Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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LA TOUR EIFFEL. 3 LA TOUR EIFFEL. CARRIE S. ROMER, 92. u L A BELLE FRANCE’ sings the Frenchman, and my heart echoes the notes as I stand on the banks of the Seine; the green fields, the serpen- tine river, the beautiful city, whose every outline, every motion, says: “Gayety! I color! merriment! Enjoy life while you I may; if not in Paris, then where?” Thus I ponder as I wend my way from the Trocadero and over the bridge which crosses the silent river to the goal of my ambition, “La Tour Eiffel,” so marvel- ously .slender in structure that the first impression is one of disappointment. Can it be as tall as is said? Could we put Bunker Hill Monument on top of Wash- ington Monument, and on this place our Statue of Liberty, and would this great Beacon Light still look down upon our virgin’s lamp? Almost one thousand feet, nearly twenty times the height of our High School. I try to imagine twenty High Schools placed one above the other. Why, since a site is wanting might we not remove the old building and ereet in its place a Tower School modeled on a [ smaller scale after Eiffel? If a tower one thousand feet high will hold ten thousand people how tall must a tower be to hold two thousand people? I give it up, since I do not know the size of the base, and, any way, it is vacation; one is not sup- posed to know aught out of school hours. When I return to Newark I shall suggest my plan and offer my problem to the Board of Education. One must not suppose I am ascending the tower during this soliloquizing. Oh no! Iam simply waiting in line for the privilege of exchanging two francs for a blue ticket, the open seseme to the first j stage. I am early at the entrance, but there is a crowd before me; good-natured, in holiday attire and voluble—as the French ever are. No one is impatient, for each knows before he starts that a half day will be consumed. After the ticket is purchased I walk slowly up the stairs, stopping at the numerous landings to admire the beautiful pictures, framed by the cross-pieces of the iron work. The view from the first floor extends many miles. The Arc de Tri- omphe is the chief object of importance. This structure was once pre-eminent, but is now utterly dwarfed by Titanic Eiffel. I now look directly downward and see an immense throng of people hurrying to and fro, who remind me of the busy ants that one often sees building their tiny homes in the earth. The people look so small that I think they are not moving. It is already after twelve. How quickly time passes! It was hardly a quarter after eleven when I entered. There are four large restaurants on this floor. At my left is the “Alsation Lorran,” at my right the Anglo-American and opposite these are the Russian and French. They are as large as any res- taurants in Paris and look inviting. I enter the Anglo-American and enjoy a delicate luncheon. On leaving the res- taurant I hardly know whither to turn, but bend my steps to the side from which to view the heart of the city. The pic- turesque Seine divides the landscape into two parts. The bridges, which I can see, are covered with people, and many of the boats on the river are also filled. How bright the city looks with the flags of all nations flying about. After thoroughly enjoying this scene I turn toward the stairway, thinking that I can see bet-

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12 THE LABORATORY. name and constitution of the old Agassiz Association. An appeal was made in the last Annual for a microscope. As there was no re- sponse, the members of the science depart- ment, at the suggestion of their teacher, determined to raise the necessary funds among themselves. In this work they were assisted by the second year class of the ladies’ department. The text-book committee of the Board of Education recog- nized the industry of the pupils and lent a helping hand. It is to this committee that the science department is now indebted for an excellent microscope. Acknowl- edgment should be here made for liberal subscriptions to this object from Congress- man Lchlbach,Postmaster Conklin, Messrs. Leroy and Ira H. Ormsby. A new text-book in physics has been adopted for the second year class—Avery’s. The students now have a lxx k that is up to the times, particularly in electricity. The Hammer Prizes this year were awarded to Gustav Voigt and Frank Roller respectively for the best practical work in electricity and best general work in physics. Mr. Hammer has expressed himself as highly satisfied with the exhibit made by the entire class of last year. He also speaks in praise of Crane and Jaehnig, who left the school to accompany him as assistants at the Paris Exposition. Ter- hune and Hedges, members of recent classes, arc now engaged at the Weston Laboratory, and Durand has a position in the Edison Lamp Factory in Harrison. Manual work seems to be of a decidedly practical value to our boys when they come to leave the school. A phonograph lecture on December 2d added some money to the microscope fund, and gave enjoyment to three hundred pupils and their friends. Can we not con. tinue these evening entertainments during the winter? We understand that there» a prospect of a lecture in January on the Paris Exposition. The New Jersey Assembly of the Agas siz Association was held in our school foal] on the 14th of December. After the usual business, there was presented an interest, ing programme, consisting of a lecture br the celebrated botanist, Dr. Rusby, oe “ Experiences in South American Travel, a talk on “Bees, by Prof..Downing, i lecture on the “Anatomy of the Oyster, ] by Dr. Chas. Lchlbach. The following cablegram' was sent bv Mr. Hammer to Frank W. Roller, the re cipient of the prize for practical work it the Laboratory. It is dated from Londtfl December 8, 1889. It reads: Dear Sir: I was glad to receive your letter of November SI' which was forwarded to me here from Paris, and I con- gratulate you upon securing the prize. 