to be forthwith beaten
simply with the hammer.
The commission reports that a most
insidious danger arises from the un-
derground springs and currents that
are undermining the adjacent soil.
The leaning tower of Pisa was begun
in 1170 and took nearly a couple of
centuries to complete. The campan
lies of St. Mark and Pisa We're built
or begun in the same century, viz:
the twelfth. The leaning tower is 179
feet high and 81 feet inches in diam
eter, cylindrical in form, the exterior
entirely built of white marble and
the interior of Verruca stone.