The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1911-09-23

VINO toiled $500 years ago Tney
have left their own monument In The
queens chamber. which. apparently
was never used. 1t Is superbly fin
lshed and jointed: yet. oddly enough
the entrance to this superb tomb was
covered and concealed. Possibly II
was intended for Martitefe, khufu's
queen. but she survived him and mar
ried his brother Chephren, who built
the second pyramid in the great group
which stands today as perpetual
monument just outside Cairo
The great kings chamber 35 feet by
IL by 10, is wrought in polished gran
lite. Just one hundred perfect blocks
in five courses compose its walls. Nine
granite slabs form its ceiling and the
floor of the low granite chamber
above. The second chambers ceiling
forms the floor of a third chamber.
and so on up to the fifth, which Is the
! topmost. each one rising over the
great one intended for the dead
king. Like the queens chamber. this
top one is rooted with an arch OF
heavy limestone slabs On one Of
those slabs there still stays in living
paint Khufu's quarry mark or official
seal-two birds and a snake. sur
mounted by round dot.
OF the mysteries he has found Mr..
Covingston has just spoken, and espe-
eially above the grand gallery, 1855 feet
long and 2S feet high, by which the
kings chamber was reached.
Il consider this the most mysterious
part of this mighty miracle In stone"
said he, because If the pyramid were
intended only as a tomb there was
practically no use for this elaborate
grand gallery. with its strange and re-
markable features, except perhaps to
temporarily accommodate the granite
plugs which still close the lower end
Of the ascending passage. but which
find fit too tightly to have been slid
into position. At an angle of about
twenty-six degrees eight minutes 1t
Hopes up for 1855 feet. its height "a
feet. and its width above the ramps
nearly seven feet. Its great sides are
clearly marked by seven overlapping
layers of stone while it is rooted by
thirty-six slabs. Bordering the third
overlapping layer Is a finely finished
narrow groove extending right round
the gallery; 1t is but one OF several
remarkable and inexplicable features
which distinguish this part Of the
structure.
"A twenty-inch ramp borders each
side of the gallery. extending right up
to the great step, which is just one
yard high. Each ramp contains TWEEN
weight rampholes, over nearly all OF
which. for some strange and as yet
unknown reason. shallow holes have
been chiseled out. and neat close
fitting stone let in.
"As most pyramidists are much per
picked by this feature and have adj
vanced theories | must venture mine.
It is just possible that the places CHS
eled out originally contained inscrip-
tons, which the king for some reason
desired to obliterate. 1t became nee
essary then to remove-to chisel out
he disfigured parts caused by the OBJ
iteration and replace them by a close
lifting let-in stone.
I'm 1905 l discovered on the twenty.
sixth course Of the south flank SINH |
ar let-in stone, to the reverse side OF
which still adhered buff-colored ce.
nent. 1t had doubtless become de-
ached from the face of falling cas-
ng stone. Clearly incised in tho
dressed surface was the full tenth
,art OF an 18-inch diameter circle. 1t
vas the only known inscribed stone
,ver found on the great pyramid.
would Judge 1t had been let into q
outh flank casing stone at place
rom which another inscription had
,een for some reason chiseled out"
Such Is the newest story of the pyr'
mids which have been standing amid
he sands of Gizeh these thousands OF
ears told by an American.