is due to the great French sculptor whose name it bears. It is said to
be a likeness of his mother. Eight years of time were consumed in the
construction of this gigantic brazen image. Its weight is 440,000
pounds, of which 146,000 pounds are copper, the remainder iron and
steel. The major part of the iron and steel was used in constructing the
skeleton frame work for the inside. The mammoth electric light held in
the hands of the giantess is 305 feet above tide-water. The height of
the figure is 152-1/2 feet; the pedestal 91 feet, and the foundation 52
feet and 10 inches. Forty persons can find standing-room within the
mighty head, which is 14-1/2 feet in diameter. A six-foot man standing
on the lower lip could hardly reach the eyes. The index finger is 8 feet
in length and the nose 3-3/4 feet. The Colossus of Rhodes was a pigmy
compared with this latter-day wonder.
The largest and grandest temple of worship in the world is St. Peter's
Cathedral at Rome. It stands on the site of Nero's circus, in the
northwest part of the city, and is built in form of a Latin cross. The
total length of the interior is 612-1/2 English feet; transept, 446-1/2
feet; height of nave, 152-1/2 feet; diameter of cupola, 193 feet; height
of dome from pavement to top of cross, 448 feet. The great bell alone,
without the hammer or clapper, weighs 18,600 pounds, or over 9-1/4 tons.
The foundation was laid in 1450 A. D. Forty-three Popes lived and died
during the time the work was in progress. It was dedicated in the year
1826, but not entirely finished until the year 1880. The cost, in round
numbers, is set down at $70,000,000.
The great pyramid of Cheops is the largest structure of any kind ever
erected by the hand of man. Its original dimensions at the base were 764
feet square, and its perpendicular height in the highest point 488 feet;
it covers four acres, one rood and twenty-two perches of ground and has
been estimated by an eminent English architect to have cost not less
than 30,000,000 pounds, which in United States currency would be about
$145,200,000. Internal evidence proves that the great pyramid was begun
about the year 2170 B. c., about the time of the birth of Abraham. It is
estimated that about 5,000,000 tons of hewn stone were used in its
construction, and the evidence points to the fact that these stones were
brought a distance of about 700 miles from quarries in Arabia.
The largest body of fresh water in the world is Lake Su
|