The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-01-22
A Type of the Powerful Steam
Shovels Which Will Be Used
to Crunch Out the Noun
tain's Sides.

r< A LTHOUGH have all faith so that
I could remove mountains. and
have not charity. have moth.
Ing" II is written in I. Corinthians. chapter
xiii, verse 2; and the old saying that faith
will remove mountains Is, without doubt.
a reflection Of this statement in Holy Writ.
Whether the inhabitants OF picturesque
Rio de Janeiro. the Paradise City OF South
America" as II has been called, had not
enough faith to remove It. or did not try,
they have just called on science to pull q
little mountain out OF the very heart CT
their city. American engineers are on
their way with proper machinery which
will crush and rip and wash away the
picturesque rocks that have looked out
over the harbor for ages. With them will
go the beautiful trees. palms and other
things that crown it-quaint old mission
houses, wonderful ancient church OF the
Capuchin Fathers and hundreds OF beau.
tiful residences.
All these will pour down the maws NJ
the gigantic steam shovels or be washed
away by the powerful hydraulic pumps
until the mountain Ia no more and only q
wide level space about seventy city blocks
in size remains. ~.
Over this space will then fow the life Of
the city that since the Portuguese first built
it has had to skirt the mountains base or
laboriously force It's way over It.
Unquestionably the city will lose .
beauty spot, but what IL beauty thst II
should stand in the path OF modern
progress?
This lie the first time that any city has
ever had a mountain pulled out from 1t,
much like tooth.
The Moro do CASTILLO, as the heights
are called, overlooks the wonderful Bahio
do Rio de Janeiro, the circular sweep OF
pearly beach and the azure bay beyond
which ore the fantastic. weirdly beautiful
peaks which are one of the things that set
Rio apart as one OF the unique cities of
the world. It Is skirted at its inner base
by the .shrouded Avenida Rio Branco,
the principal street. This avenida, or ave.
nue.. by the way, was made by razing two
city blocks for one whole mile. This alone
cost 100000. but the people OF Rio are
not niggardly when It omes to improving,
as they think, their city. The cost OF re-
moving the Moro do CASTILLO, which has
been undertaken by Kennedy, Leonard q
Co, the New York engineering firm, will
be least $12,000,000.
The mountain itself covers q fat area
of seventy modern city blocks--that is, its
base, when cut down, will permit the con.
struction of that many. All the section
around the base has been steadily crowd.
ing up with hotels, business houses and
so on. II was impossible for them to climb
up over the MORO, yet expanding business
demanded more room. Therefore the fate
OF the picturesque hill was decreed.
- As the geological composition OF the hiil
Is mainly mere surface dirt, with decom.
posed granite underneath and rock assures
running through its whole bulk, the most
feasible method OF removal Is by hydraulic
pressure OF course. there will be consider.
able blasting. but black powder instead OF
dynamite will be used. q
Steam shovels and automatic dump cars
will be put to work after the main bulk has
been washed away by water. The local con.
tractor had been using four thousand men
on the Job, but with modern equipment
Civil Engineers Alexander Douglas CHS
nolm and Seton Gray expect TO cut down