El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-04-19

| lighted from above by a. domed Ian
tern OF is windows. surmounted in
turn by central tower.
Site is Commanding.
The site is the most commanding
In the city. On what once was the
battlefield of Harlem Heights. over
looking the main plain of Manhattan.
the HUDSON river. and Long Island
sound 1t occupies three city blocks.
/ bounded by 10th and 18th street to
north and south, and Asrningside drive
and Amsterdam avenue to east and
west The cathedral itself is a cruel :
form structure $40 feet long. 165 feet
wide across nave and aisles. 2SS feet
wide across transepts having Two
western towers in angles made by
arms OF the cross, with a central ,uer
ana splre planted on a base 100 feet
square and rearing it's final Gloss to a
height of 425 feet. AS the grear dome
of the crossing dominates the interior
SO the lofty tower, soaring from ths
Lodges of Morningside Heights win
dominate the exterior.
Any Idea of It's Size.
Some idea of the size of the cathe-
oral is to be gained from g con1pari-
son with other nora5iA c4thedrals The
central towner of Trinity Church. Bos-
America, could stand within ST. Jobn,s
crossing and leave three-quarters of
its area bare. The dome is Of aln,ost
eq1a span with that CT the MOSQUE
OF st Sophia at Cons.lntia9pIe aEd
nearly 100 feet higher. rne dome Of
st. PauPs, London, s sl:gl-ly v:ter
but &c feet lower. The r1unda Of The
capitol at Washington is fine same
superficial area, but the ceiling srancs
1S3 feet above the Goor anG thatf of
ST. johns 252 feet.
The total superficial area of ST. Pc
ter's, the greatest of all cathedrals. is
221,O6S square feet, a little less than
double that of the next largest at
Seville, Spain, which has $4,000, Third
comes the Duomo of Milan. with 1O7 :
600 square feet, and fourth st. Johns.
with $4,000. Other notable churches
are Cologne Cathedral, 91,464: ST
PauPs, London, 84,025; st. Sophia. Con-
stantinople, 10000; Notre Dame. Paris
64.10s; Westminster Abbey, 61,72s.
The construction is everywhere de-
signed for all 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
Win ana the lofty
dome of the crossing will blaze with
mosaics and gold. At four corners
stand four masonry piers. supporting
the ceiling of the dome, and the
weight of the tower above. Each OF
them is 26 feet square, its load is "a
$4,000 pounds, and it stands on cen
crete foundations, bedded 40 feet be-
low in the living rock. Impinging
upon the piers, and now visible in all
photographs of the cathedral. but later
to be completely enclosed by the ex-
terror walls, are four flying buttresses.
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 saw
age a climate as that of the Atlantic
coast to expose them, constituting as
they do the only guarantee of the
structural integrity of the whole. to
the attacks of rain and frost, imper-
ceptible at first, but implacably de-
structive in the course of the CEN
turtles.
No Iron; No Wood in Framework.
No iron and no wood is used in the |