Evening star., 1923-02-22

The residents of the District. espe-
cial1y of the present generation, are
so used to the Washington Monu-
! ment. that they seldom think of the
interesting history of the shaft itself.
! of its height. weight and other dlmen-
Sions.
rs Feet Above Low Tide.
So true is this that only a few
persons have any real knowledge OF
/ the structure itself. the greatest thing
of its kind in the world. 1t is the
| purpose of the present article TO set
| forth some of the salient features in
/ connection with the monument.
/ The elevation of the ground on
which the Monument stands is TWEEN
! ty-SiX feet above low-tide water in
| the Potomac, according to statistics
! given in the History of the Wash
| ington National Monument and Wash
; ington National Monument Society y
compiled by Frederick L. Harvey.
secretary of the society. and printed
in 1908 by the government printing
| office. These and other statistics are
from the annual reports of Col.
| Thomas Lincoln Casey. engineer in
charge of the construction of the
Monument.
The Monument is 500 feet SIS inches
! above the floor it's height above mean
! feet inches. 1t is $50 feet 9.36 inches
above the mean level of the Atlantic
ocean at Sandy Hook, ". Y.
Size OF Foundation.
The original foundation was 80 feet
square at the base. covering 6.400
square feet, pyramidal in shape, hav-
ing steps feet S inches below
ground. 15 feet inches above ground
The present foundation is 126 feet
! 6 inches square. covering an area of
! l6.002 square feet. SO feet 10 inches
deep, extending down to level 8
inches below the permanent level of
water in the site on which the Mon
ument is located.
The material used in enlarging the
foundation was Portland cement
! mixture Of one part cement. two
parts sand, three parts pebbles. four
| parts broken stone). An Sinch
| block. nodded June 81. 1879, and test
! ed October Il, 1879. showed first crack
| al pressure OF 105. coo pounds; maximum
F; pressure flacturng it $4,000 pounds.
| The weight of the foundation and
the earth upon it is 36,912 tons.
square: top, "a feet 51s inches
I square: thickness of walls (entrance).
l. feet: at top, Is inches; top of
shaft. fiye-eights the width of base.
Faced With Marble.
! The shaft would come to a point
at height Of two and two-thirds its
than 1000 feet tall If it had been
allowed to run to point.
j The shaft is faced with pure white
marble. from nearby Maryland
quarries.
| The backing is of rubble masonry
to height of $50 feet: above, dressed
granite from New England quarries
to height of 452 feet; remainder, to
500 feet, marble through and through.
int ri
Monument are: First $50 feet, 25
feet square: then recedfng outward on
slope for ten feet up to level
100 feet: we'll enlarges to 81 feet 6
! inches square.
The weight of the first $50 feet,
! the point where the work was re-
sumed after years of delay. is 22.373
i tons: the weight of the remaining
portion of the shaft to the top Of
the walls is 21,260 tons.
Means OF Ascent.
Ascent in the shaft is by means of
an iron stairway and electric elevator.
Eight supporting iron columns are
arranged in concentric squares The
weight of the iron frame is 275 tons.
The stairway of iron consists of
short flights. strung along the north
and south sides of the well. connect
wide ito height Of $50 feeD and Z
feet 10& inches wide. 20 feet apart
on a side. and extending along the
east and west walls. There are fifty
| flights and 900 steps.
The pyramidion topping the shaft
is So feet in vertical height, and con-
sists of 262 separate stones, contain
ing 1864 cubic feet of dressed stock.
[ Covering slabs are inches in thick
ness. resting upon projections or
| ribs are IL in number, 3 on each side
of the well, springing from the in
terror face of the walls at the height
of 40 feet.
The pyramidion weighs 800 tons.
Capstone Weighs $500 Pounds.
The capstone weighs $500 pounds
and is crowned by small right
pyramid of pure aluminium 5.6 inches
at it's base, S.9 inches high. weighing
100 ounces, and, as stated, was the
largest piece OF this metal ever cast
in this country in 1884.
1t is this aluminium crown" that at
some seasons Of the year. with the
sun just right. can be seen to flash
like a mirror.
1t was cast by a chemist in Phila-
delphia, and its reception in this city
became an event. 1t was shown in
the window Of prominent jeweIry
store on Pennsylvania avenue before
being placed on the top of the Monu-
ment, and people came from all over
the city to see It.
There are 9,613 stones in the shaft
above the 150-foot level.
The total weight of the Monument,
as constructed, is 81,120 tons.
Pressure ON Soil.
Some $4,000 barrels of Portland ce-
ment were used in the new foundation
and shaft.
The pressure of the masonry upon
the underlying soil is declared to be
! nowhere greater than tons per
square foot, and less than three tons
per square foot near the outer edges
of the foundation"
The settlement since work was COM
four inches. The greatest difference
was nearly a half inch, between the
southeast and northwest corners, oc-
curing during the introduction of the
new foundation.
One of the interesting, but little
kppwn fpcfc cnnrarninr tho Manu-