| Show froni chi Cli chambers ambers enburg hinburg journal STATUE OF PETER THE great ST petersburg tiie the rapid change which russia underwent du sas gas the reign of ieter veter the great her extraordinary kry iry ad ady ances under this sage sage legislator are amow among tn tw most important evens events of which history pre 0 the record proud of his liis glory the nation natio 11 v visnu viani tsai esat to erect a monument in commemoration A lf L 1 f great 9 reat actions which in his own city should be a distinctive object to all posterity in the tin lin i u young state of their art some soma deliberation to Is place before the design of the structure was deade decided oil on during this the tile liero hero died and the erection of the monument was consequently re s erv rv d for the reign of the empress catherine 11 II the first stet step to be taken was the ap appointment ointment of un ua artist capable of brider undertaking taking gueft buch such a work ta tai choice fell feu upon al falconet who wiio in hs rs r c burert on of an all equestrian statue determined t olat riat tile tiie belbon bite il tte ite parts should bear an equal imi imp ess esa of g gen gel en us as ile he found that the pedestals i g uaral use ave no distinctive feature and adt equally well to any subject i aad bellig belig of a universal application they pro once co no new or elevated feeling in the ilia mind of I 1 ie to spectator re lie wished to make the czar app af pf ar u 11 ha his pal character the father and le of fisl his ie ae great and extraordinary in i a auci u rt akin ahin and aud completing that which others vi ere we U flable to a igi tie tle to carry out this coap cone tion uon a prea i ous rock was fixed ou oil for the on oil w ich h the statue should appear with hi i ingui shing it from those erected t oher other bovere sovere us Ls to tup first ide was to form this pedestal of six mass s of rock b lound bound und and together with bars of ca I 1 e or iron bv bu i tc t objection wa was urged that tie toe ila maur ar I 1 decay of tte tie die tle bands would cause causa a disrud 0 01 of the arl ayi ari us ids parts and present a ruinous app arp el ct while it would be difficult to insure perfect u in t cita clis lity and appearance of the 4 ZE hie rent ent blocks the next proposal was to form it of on onn bliok chok rock but this appeared impossible bi anti anu in a rep rt to tiie tile senate it was stated lle die expense would be so enormous as almost to just y the tile abandonment of the undertaking and even evell if made of six pieces as first proposed tile the ou y ruid auld v uld aid be excessive at A t leng teng length h it iwas was determined to transport to the rv V the argest rock foci that could be found and add oun olli r portions to it as might be judged necessary s grea great t mi misgivings givings prevailed as to the possibility it of 0 removing the contemplated mass the ie search ch was then begun begu n but with less success than ahad been anticipated as the country around st petersburg Ss is flat flit and marshy affording no traces ot of stone while the nearest moun mins kins are ia in the province of finland A whole summer was passed in exploration and tile tiie idea of forming the pedestal of several smaller portions was again entertained when a large sto stone ve was discovered near Cron oron which it was determined to apply as the principal mass and the task of its removal mival was confined to the Admira lity who however as well weil as many other mechanic ians applied to in turn refused to unde undertake rake it the bearc search bearch i for the smaller blocks was nevertheless continued although ni no one appeared to have any definite notion of tile the use to be made of them iu in tile tiie event of their discovery under these unexpected difficulties the tho forma tion lion of the pedestal was in trusted to an officer of i the corps of cadet cadets who had already given proofs of his mechanical skill A native of Ce phalonia hf hr hd h d been compelled for an offense offence against the aws to si sk s k refuge iu to russia Rus sit sli where ile he lived un dr the tile assur assumed ned name of las lise L lse ise ciry kry try ile he had stien bously recommended the adoption of the or filial de design sigyn and a few days after his appointment he deceived information from a peasant of lularee lu a large j rock 13 ling ing in a marsh near a bay in the gulf f of finland twenty miles from the city by water A an a was immediately instituted the wone stilie tt A as found covered with moss and on somi soni sou ii lic ilc ric around it the tile base was fortu i bately ager aigid to bp be fot oot flat its form was that of a parati paral lo io ip idon ledon don 42 feet in length 27 feet iu in i width and 21 fet oct f et in height dimensions I 1 ext to realize the conceptions of M Fal fai falconet conet couet the tiie sculptor but when the authorities under whose direction the work was placed placed saw the ilia prodigious size of the rock they again hesitated and recommended its division into smaller por ions the fear of accidents however and 1 lie tie hard nesa of the stone caused them i to yield to tile tiie representations of the engineer i who wilo was no now favored by the support and encouragement of the minister betsky