The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-04-19

Drive and A rdam Avenue to
east and west. -

east ana west.
Some idea of the size of the cath
dral is TO be gained from a com
parison with other notable cathedrals.
The central tower OF Trinity Church,
Boston, hitherto the most massive in
America, could stand within st.
Johns crossing and Leave three quar-
ters OF OTIS area bare. The dome is
of almost equal span with that of
the mosque of st. Sophia at Constan-
tinople, and nearly 100 feet higher.
The dome of st. Paul's. London, is
slightly wider, but SO feet lower
The rotInda of the capitol at Wash
ington is of the same superficial
area, but the ceiling stands 1873 feet
above the floor and that of ST.
Johns 252 feet.
The total superficial area of st.
Peters, the greatest of all cathe-
drals, is 227,069 square feet, a little
less than double that of the merit
largest at Seville, Spain, which has
$4,000. Third comes the Duomo of
Milan, with 100000 square feet, and
fourth st. Johns, with $500. Other
notable churches are Cologne Cath-
edral, 91,464; st. Paul's. London, 81
OPS; st. Sophia, Constantinople, 10
600; INotre Dame, Paris, 64,1OS; and
Westminster Abbey, 6l.729.
The construction is everywhere de-
signed for al the ages. The outer
walls are of cream colored granite |
from Lake Mohegan, n. Y, faced |
inside with a beautiful, soft, buff |
limestone from Frontenac, MINI. The |
groined vaults above the choir will !
be brilliant with primary colors, and /.
the lofty dome of the crossing viii! |
blaze with mosaics and gold. At its |
four corners stand four masonry
piers, supporting the cei ing of the .
dome, and the weight of the tower
above. Each of them is 26 feet
square, its load is 34,71S,OOO pounds,
and 1t stands on concrete founda-
tions, bedded forty feet below il
the living rock. Imp:gning upon the
piers and now visible in all photo
graphs of the cathedral, but later 10
be completely enclosed by the exte-
rior walls, are four flying buttresscs.
the heaviest ever built, which will
take UP the thrust of the arches and
distribute their load evenly on the
PIERS 1t was not felt wise in so
savage a climate as that of the At
lantaic coast to expose them, con.
Stituting as they do the only guar
antee of the structural integrity o.
The whole, to the attacks Of rain
and frost, imperceptible at first, but
destructive in the course !
Of the centuries.
No iron and no wood is used l.,
The frame work of the cathedral /;
proper. The floors are of hollow
-iling, the walls of hollow brick, /
md the rloof Of tiling again, with
| copper sheathing over all needed :
'nly for weather screen. An elab-
,rate heating and ventilating pant 4
S already in operation. Hidden cleo |
.ric lights will rim the arches of
the choir with incandescence. A
closely woven system of telephone
wires will connect the vast wings
or the use of its governing clergy.
As the choir withdraws in the re-
'essional, its blended voices will be
brought back to the kneeling con-
yregation through sounding horns,
With aperatures inside the walls.
rhe building will be as nearly i'm
indestructible and respon-
'ive to the needs that have called
t into being as it has been pos
ible for human integrity to make {