The Washington times., 1921-10-23

0OME time before midnight OF AL
Saints Day-November 2, 1921-s
priest in the Church of Our Lady OF
Pompeii at Naples will lift long taper
and light the wick of candle towering
like spire twice the height of tall mar
above the priests head. mass will be
said and solemn prayers be offered for the
repose of the soul of Enrico Caruso.
For this immense candle. eighteen feet
high and seven in circumference at its base
is touching and enduring memorial to
the charitable heart of the greatest tenor
the world has ever known.
Touching, because It was made possible.
in part at least, by penny contributions
from orphans whom Caruso had befriended.
Enduring?
Some time before midnight Of All Saints
Day eighteen hundred years from now in
that same Church of Our Lady of Pompeii,
Q wick set in a thin disc of beeswax will
be burning with clear, white flame. Be-
fore dawn of the next day-November 8,
3721-the wick will have gutted out, and
In place of the flame the fragrance of roses
will rise from the pool Of wax and drift
about the dim gray arches.
After eighteen hundred years the great
Caruso Memorial Candle will have burned
out.
Eighteen hundred years! What cannot
happen in the length Of time the flame in
that huge cylinder Of wax will be kept
alive? Only little more than that num-
Der of years ago the Saviour walked the
earth and was cruciied Between then
and now empires have fallen and new en-
pires arisen; scores of conquerors have
lived and died. During that time the Dark
Ages cast their shadow on Europe, threat
ening to eclipse all the painfully gained
of mana knowledge saved only
by the sheltering walls Of that same Church
of which that of Our Lady of Pompeii,
which will guard the candle, is part.
But how, 1t will be asked, is It possible
to make candle which will burn for 1900
years? And how is it possible to make 1t
so that It will be known, almost to the
minute, just how long 1t will burn?
The construction of the Caruso memo
rial has demanded calculations as unusual
and delicate as those scientists use to
measure the heat from distant stars; and
these calculations have been as unusual
as the memorial itself.
Two factors enter into its making-the
wick which is set afame and the material
upon which the fame must feed Be-
tween these two things the most delicate
balance had to be determined, so that the
wax melted neither too fast nor too slow
and would be entirely consumed. This bal
snce was at last attained to such degree
that Il is mathematically certain the candle
will diminish slightly less than one-eighth
of an inch in every twenty-four hours.
II It were to be set alight and the fame
kept burning continuously the candle would
last for AZ, 200 hours; that is, 1t would burn
for almost FIVE years continuously. But It
Is the plan to light II only once year on
the first second of All Saints Day. and to
keep It burning until the last second OF
that twenty.four hours. The commission
to construct II was given to Antonino
Ajello, OF the foremost nrm OF candle
makers, who knew and loved Caruso.
The first step in its making began with
the construction OF the wick, just as the
keel Of a ship is laid before the hull is
hegun, lot IL Is obvious Jnat lne snape hhu
size and quality OF the wick must determine
the shape and size and quality OF the candle
whose material feeds II.
The wick for the Caruso candle Is slight
" over eighteen feet long, and tapers from
the approximate size OF half-dollar at the
top to that OF a dollar at the base. The
number OF strands, the method by which
they are spliced on as the wick becomes
thicker. and certain other details as to the
wick are closely guarded secrets In the
Ajello family--secrets which, Mr.. Ajello
says, other candle manufacturers, mostly
English, have tried TO wean from him by
writing under the guise Of newspaper cor.
to ask for details OF the wick
that none but candlemsker could think OF.
Suffice II TO say, that at the base the
number of strands is twice that OF the top
and numbers a round one thousand. The
wick itself is made Of unbleached sea
island cotton. II is impregnated with