The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

air it would, If laid out hat, be longer than three city blocks. Standing along side the Cathedral of Cologne. the latter would be 25O feet below its top, while the Great Pyramid of Cheops would be 2oo feet below, making them dwarfs In com parison. The Metropolitan tower, the wonder of architects, Is outclasseo py nfty feet, the height of an ordinary hve- story building
 According to specifications of Cass Gii- pert, the architect, the Woolworth build Ing measures 750 feet from the dome of tne cupola to the street level. and con tains more than 24,000 tons of steel gir- ders. It will cost about $12,000.000
 One of the features of the building is the tower, containing an immense electric light. which may be seen for many miles around the country. On the fifty-fourth story Is an observatory open to the free use of the public.
 Ine hrst story or street floor is de- signed for stores and an arcade, with openings on Broadway, Park place and Barclay street.
 There are four self-containing stair ways which run from top of the tower to the street. These are separated from the corridors and offices by fireproof walls and wire glass doors. They make the stars not only freproof, but smokeproof so that In case of fire in any part of the Luiiding causing smoke, the stairways VIII De Tree of 1t. There are thirty four elevators for passenger service.
 The exterior of the building is of creamy white stone and terra cotta, in uesign combination of the Italian, prench and modern Renaissance through out the main part, with Gothic steeples al the roof of the main structure.
 UT the enormous mass of steel in the great structure, the greatest weight is oI course, at the base, diminishing grad ualiy as the pile rises. A familiar il- iustration of this principle is in the lean ing tower of Pisa, where each succeed ing story section Is lighter than the one peiow' Five thousand tons of steel were used in and about tho foundation, alone. oi the Woolworth Building. An ingeni- ous calculator could tell whether the raiters, girders and supports in the framework of this huge creation would, II placed end to end. reach from New fork to Chicago. and likewise how many thousands of trillions of cambric needles could be made of the 24,000 tons of steel used.
 TO sustain this enormous weight a stable and not floating foundation. ' as IS sometimes used in lesser buildings was absolutely necessary. and the Foun- dalion company. which fears no problem In engineering. had to sink the caissons to bedrock. about no feet below the sidewalk.
 III these caissons, n.en who underwent an examination as to physical fitness by physician on the spot, had to work in the pressure of four atmospheres. for, without a perfect foundation, the build- ing could not be.
 Work on the foundation was started in november, 1910. and the installation of the caissons was virtually completed in August, 1911. The extension of the building on it's Broadway width from 1o5 to 152 feet, which was decided mon while the construction was under way required some delicate notifications and adjustments of original plans, bot. fo, foundation and building, but tbere wos no cessation of the process of erection
 The cubical contents of this bui,din, amount to 13,20o.0O0 cubic feet. Ar.b,. tecturally, its style is Gothic. deyelonef and modified to meet the needs of A mod ern American office building In tbe course of construction 17.00o,o 900 bricks were used.
 Before MT. woolworth decided on aver tentative plans for the huge buildins be spent two years studying those O this country and abroad. The types o work were so different that he fnalI, settled down to a study of American con. ditions and methods.
 In the basement of the Woodwork there will be swimming tank The court inside the building is as wide a. a city street and there are enough stair. to run up mountain almost 4,0o0 fee high. When 1t comes to cost another high water mark Is reached. For the entire undertaking $13,00o,00 was re. ouired and the financing of the scheme was infected into foreign financial cir. cles as if 1t were a railroad or any other industrial fotation. A little nor. than half the sum was secured from foreign sources most of 1t from France The building itself will cost s7.50o.0o0 of which amount almost one-third is fol the foundation alone.
 a. this large sum every dollar comes from profits made in the five and ter Cent Stores.
 To A business man, the most interest ing and important thing about this build ,nr ,s the fact that MT. Woolworth in d,v,dually is paying for the stupendou' snternrise. There could be no more re- markable test of implicit faith In the future of New York real estate than the nour,ne into a plot of about 200 feel s,r.re the sur of ss.oo0.oOo. or more Mir Woolworth regards 1t simply as conservative investment of his money ue says: My idea was purely commer' o,a, had no desire to erect a monu-
 ort that would cause posterity to re- romher me I saw possibilities of mak' inc this the greatest income producing .,ronortv in which I could invest my money.
 "It was for variety of reasons that ' selected this particular plqt for the erection of the tallest building ia the world.
 .Here Is the heart of the money in- ..rests of America. Opposite is the Post ofnce near which many important inter o.,s center. A few hundred feet away is