1 have fromtia. to time examined the work of Mr. Sonn’s pupils, whid speaks volumes for the teacher and for his pupils, u it has been a pleasure to add a little encouragement b both their efforts. In answer to your question about a description of tk Edison exhibit, 1 guess the best thing will be tk “ United States Official Album of the Paris Exposition which is almost ready for the public. I will send ja one by and by when published. Wishing you every success and a Merry Xmas andi Happy New Year, I remain yours sincerely, Wm. J. Hammki. Edison’s grand Electrical Exhibit at thl Paris Exposition was managed by six® our High School boys, all of whom rt ceived their first lesson in electricity whikj with us: Wm. J. Hammer, Manager-ifr Chief; W. F. Sonn, Edwin A. Hammer Paul Jaehnig, Frank Crane, Horace Gould 1 The “Spirit of ’90 wishes to know 12.29 P- M., and that sad yet thrilling 1 the connection between the Library steps, tale, the “ Last Loaf,

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LA TOUR EIFFEL. '4 and farther from the second floor. At the foot of this I meet a friend. Having each bought a white ticket for one franc we ascend together. He tells me among other items of interest that the tower weighs about seven thousand tons, and the iron, drawn into a wire a tenth of an inch in diameter, would make a tele- graph wire around the world. This struc- ture is supported by four curved uprights, with arches between, which are one hun- dred and sixty-five feet high. The span between the feet is three hundred and thirty feet. The base being of cement gives it a very light appearance, but in reality it is embedded by foundation stones extending farther in depth than the bed of the Seine. Two and a half million rivets were used in the construction of this tower. Besides four staircases, there are five lifts, three of which are constructed on the French and two on the Otis system, of which America is justly proud. These elevators ascend at the rate of three and a third feet per second. The first floor holds six thousand people, the second fifteen hundred and the third five hundred, to- gether with two thousand on their way up, make a grand total of ten thousand people. Enough to make a small city. The money- making capacity is about seven hundred and fifty dollars per hour, or nearly one- thousandth of its entire cost. For one hundred thousand dollars it can be taken down and re-erected on another site. So if the World’s Fair in 1892 cannot have an Eiffel Tower of its own, we might borrow the French one for six months. The parts of the tower, like the parts of Solomon’s Temple, were not constructed at the place where it now stands, but were finished in the factory and brought to the site all ready to put together. It was com- menced on the 28th of January, ’87, and completed March 30th, ’89. By this time we have reached the sect floor, at the north pillar, quite close tot printing office of the “Figaro.” Wenw toward the railing, from which we view the palace of the Trocadero, situat on the right bank of the Seine, and erect for the exhibition of ’78. We decide go higher, and accordingly buy qur 1 tickets, having in the red, white and b! invested five francs. There is no sta way, so we step into the lift. As ascend the iron trellis work is more slew and there is more space between the d ferent parts. On the third fl x)r we are so fortun; as to meet M. Eiffel himself, who 0 dially invites my friend, whom he knui and me to his private rooms, where spends pleasant hours far above the thii of the earth. The staircase which Its to these apartments has only ten stfl The rooms which we enter are large 1 triangular. They have double wooi walls, and the space between the two w. is filled with mineral cotton, which light, a non-conductor against heat, aa proof against vermin. This makes rooms warm in winter and cool in su From these rooms we go out on a race which is about three yards wi Here learned men are able to try expt ments that must be made in the opem Up here the noise of Paris is gone; a hum still reaches my cars. The below seems like the land of the Ii the putians; everything is so small, high as this is, we can go still higher, straight staircase of thirty steps leads a small round landing scarcely a yarf! diameter; we then come to an iron t' in which there is a door. Opening thi?( see within a ladder on which we : crawl on our hands and feet to a sr balcony. We can go no higher, for are at the lighthouse.