Evening star., 1934-11-11

son. might be renewed with profit.
Today the aluminium cap was
placed on the top of the Washington
Monument and its exterior is COM
pleted. Five hundred and fifty feet
high, 1t has an area at the base
large enough for two big city houses,
but its top, as 1t kisses the clouds.
Is no larger than the point Of pin.
At 500 feet above the ground it has
four sides each Of which is s. feet
wide. It's area at this point Is that
of comfortable six-room house, each
room Of which might be II by 16. 1t
would take more than hundred and
twenty-five yards Of carpet to cover
its floor and a man with good ele-
vator might make a pleasant Sum-
mer residence of a house built up
here
This square forms the base OF
pyramidal top that runs from 1t SIS
feet until it terminates in its metallic
cap, which is constructed Of the
largest piece of aluminium ever made.
1t is a pyramid 9 feet high, which
shines like speck of light away up
there under the rays Of the sun. 1t
weighs just 100 ounces and is one
third as light as ii would be II 1t
were made Of copper. Aluminium does
not corrode. and it makes one OF the
best conductors of lightning. A wire
will be fastened to the lower side
of this little pyramid and run down
into the earth, making the longest
lightning rod ever constructed.
Standing by the Monument one Is
iv,,y, xx-ifI Io
skill required to build it. Its stones are
great blocks, in some cases feet long
2 feet thick and and more feet wide.
There are more than $4,000 of them.
They are of white marble and weigh
several tons each. The ingenuity
which can raise such stones several
hundred: feet above the ground seems
the triumph of mechanical skill, and
one is inclined to pat himself on the
back in that he belongs to an age
so far advanced in the march of prog
ress. He Is inclined to sneer at the
work of the past, and to think that the
massive structure before him will out
last the ages.
A second thought bids him pause
He remembers the saying in regard to
lllC l1OlLldIl SOlOoOCuII-
While stands the Colosseum, Rome
shall stand,
When falls the Colosseum, Rome
shall fall
al when Rome falls, with it shall
fall the world"
Still the Colosseum, when II was
built at the beginning of the Chris
tian era, had better chance of last
ing than the Washington Monument.
1t was far more wonderful structure,
and the mechanical skill required in
building it was quite as great. The
largest theater today in the world will
not seat 1000 spectators The Colos-
scum had seats for 81 900 and stand
ing room for 10000 more. It's walls
we're made of heavier blocks than
those in the Washington Monument,
and they ran 157 feet high. Its in
terror was so large that the Washing
ton Monument could have been laid
inside Of it without disturbing its
masonry. and Of the one-third of the
gigantic structure, which remains after
Rome has been building from it and
ravaging it for centuries, the materials
alone are said to be worth 81 100000.
This is twice as much as the cost Of
the Washington Monument, with
$500 900 to spare.
Still the Monument will while 1t
lasts. be considered one Of the wonders
of the world. 1t is now the highest
structure on earth-43 feet higher
than the spires of the Cologne Cathe-
draEand so tall that the Sphinx could
be put on the top of st. Paul's and
still be more than a hundred feet
below 1t. 1t will attract travellers from
far and near l do not agree with
those who say it is nothing but
great chimney 1t is work of mas
sive, symmetrical and wonderful i'm
mensity; no man can view it without
being filled with great thoughts Of
men and nature and their infinite
possibilities. To see it best you must
approach it with the sun at your back.
Otherwise the binding rays of the
Southern sun striking its white sur
face rebound with dazzling glare.
went half mile in its rear today
and let it grow upon me as I ap-
preached it. At first it appeared a
great white shaft rising above sheds
and buildings, and looking to be a
solid monument of perhaps 3 feet
square. The massive scaffolding which
still hangs about its head looked like
a network of straw. and with the
naked eye the men working upon it
could not be seen. AS 1 went nearer,
the Monument grew with every step,
and when I came within a quarter Of
a mile of it, its immensity began to be
appreciable. I sat down on the steps
of the Bureau of Printing and Engrav-
ing and looked at its huge shaft rising
out of big square mound of earth
over the velvety lawn about five blocks
away. At that point each side of its
base looked to be about Is feet long
and where the pyramidal point began
they had shrunken to T. The scaf-
folding there looked like the whiting
Of boys play house, and the men
on top appeared SO many dolls at
play. The frame of the net was vis-
ible, but its meshes I could not see.
The first third of the monument,
which was built away back in the
SOS, was of a different color from
the new work The weather has so
varied it that it looks like MOSAIC of
yellow fossilized rock. I could see
that the Monument was made up of a
thousand little squares and they
seemed like myriads of marble paper
weights piled one upon another.
Step around to the front and there
is a door feet wide and 16 feet high
leading into the interior This door
faces the Capitol and there is one op-
posite it looking upon the Potomac.
Go inside. The walls are Is feet thick
and the interior makes room at the
bottom rs feet square In this an i'm
mense iron framework, with steep wire
ropes two inches thick, supports the
machinery of the elevator and at one
side begin the stairs which by easy
flights run round and round for
nearly 900 steps until they reach the
top. There are SO flights and 18 steps
to each flight. At the end of every
flight there is platform and in the
wall opposite to this the memorial
stones are to be placed and lighted
with electric lights.
Go to the center of the interior at
the base, throw your head back and