The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1911-04-08


Der. This was found impracticable,
church, Easter, was chosen. The cor
ner-stone of the building was laid on
St. Johns day in 1892.
The great building Is nowhere near
completion. The choir and two Of the
seven chapels are finished. But even
as 1t stands now, the cathedral Ia
capable Of seating about 5000 per-
sons. No other church In the city,
except st. Patricks. has room for so
many. Although the walls Of the
crossing are regarded as only tenn
poary. an accurate idea of how the
central part Of the great structure
will look may be gathered from its
present appearance. The ground plan
Of the cathedral Is In the form Of
cross. Where the arms intersect each
other, Is the part known technically
as the crossing. Over this rises the
great central dome. The total cost Of
the cathedral probably will exceed
$20,000,000. One-fifth of this sum has
been spent already to bring the cathe-
dral to its present state. When 1t Ia
completed 1t will be the largest &C.
clesiastical building in America and
the fourth largest cathedral in the
world. The biggest of oil cathedrals
is st. Peters In Rome, which is near
ly twice as large as tho one next in
size, that of Seville, in Spain. This is
only little greater in size than the
Cathedral of Milan. The Cathedral Of
St. John the Divine will be about
four-fifths the size Of the one In Sc
Vile. A new cathedral Is being built
In Liverpool which will be almost as
large as the one here. Only one OF
the four arms of the cross which the
cathedral will form, is complete. The
nave and both the transepts are yet to
be done. Four thanking towers will &C.
cupy the angles formed by the tran
septs. the nave and the choir.
Ex-Governor Morton's Gift.
The choir Is the gift of former Gov.
Levi p. Morton. The choir stalls are
of carved oak. They are very elab-
crate and are surmounted with charm
ing statues of monks praying. sing
ing, blowing on musical instruments
and going to battle. The bishops
chair is of oak also and Is no less
wonderfully carved. The reredos has
many very fine statues. The figure
of Christ has on Its right st. John,
st. James and st. Peter; on the left
Isaiah, Ezekiel and Elijah. A fine
statue of Moses, much like that by
Michael Anoaln Ia OF thu nv loft
corresponding to ST. John the Baptist
on the other side. Each figure is beau
tifully done; but for that matter they
all are everywhere, inside and outside
the building, high up and low down,
conspicuous or hidden.
In front of the reredos there Is
tiled tablet which came from the orig
fnal Church of st. John the Divine in
Ephesus. Its inscription states that
the original church was built by the
Emperor Justinian. Behind the rere-
das altar will be hung the Barberini
tapestries, five in number, that have
been loaned to the Metropolitan Mu-
scum of Art for a number of years
past. They are already in place. They
were made in 1888 and are unique.
They are 30 large that they will be
hung Sc feet from the floor and yet
seem entirely in proportion with their
surroundings.
The choir floor is Of mosaic and
gives a gorgeous touch OF color as one
looks toward the shining altar. The
ceiling OF the great dome also 10 to be
of mosaic. In many of the European
cathedrals the roofing is OF wood
which is very beautiful. but is hardly
enduring. There are few great Eu-
ropean churches that have not had to
be restored because Of fire. When
the roof OF Canterbury cathedral was
burning the priests and choir filed in
as usual and sang evensong, so that
the chain of daily service leading
back so many centuries should not
be broken. There will be no such dan
ger In st. Johns. Nothing but gran
lite, unburnable limestone and marble
enters into its composition. There is
no steel or concrete or anything whose
absolute durability is not beyond
question. There II hardly tower in
England that has not had to be re-
stored because Of defective founda-