The Cairo bulletin., 1911-04-20
GRANDCATHEORAL
IS CONS[CRATED.
LARGEST ECCLESIASTICAL STRUc
TuRE IN COUNTRY is ST.
Jca ms OF NEW YORK.
70 FEARS IN BUILDING
Wiil Take Another 20 Yc1rs to Com
plcte it ard VIII Cost $4,000
coo--lls Fourth Largest
in the World.

New York, April l9--Th9 Episcopal
Cathedral Of st. John the Di9ine, the
largest ecclesias ical structure in tIle
country and the fourth larsest in
! Christcnscm. was soleranly consecfat
ed here today, Although only par
! italy constructed, 1t has already been
twenty years in building, at cost oi
lS$,500,d00 and Il may take as much
llonaeg to complete ii, as total estl
mate Il cost ot slo,aO0ooo
1 Seating accommodations are nov
lproyided for about 1909 persons, ont
although copsecrated for present use
IEourhsths of tie wcgk remains 10 ha
dcae, and the full capacity will ap
Iproach 1000 AT present the interior
walls stand in great part as they were
laid, IN iutting tiers of rough granite.
The yaul.cd Icof Of the crossing Is
only makcshift OF terra Gotta to be
torn down later; TIC arches from
which the transcripts will spread ase
Blocked with temporary concrete BAT
dos; the flooring itself is bu a c.
mert bed on which the mosaics will
vet be supelimposcd only hint Of
.tfe full glory appears; and set 50
noble is Ike harmony of the ample
Dimensions and so rica tae prom se
oe fulGllmont that the fragment open
cd 10 he public today is itself an in
vitation 10 worship,
How has this mighty undertaking
s'.ysesM- rfahceed? asks Canon H6bss3
Willis Jones. by the same devotion
and sacrifice he answers, (which a.
matcd the best of the medieval
cathedral builders The cathodfa
rss no Official source Of revenue. Nc
Organized effort has hcon made !.
draw on tho interest Of Egiseopaliens
ara yet gifts of all tizes haze dowe1
IN, from all quarters Five dolla.s
come every year from seamstfcss
Up the Hudson. Itc inmate librarian
tof a city refuge gave bnetcnth Of his
salary, aud dozen old men in
church homo earned BY making nets
lama hammocks $3.50. which they beg
gea might be built into he cathe
dral."
A rcvenue thus derived cannot ptt
estimated in advance, but beqnests
are not known which, as they mature
viii be sufficient to insure continued
| progress. The choir is now roote
aud partly cascd with he limestone
which win later finish the entire n
terror. The eight giant columns, eaef
G5 feet high, exclusive Of the capitals
which cluster about the al ar be-
tween the ambulaiury and the ehad
Gel, are in place, with the names
carved upon them OF those whom
their donors wish TO commemorate
TWO OF the seven chapels in the apse
Of the chancel have been completed
and with them their stained glass
! windows These are the gifts e.
August Belmont and Mrs. Edward
King Seven tapestries depicting
sacred subjects and woven originally
for Pope Adraiu in 1880 at Rome
Ialrcady hang In the spaces between
i the windows OF ,he apse and the full
complement will add three more. The
organ and carved choir stalls, the
Igift Of Levi p, Morton, are In place
The great crossing at the intersection
Iof the nave and the Transcripts. da'
signed for the main assembling place
of the congregation, Is rooted over
and with the unfinished transeepss
land the nave shut in from the
weather by concrete screens, the ie
Imaining wing and work on the Ian
Itern and towers above can 80 on with
out annoyance 10 worshippers, eaeh
finished unit 10 be thrown onen upoa
the main body Of the cdihce as II
becomes ready to use,
In style the cathedral is late
RomanesQue, with strong traces 0
Byzantine influences. or as the arcai
test in chief c. Grant LalTarge, o sen
OF he late John LaFarge. describes i
$50 far as the cathedral in the larger
sense is Gothic, it is the Gothic Of
q very early period; the time 81
transition from Tire simple Roman
tsque to the more complex organism
Nowher is the constructive scheme
hased on he pointed arch. The mss
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