Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 June 1919 — The WASHINGTON MONUMENT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The WASHINGTON MONUMENT

s / UILD it to the stars; you •• cannot outreach the loftiness of his principles. Found It upon the massive and eternal rock; you cannot make it more enduring than his fame! Constrflct it of the peerless Parian marble; you cannot make it purer than his life! Exhaust upon it the rules and principles of ancient and modern art; you cannot make it more proportionate than his character.” —From the speech of Robert C. Winthrop at the laying of the corner stone of the Washington monument July 4, 1848. In the National Geographic Magazine three -years ago William Howard Taft wrote of the Washington monument: “Taken by itself, the Washingtion monument stands not only as one of the most stupendous works of man, but also as one of the most beautiful of all human creations. Indeed it is at once so great and so simple that It seems to be almost a work of nature. Dominating the entire District of Co--lumbia, it has taken its place with the capitol ond the White House as the three foremost national structures. “With a new character for each new hour, a different aspect for every change of light and shade, the Washington monument seems to link heaven and earth in the darkness, to pierce the sky in the light and to stand an immovable mountain peak as the mists of every storm go driving by. With a height of 555 feet, a base of 55 feet square, and walls tapering from 15 feet at the base to 18 Inches at the top; with its interior lined with memorial stones from the several states, from many famous organizations and from a number of foreign countries; with its stately simplicity and the high qualities of manhood it honors, it is fitting that the aluminum tip that caps it should bear the phrase ‘Laus Deo.’ ” “Stately simplicity” is what makes the Washington monument one of the greatest in the world, observes the Kansas City Star. Original Plan Changed. The original plan of the designer, Robert Mills, was to have as the main feature of the monument a large columned pantheon to be used as a museum for war relics and statues of great men, and the obelisk was to arise from its center and surmount the whole. The pantheon idea was abandoned later when the monument came'to be built, and everyone feels now thAt it is a good thing it was so, because a building of any kind at its base would only detract from its sublimity and grandeur. Washington himself selected the site for the monument, but at that time the intention was to erect an equestrian statue, which congress had voted for in 1783. Nothing was done until 1833, when Chief Justice John Marshall headed a movement called the “Washington Monument society,” to solicit funds to build It. It was then

the architect, Robert Mills, designed an obelisk surmounting a colonnade of Doric columns. Some money was collected, but not enough to build it as planned, so the pantheon feature was abandoned and work begun on the, obelisk. The coi> ner stone, weighing twelve tons, was laid July 4, 1848, in the presence of 20,000 people. •* In 1855 the funds ran out and work was stopped, and for twenty years the partly constructed monument remained an ugly stub. But the centennial exposition of 1876 brought a revival of patriotism and there was a nation-wide demand that the monument be finished. Congress took hold of it, funds were asked for from every state, as well as contributions of stone blocks with which to line the interior. In 1880 work on the monument was resumed, but on altered plans. The foundations were enlarged and strengthened and the shaft increased in height. In 1884 it was finished at a total cost of 81,200,000. Lower Walls 15 Feet Thick. Following is a detailed description of the monument taken from the Rand-McNally Guide to Washington: “The foundations are described as constructed of a mass of solid blue rock 146 feet square. "The base of shaft is feet square and the lower walls are 15 feet thick. At the 500-foot elevation, where the pyramid top begins, the walls are only 18 inches thick and about 35 feet square. The inside of the walls, ks far as they were constructed before .the work was undertaken by the gov-

ernment in 1878— 150 feet from the base —is of blue granite, not laid in courses. From this point to within a short distance of the beginning of the top of the roof the inside of the walls Is of regular courses of granite, corresponding with the courses of marble on the outside. For the top marble is entirely used. The work has been declared the best piece of masonry in th.e_world.Byaplum.bline.suspended, from the top of the monument inside not three-eighths of an inch deflection has been noticed. The keystone that binds the interior ribs of stone that support the marble facing of the pyramid cap of the monument weighs nearly five tons. It is four feet six inches high and three feet six inches square at the top. “On the 6th day of December, 1884, the capstone, which completed the shaft, was set. The capstone is five feet 2% inches in height, and its base is somewhat more than three feet square. At its cap, or peak, it is five inches in diameter. On the cap was placed a tip or point of aluminum, a composition metal -which resembles polished silver, and which was select-, ed because of its lightness and freedom from oxidation and because it will always remain bright. Staircase With 900 Steps, “A staircase of 900 steps winds its -way to the top, around* an Interior shaft of iron'pillars, in which the elevator runs; few people walk up, but many descend that way, in order to examine more carefully the inscribed memorial blocks which are set into the interior wall at various places. Within the shaft formed by the Interior Iron framework runs an elevator, making a trip every half hour and carrying, if need, be, thirty persons. As this elevator and its ropes are of unusual strength and were severely tested by use in elevating the stone required for the upper courses as the structure progressed, Its safety need not be suspected. The elevator Is lighted by electricity and carries a telephone... Seven minutes are required for the ascent of 500 feet; and one can see as he passes all the inscriptions and carvings sufficiently well to satisfy the curiosity of most persons, as none of these memorials has any artistic excellence. An officer in charge of the floor marshals visitors into the elevator and another cares for the observatory floor at the top; but no fees are expected. The surrounding grounds form "Washington park. “The view from the eight small windows, which open through the pyramidon, or sloping summit of the obelisk, 517 feet from the ground, includes a circle of level country having a radius of from fifteen to twenty miles, and southwest extends still farther, for in clear weather the Blue Ridge is Well defined in that direction. The Potomac is in sight from up near Chain bridge down to far below. Mount Vernon, and the whole district lies unrolled like a map. To climb the Washington monument is, therefore, an excellent method of beginning an intelligent survey of the capital and of ‘getting one’s bearing.’ ”