DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.33567#0035
7
These experiences were not needed to convince a mariner that the vessel in which the New York obelisk
was to be transported must be large enough to take care of herself under all conditions of weather, and must
have her own motive^power. Such a vessel could not have been built around the obelisk for much less than
the whole amount that was to be paid lor its removal, and there was no alternative but to embark it on an
ordinary vessel. For^this there was no precedent. The one-hundred-ton guns made in England and shipped
to Italy were the^largest and heaviest masses that had ever been placed intact into a ship's hold. To accom-
plish this and lor disembarking them, hydraulic cranes had been constructed in England and at Spezzia
at a cost greatly exceeding the sum that was to cover the whole cost of removing the obelisk.
Its size was as embarrassing as its weight. No vessel has hatches that will admit a mass sixty-nine feet
in length. It could not have been carried on deck in safety without strengthening the vessel at great expense.
In the hold, below the water-line, was the only place where it could be securely stowed and saedy transported,
and how to get it there was the one thing on which the whole operation of removing it successfully turned.
The plan devised and successfully executed consisted simply in embarking and disembarking the obelisk
while the bow of the vessel was out of water, through an aperture opened expressly lor the purpose and
subsequently closed lor the voyage. The details of execution will be given further on.
Besides my own, three other plans were proposed lor transporting the obelisk by sea. The first one was
proposed by the owner of a bark that had been engaged in transporting heavy blocks of granite on deck ; the
weight of one block never exceeded thirty tons. He exhibited a photograph of the obelisk which showed
water near by and a plan of the deck of his bark, and said : "I will moor my vessel here, lower the stone
down on her deck, and then sail. When we reach New York we will not be in any hurry to set it up, for we
will cart it about the country and make a good thing out of it exhibiting it to the country folks." The objections
to this plan were : ist. His bark could not get within a mile of the obelisk, afloat, as the shore is fringed with
sand-banks and reefs that extend out this distance. 2d. His bark could not have remained in the position he
pointed out, even if she could have got to it, as the bay is exposed to the prevailing northerly wind and a
heavy surf almost continuously breaks on the shore. 3d. His bark was only four hundred tons capacity, and
the obelisk weighs two hundred and twenty tons. It would have been interesting to witness, from the deck of
some other vessel, the performances of the bark at sea with the obelisk on her spar-deck. qth. There was not
room enough anywhere on the deck of the bark for the obelisk.
The next proposition was that the obelisk should somehow be got on the bottom of the bay with chains
under it; these were to be taken on board of a steamer, and the obelisk lifted by them until it was suspended
under the keel ; in this position it was to make the sea-voyage. No plan was submitted for getting it on the
bottom of the bay ; and no arrangement was proposed for securing the services of mariners for the voyage.
Another plan was to encase the obelisk in wood enough to float it, and then tow the mass without steer-
ing it. Elaborate drawings and interesting computations accompanied this proposition ; but no provision was
made for getting the mass afloat, nor was any thing said about the management of the towing vessel in a sea-
way. In order to get it afloat, launching ways half a mile in length would have been necessary, and their con-
struction through the surf impossible.
For lowering the obelisk the French method was the only precedent. The English operations began with
the obelisk lying on the sea-shore. There is no record of how the ancients lowered theirs ; and it is probable
that obelisks were never removed from an erect position, and that only those that had fallen were removed
from where the ancient Egyptians placed them. The French method is fully described further on. It has the
advantage of being subjected to the severest test at a moment when the breaking of any essential part of the
system would have been least likely to result disastrously to the obelisk ; and the conspicuous disadvantage of
multiplication of parts essential to safety, and division of responsibility at the critical moments. In devising a
new plan for lowering the obelisk it was essential that the turning structure should be made available for lower-
ing and erecting; that it should be made in pieces of moderate weight and dimensions for facility of transport
and handling ; that it may be erected and taken apart without destroying it; that it should be adaptable to
These experiences were not needed to convince a mariner that the vessel in which the New York obelisk
was to be transported must be large enough to take care of herself under all conditions of weather, and must
have her own motive^power. Such a vessel could not have been built around the obelisk for much less than
the whole amount that was to be paid lor its removal, and there was no alternative but to embark it on an
ordinary vessel. For^this there was no precedent. The one-hundred-ton guns made in England and shipped
to Italy were the^largest and heaviest masses that had ever been placed intact into a ship's hold. To accom-
plish this and lor disembarking them, hydraulic cranes had been constructed in England and at Spezzia
at a cost greatly exceeding the sum that was to cover the whole cost of removing the obelisk.
