The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-02-19
ONE OF THE BROKEN COLUMNS.
Hlr. Carpenter measures five feet eight
fncles,

Mr. Carpenter measures I'VE feet eight
inches. 4
Corinthian columns, six Of which arc
Sill standing These columns are
eighty feet high and twenty-five fee,
In circumference. In entering the
temples l went up gigantic staircase
a great part Of which had been de-
stroyed. and came into what is known
as the forecourt. which is about 200
feet from one side 10 the other the
floor OF which was paved with MOSAIC
We next went through another court
known as the court OF the altar. which
must cover five or six acres II is q
mass Of marble and granite, gigantis
columns and delicate carvings being
| thrown helter SHELTER together. Be-
You'd this and UP q series of steps arc
the ruins Of the Great Temple, which
cover, venture. an area as great az
| that Of the Capitol at wshn gton Al
the left is the exquisite Temple Of
Bacchus, and everywhere are grea,
shafts of marble so wonderfully carved
that they would be treasures in any
museum.
| All this. however. gives no idea Of
the construction. People wonder how
the mighty stones of the Pyramids
| We're put into place. and books have
| been written to show how the obelisks
We're taken from the quarries to the
| sites where they have served as
monuments. The work of this temple
| Vas far greater mechanical triumph
| The materials for it, including columns
| weighing hundreds of tones had TO be
! Drought UP the steep Lebanon noun.
| sains and carried over passes higher
than the tops of the -Alleghenies.
There is granite here which come from
far up the Nile; there are marbles
| from Greece, and limestone blocks
weighing hundreds of tons from thu
quarries nearby. The temple has walls
sixty feet high. and the mighty col
| nuns, seven feet in diameter, and. in
Guiding the pedestals and capitals
as tall as an eight-story house, rest
upon platform which Is more than
fifty feet high. These mighty pillars
are put up in three blocks, each twenty
feet or more in height and seven feet
In diameter. They are so placed that
each looks like one solid block and
the erection was without the aid of
machinery.
Worlds Biggest Building. stones.
In the walls Of the temple founda
ton are what are, I venture. the big
gest building blocks ever gotten out
mas Mbicb yas m Been o reeenty
uncovered BY the Germans. mas three
grea, limestone blocks. each Of which
measures. siXty-four feet in length.
In thickness II such stones were
placed end to end, 1t would take only
about i;9 eighty Of them to make one
mile. and IF they were laid down be-
tween the Capitol and the Treasury at
Washington they would Al the SIDE
walk Of Pen nsyl,ania Avenue with a
wall reaching to tile height Of tho
second stories OF the bulid'n.ss on that
street, rron enc structure to the other.
F.i,te stones were brought frrm 4
quarry which lies to the side Of Raal-
bek, more than a mile from the tenn
Piles. Some OF them have been placed
upon the walls at distance OF thirty
or more feet from the ground. and
they are SO accurately laid that a knife
blade cannot be driven in between
As to the size OF those blocks. I get
an Idea BY visiting tia Ilnrr]ss. Just
outside that from which the stones
came Is one which was cut out OF the
rock, but for some reason or other wa
not carried to the structure. t was
dragged only q few feet away from
the quarry, and to-day II lies there on
, It's side. half sunk In the earth ]
crawled upon It's top IND took run
over II. i is so wide that you could
arrive two motor cars abreast upon It
without risk OF falling over the edges,
and an English traveller here says that
| q cricket match might be played upon
IT'S face, putting the stakes al The
,lSht distance apart and giving the
bowler at least two feet at the end
Tor his run, This stone Is ono solid
DOCK as smooth as marble column