aud and the intelligence of tile the empress being superior to the sense less lass clamor raised by the envious and the ignorant she gave for the ilia of the work I 1 A working model of or the which it was proposed to remove the rock from its situation was wae fi st made al lascara resolved ou on effecting this thia removal without the me uie of rollers as these not only present a long surface which increases I 1 the lie friction but are not elsif easily y made ol 01 flie file he great diameter that would have been required owing to the soft and yielding nature of the ground on which the work wore work was to be performed er formed spherical bodi is rev revolving olvino in a metallic groove were then chosen as the means of or transport these oa offered oared red many advantages their motion i is more inore prompt than that of rollers with a less degree of friction as they present but small smail points of contact stout beams of wood 33 feet in length and one foot square were then pre 1 pared one side was hollowed in the form of a j gutter and lined the sides being convex to the thickness of two wo inches with a compound com metal of copper and tin in balls of the same metal five inches in diameter were then made lo 10 bear only on the bottom of tile the groove the these baams were ere intended to be placed on the ground in a line in front of the stone while upon them diem were reversed two other beams prepared in a similar manner each 42 feet long and iya 1 feet square connected as a frame by stretchers bek beg and bars of iron 14 feet in it length carefully secured by nuts screws and bolts balls A load of lb lbs ibs 9 when placed on the working model was found to move mave with the greatest facility and the inventor hoped to satisfy the minister as well as the mechanic ians by its public exhibition the former was well pleased with the tile experiment and expressed his belief in the possibility of removing the stone while the latter raised absurd objections mth with the cry of the ilia mountain upon eggs t the first thiis to be done as the rock lay in a wild wid and deserted part of the country was in 0 o build barracks capable of accommodating laborers artisans and other required who with al lascara La scary were all lodged on the spot as tile the readiest means of forwarding the work A line of road was then cleared from the rock to the river niva a distance of six feel to a width of 0 feet in order to gain space for the various operations and give a a free ciraula ion of air so essential to the health fl ith of the workmen in a marshy district as well as to the he drying and freezing of the ground a point of much importance in when the enormous to be removed is considered in the month of december when the influence of the tha frosts began to be felt the operation of disinterring disint erring the rock from the earth in which it was im bedded to the depth of 15 teet feet was commenced the excavation required I 1 to be of great width 84 feet all round to admit i of turning the stone which did not lie in the most favorable position posidio n for rem removal oral oval an inclined plane feet fet in length was afterwards made by means of which when the stone was turned it might be drawn up to a level surface among the objections urged against the possibility of removing the rock was the anticipated insurmountable difficulty of placing it upon the machine destined for or its As transportation but the engineer was confident and wisely preferring pre fering eting simplicity to complication resolved on employing dor jor or binary levers known technically as levers of I 1 the first order these were made of three masts each 65 feet in length and iya 1 feet in diameter at the larger end firmly gir fir lilly bound together to diminish the difficulty of moving these heavy instruments triangles feet agli were erected with wind lasses attached near the base from which a cord passing through a pulley at the top was fas fastened to the smaller end of the lever which being drawn up to the top of the triangle vas was ready for the operation of turning each of these levers was calculated to raise a weight of lbs ibs A row of pil piles eshad had been driven into the ground at the proper distance from the stone ou one side to serve as fulcrum and on the tile other a series of piles were disposed as a platform to prevent the sinking of the mass on its descent twelve levers with three men to each were stationed at the ide side to be lifted and the he lower extremities being placed under tile the mass the tiie upper ends were drawn downwards by the united action of twelve windlasses wind lasses when the stone rose to the height of a foot beams and wedges were then diven underneath der neath to maintain it in that position while title the levers were arranged for a second lift to assist the action of the levers large iron rings were so soldered into the upper conier comer of the rock f from m which email small cables cabled were passed to four capstans each turned by 36 meu thus maintaining a steady strain win the stone was prevented from irom re turl turi tu jing to its original origin t pos bostion po stion tion lion when the levels levers were shifted operations were repeated until tile the rcck reek was raisel raised nearly to an equipoise when cables from