Its size was as embarrassing as its weight. No vessel has hatches that will admit a mass sixty-nine feet
in length. It could not have been carried on deck in safety without strengthening the vessel at great expense.
In the hold, below the water-line, was the only place where it could be securely stowed and saedy transported,
and how to get it there was the one thing on which the whole operation of removing it successfully turned.
The plan devised and successfully executed consisted simply in embarking and disembarking the obelisk
while the bow of the vessel was out of water, through an aperture opened expressly lor the purpose and
subsequently closed lor the voyage. The details of execution will be given further on.
Besides my own, three other plans were proposed lor transporting the obelisk by sea. The first one was
proposed by the owner of a bark that had been engaged in transporting heavy blocks of granite on deck ; the
weight of one block never exceeded thirty tons. He exhibited a photograph of the obelisk which showed
water near by and a plan of the deck of his bark, and said : "I will moor my vessel here, lower the stone
down on her deck, and then sail. When we reach New York we will not be in any hurry to set it up, for we
will cart it about the country and make a good thing out of it exhibiting it to the country folks." The objections
to this plan were : ist. His bark could not get within a mile of the obelisk, afloat, as the shore is fringed with
sand-banks and reefs that extend out this distance. 2d. His bark could not have remained in the position he
pointed out, even if she could have got to it, as the bay is exposed to the prevailing northerly wind and a
heavy surf almost continuously breaks on the shore. 3d. His bark was only four hundred tons capacity, and
the obelisk weighs two hundred and twenty tons. It would have been interesting to witness, from the deck of
some other vessel, the performances of the bark at sea with the obelisk on her spar-deck. qth. There was not
room enough anywhere on the deck of the bark for the obelisk.
The next proposition was that the obelisk should somehow be got on the bottom of the bay with chains
under it; these were to be taken on board of a steamer, and the obelisk lifted by them until it was suspended
under the keel ; in this position it was to make the sea-voyage. No plan was submitted for getting it on the
bottom of the bay ; and no arrangement was proposed for securing the services of mariners for the voyage.
Another plan was to encase the obelisk in wood enough to float it, and then tow the mass without steer-
ing it. Elaborate drawings and interesting computations accompanied this proposition ; but no provision was
made for getting the mass afloat, nor was any thing said about the management of the towing vessel in a sea-
way. In order to get it afloat, launching ways half a mile in length would have been necessary, and their con-
struction through the surf impossible.
For lowering the obelisk the French method was the only precedent. The English operations began with
the obelisk lying on the sea-shore. There is no record of how the ancients lowered theirs ; and it is probable
that obelisks were never removed from an erect position, and that only those that had fallen were removed
from where the ancient Egyptians placed them. The French method is fully described further on. It has the
advantage of being subjected to the severest test at a moment when the breaking of any essential part of the
system would have been least likely to result disastrously to the obelisk ; and the conspicuous disadvantage of
multiplication of parts essential to safety, and division of responsibility at the critical moments. In devising a
new plan for lowering the obelisk it was essential that the turning structure should be made available for lower-
ing and erecting; that it should be made in pieces of moderate weight and dimensions for facility of transport
and handling ; that it may be erected and taken apart without destroying it; that it should be adaptable to