﻿STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT. 107 



400 laborers, artisans, and other persons required, who, withM. Las- 

 cary, were all lodged on the spot, as the readiest means of forward- 

 inf the work. A line of road was then cleared from the rock to 



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the river Niva, a distance of four miles, to a width of 120 feet, in 

 order to gain space for the various operations, and to give a free cir- 

 culation of air, so essential to the health of the workmen in a marshy 

 district, as well as to the drying and freezing of the ground - - a point 

 of much importance, when the enormous weight to be removed is 

 considered. In the month of December, when the influence of the 

 frosts began to be felt, the operation of disinterring the rock frcr.i 

 the earth, in which it was imbedded to the depth of 15 feet, was 

 commenced; the excavation required to be of great width 84 feet 

 all round to admit of turning the stone, which did not lie in the 

 most favorable position for removal. An inclined plane, 600 feet in 

 length, was afterwards made, by means of which, when the stone 

 was turned, it might be drawn up to the 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 its transportation. But the engineer 

 was confident ; and wisely preferring simplicity to complication, re- 

 solved on employing ordinary levers, known technically as levers of 

 the first order ; these were made of three masts, each 65 feet in 

 length, and IS inches in diameter at the larger end, firmly bound 

 together. To diminish the difficulty of moving these heavy instru- 

 ments, triangles 30 feet high were erected, with windlasses attached 

 near the base, from which a cord, passing through a pulley at the 

 top, was fastened to the smaller end of the lever, which, being drawn 

 up to the top of the triangle, was ready for the operation of turning : 

 each of these levers was calculated to raise a weight of 200,000 Ibs. 

 A row of piles had been driven into the ground at the proper distance 

 from the stone on one side, to serve as a fulcrum ; and on the "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 side to be lifted, and the lower extremities be- 

 ing placed under the mass, the upper ends were drawn downwards 

 by the united action of the twelve windlasses. When the stone rose 

 to the height of a foot, beams and wedges were driven underneath, 