six six other capstans were attached to the opposite side to guard against a too sudden descent and as Rs a further t fracture a bed six ix fet feet f et fht fit in thickness ti ic kness ol 01 lly lwy ll 11 ly all ail 11 I 1 moss vas was A alced pi iceo to recel e th ro k on which lucli il it was happily lid ltd iad lad at the end of 17 1769 69 As it was ol 01 great importance iiii that ali all the workmen should act at one and tile he sune time tune two drummers were stationed on the top of ilie the stone who at a sign from the engineer gave the tie lit cessare bi gildis glIdIS oil on aluir ir drums gild emd secured the ilia certainty 01 ol order and und preci precision siou slon in the vanous valious operatic operations ns meantime the tho machinery for the tile removal haq hal been made of the tile lower ioler groove beams already described six pairs were prep prepared lrea trea so that when the rock had advanced over one pair they might be drawn forward and placed in a line in advance of the foroi foremost without interrupting the movements the thie balls bulls were laid in the grooves tv 0 feet apart the frame in intended tended as he tile bed for cherock the rock placed bayed I 1 above tile the mass ing ia iii its original F dorm form ran lbs ibs was then raised by means of powerful screws and deposited oil the frame when it was drawn up the inclined plane piane b by y the he united force of six capstans the road ze did not proceed in a direct line to the lver iver lver iver owing to the soft boft state stale of portions of the marsh in many places it was impossible to reach a firm foundation with piles 50 feet in length T tins lis its na naturally t added to the difficulties of the trans transport as the direction of the draught was f frequently frequent t fy to be changed piles were driven along ilia whole I 1 line i ne on both sides at distances of feet apart to those the cables vare were made fast fact thile the ca capstans revolved rev revel elved red two of which were found s sufficient ul to draw the stone on oil a level surface while on unequal ground four were required the rate of motion was vas from to 1200 feet fet f et daily which when regard is had to the short winter das days of five fire hours in that high latitude may be considered as rapid so interesting 7 was the spectacle of the enormous mass when n moving boving with two drummers at their posts the forge erected on it continually 1 at I work and forty workmen v constantly employed piet d in reducing it to a regular form that the empress and the cert visited the spot to 10 see the novel ei sight and notwithstanding the rigor rigo of the season crowds of persons of all ranks went but every day as spectators ecta tors tOTS small flat sledges were att attached ached to ea each SE side of lie the stone byro which were seated sealed men provided with iron levers whose duty it t was to prevent the balls bulls of which fifteen on a side were used from striking against each other and thus impeding the motion the tool hoase house was ives also attached and moved with the stone in it order that everything might be ready to 10 hand when required experiments were nied died with balls and grooves of cast iron but this material crumbled into fragments as readily as if made of clay no metal was found to bear the weight so well as the mixture of copper and tin and even with this the bais bails were sometimes flattened and the grooves curled up when the pressure by any accident became ue unequal quai the otilit utility y of rollers was also tried but with double be the number of capstans and ad power the cables broke while the stone did not advance an inch the work went on favorably when whon it was suddenly checked by the sinking of the stolle stone to a begh depth of 18 inci inches leg in the road to the great chagrin cliar char r of or the li engineer who was suffering under a severe attack of marsh fever ile he was not however disheartened heartened dis and speedily remedied the accident spite of the id ie to clam clamors ors of the in u and in fit six weeks from the time of first drawing tile tiie stone from its bed lie had the satisfaction ot of seeing ir it safely deposited oil on the temporary wharf b built bulit fo for the purpose of embarkation on the banks of the river when the charge fell into the hands of the admiralty who had undertaken the transport by water to the tile city A vessel or barge feet in length 66 feet in width and 17 feet from deck to keel had been built veith with every appliance that skill could suggest to render it capable of or supporting the enormous burden great precautions were now necessary to prevent event the possibility of or the falling of the anto roc rock roch into the stream water was let into the vessel until she sunk to the bottom of the river which brought brou glit gilt her deck on a level with the wharf the rock was then drawn on board by means of two capstans placed on the deck of another vessel anchored at some distance from the shore camps and buckets were now brought brou glit into use to clear the barge of the water with which she had t teen aeu filled but to the tile surprise and conter consternation of those engaged she did not rise equally the centre L bearin bearing most of tile hie weight remained at the tile bottom wh |
