The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1912-12-21
HEAT or THE sun
Old Sol Has a Strong Pull al The
Capitol In Washington.
SWAPS THE MAMMOTH DOME.
On a Hot Day His Torrid Rays Wih
praq the Massive Iron Structure
Way Out of Plumb-1Grns the Same
Trick With Washington Monument

prso the Massive Iron Structure {,
WAY Out of Plumb--Gurns the Same j
Trick With Washington Monument. L
Not many people have any idea as 20
the cno..ious amount OF heat that the
sun sends off into space. The edrth {
aets only a very small portion nj II :
The head of Il pin placed twenty feet /
AWAY from an electric light gels
In proportion to the light on the sur
rounding walls of a room about WAT ,
the earth gets of she suns light and
heat radiated into Space. Yet that por
ton the earth does get is great enough
to cause great structures to move.
In fnct. all stone or metal buildings
are constantly changing their positions
under the hot rays of the sun. The
great duue Of the capitol butidihg al
Washington is the lars It surface OF
cast iron In the world. a3'd the effect OF
the continuous heat OF net summer |
day can best be appreciated, says liar |
per's Weekly, when II is known that |
| this mammoth mass really sways bhck |
| and forth under the scorching rays uh
| iii the tcp feather in the cap OF the
stntue of Freedom describes an elipse
the diameter OF which on Il hot day
varies from four to eight inches.
The giant plinth base of the dome,
resting on the roof Of the old SAND
stoup building, measures 1856 feet on
side The greatest diameter Of the
round dome is l21 feet while the
whole iron structure is rs feet high
from the old capitutS root to the base
of Freedom on the apex. The cast iron
covering this surface Is made in TIM
sheets offering good conductor fo1
the heat. winch sWplts even the bolts
and beams at the inside before the sun
has made It's circuit
The southern Sle of the dome sui
fcrs most from the heat, being expos
ed longer to the san. which passes
south Of the aeuith while on its jour
; ney from the east to the west. If the
I metal were exposed to constant
! heating the result Of the continuation
il of such expansion rs that received on
G very hot days might prove disastrous
. hut rs it Is little II any permanent in
iury is duue. since the iron returns
regularly to it's nolmal position as the
G cooi hight comes on
II But what seems more remarkable u
g the fact that marble is also changed II
d volume 50 perceptbly by the snntigh
~ that the mammoth shaft OF the Wash
Sc fmgtou monument swaNs BACK an
n forth In the sun on Il hot day. III
Ia outer surface being of hard marble I'll
"A EXPANSION is much greater than
r. vautd be had granite instead of mal
ri HE been used OK hot summer da
ut the sharp aluminium apex that crown
II the obelsk points TO Il position ut ieaS
OF four iches north of normal, bnt Il
WAYS returns to its proper position
III the Good OF the night
m From the extreme top Of the mon
IN mcut inside a Ions pry line runs pc
ed pendicularly to the bottom, leading
Int n small closet behind the elevate
Mo- This contains a long pendulum, VINO
tfs hob hangs In vessel of merrur
ms which prevents its oscillation. tN
il stationary lranSits with highly ma
Mo pifying lenses are focused direct
To upon the suspended wire, and thron
,n. these each culver of the monument
in detected. being maguited on y
scale graduated to thonSandths OF
inch.
Every morning at 10 o'clock Il sta
,,. mpnt Of this plummet line is tau
'D and reported to the war departing
,,S and II was by this mcans that the
feet which the suns rays have on
't" hinge white shaft was discovered. 7
VS. plumb bob. of course, was placed
"a" the monument for the purpose OF
ivy tectiug any settling II might undel
t"'' and although the great weight Of
'''e mass has pressed the ground for M
"ou decades. it has settled only sll
on fraction OF an inch in one corner.
t'e This seems extraordinary when !
l"' realized that its weight of sl,f2o
ava rests on foundation only 126H
New square aud 81 feet deep from h"i
almost fifteen times that OF the de
The Whole rests on the SANDY @h'
the Potomac river with the enorh
th pressure OF five tons to the s'll
sor- foot Not only does the suns
m, II sway the big ohelisk iHlt ut til
only when a stiff winter gale was bio"
scov- II has been reported AS much MS
nose inches out of plumb.