THE EIFFEL TOWER.

Waikato Times, Volume 2611, Issue 2611, 6 April 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE EIFFEL TOWER.

TilE joke lias been exploded stillborn, as to the Eiffel Tower leaning to one side, like Pisa's or the handle of a jug. It has four sides to incline to, and such it does admirably, from base upwards. The legends connected with the undertaking viiiiish as it tapers to a close. The tower will bo most graceful, elegant in its symmetry, the chief ornament of the Champ de Mars, and a true monometallic symbol of our iron I' rom an official statement, the smiths will bo in a position to hand over their handiwork by the close of Februarv to the painters and deoorators. Quaker grey is said to be the colour decided ur'on In April the restarnuteuru will fit up their establishments in mid-air. There will he five of them to represent the five parts of the world, and more than 1000 Alpine appetites can bo ministered to simultaneously. The dome on top of the tower will be called ' Excelsior.' An eccentric was arrested a few days ago, and handed over to his friends to be looked after. Mis infatuation is to be able to have it related he was the first who threw himself olf the summit of the tower. The smiths and carpenters, who work in nabilma, :i'o paid If. per hour. They are provided with large fur caps, which turn down 070r the neck and ears. They refused tho Bryan O'Lynn or Bulgarian costume, in sheep's skins, but accepted double vests and knitted wool, and, above ( all, thick soled shoes. The carpenters, not the smiths, are most exposed to danger. The former have to run _up the scaffolding in advance of the iron work, and construct the iron railings. Every morsel of iron work is fitted together in advance at the Eiffel foundry, outside Paris ; then numbered and placed in position, like the prepared blocks of stone in mansion erections, by a windlass, which is as accommodating as the conscience of a politician. Tho machine holds beams of iron three tons weight in its Vulcan jaws as a dog would its master's eane. The smiths have only to drive in the matrimonial bolts and strike them home like Britons. Each mechanic has thus a pot tin- fen at his side, to impart the Shadrach and Co. temperature to tho rivets. A portable furnace is not to be despised, when tho thermometer, as at prosent, varies from one to eleven degrees below zero. The tower will represent a mass of iron weighing 7000 tons ; its top cost of point will augument the total by 24 tons. The Tubal-Cainites have to mount 9SO steps daily to arrive at their work, but avow that tho ' sich a gettin' downstairs ' is the mora fatiguing. A small boy sleeps ou the summit all night to keep furnaces (the Vistal fires) alive. It is related he has not visited his mother earth for six weeks. On the second storey the workmen have all the comforts of a home. M. Eiffel has set up there free breakfast and free dinner table—food being 50 per cent, cheaper in the heavens than hero below. Contrary in the latter position, when a man is assumed to want 'but little ' his appetite is Gargantuan when a rc.-ident in mid air. The ancient Swiss, who, too. dwelt on piles, were remarkable for their burley appetites, if geology is to be credited A hint, for those who intend wending to tho summit of the Eiffel Tower—tho best preparation is a course of bicvcliuir.