1S52.] 



NEW YORK CRYSTAL PALACE, 



09 



estimated that the interest on the cost of a wrought-iron Tubular 

 Bridge, of 500 feet span, with stone piers and suitable approaches, 

 would renew the present Bridge every third year. 



The masonry was commenced on the 1st of July, 1851, and 

 the first Locomotive passed over it on the 14th of August, 1852, 

 embracing a period of only thirteen and a half months, a rapidity 

 of construction which speaks volumes for the energy and zeal of 

 the contractors, Messrs. Lauman, Rockafellovv, and Mooj', who 

 were also the contractors for the whole hue of the road, and have 

 been long connected with public works. 



The manner in which the Piers or ^^ Trestles''' were erected may 

 be worthy of notice. They were commenced on the Eastern 

 bank, and as each ^'■Trestle''' was completed the Trusses were 

 placed on them, and the track laid ; upon which a Travelling Crane 

 w;is ad^■anced, over-reaching the space to the next Trestle, and by 

 means of which each stick of timber was let down to its place, 

 until the whole of the next Pier was completed, when the Truss 

 was placed and the Crane advanced as before. 



This is, we believe, the highest Timber Biidge in the world ; 

 and though not notable for the development of any new principle 

 of construction, it is worthy of our notice, for the cheapness, the 

 quickness, and the completeness with which it has obviated a 

 serious obstacle in the way of an important line of Railroad, — all 

 matters of first-rate importance to ns at this moment. 



The New York CiystaL Palace, Reservoir Square. 



Reservoir Square, of which the municipal authorities have 

 given the association a lease, lies west of the Croton distributing 

 reservoir, and between that mighty mass of stone and the Sixth 

 avenue. The precise distance from the reservoir to the Sixth 

 avenue is 445 feet, and the width, north and south, from Fortieth 

 to Forty-secoud street is 455 feet. On this piece of ground — not 

 very favourable, it must be owned, either in shape or location — the 

 association have determined to erect the building in question, of 

 which the plans have been selected among several competitors, of 

 whom may be mentioned, Mr. Saeltzer, the architect of the Astor 

 Library; Mr. Downing, killed on board the Henry Clay; Mr. 

 Eidlitz, Sir Joseph Paxton and others. The successful competi- 

 tor are Messrs. Cai'stensen & Gildemiester. 



The mam features of the building are as follows : — The general 

 idea of the edifice is a Greek cross, surmoimtel by a dome at the 

 intereection. Each diameter of ths cross will be 365 feet 5 inches 

 long. There will be three similar entrances — one on the Sixth 

 avenue, one on Fortieth, and one on Forty-seaond street. Eask 

 entrance will be 47 feet wide, and that on the Sixth avenue will 

 be approached by a flight of eight steps. Each arm of the cross 

 is, on the ground plan 149 feet broad. This is divided into a 

 central nave and two aisles, one on ea3h side — the nave 41 feet 

 wide — each aisle 54 feet wide. On each front is a large semi- 

 circular ftmlight, 41 feet broad and 21 feet high, answering to 

 the arch of the nave. The central portion or nave is carried up 

 to thj height of 67 feet, and the semi-circular arch, by which it 

 is spanned, is 41 feet broad. There are thus, in effect, two arched 

 naves crossing each other at right angles, 41 feet broad, 67 feet 

 high, to the crown of the arch, and 365 feet long; and on each 

 side of these naves is an aisle, 54 feet broad and 45 feet high. . 

 The exterior of the ridgeway of the nave is 71 feet. The central 

 dome is 100 feet in diameter — 68 feet inside from the floor to 



the spring of thj arch, and 118 feet to the crown; and on the 

 outside, with the lantern, 149 feet. The exterior angles of the 

 building are ingeniously filled up with a sort of lean to, 24 feet 

 high, which gives the ground plan an octagonal shape, each side 

 or face being 149 feet wide. At each angle is an octagonal 

 tower, eight feet in diameter, and 75 feet high. Each aisle is 

 covered by a gallery of its own width, and 24 feet from the floor. 

 The famous old church of San VitalLs, at Ravenna, is, by the 

 way, the only instance of any considerable building that we at 

 this moment recollect, of octagonal shape — ^but its diamster is 

 only 128 feet. 



Now, a few words as to the size and proportion of this edifice. 

 On entering, the observer's eye will be saluted by the vista of an 

 arched nave, 41 feet wide, 67 feet high, and 385 feet lono-; while, 

 on approaching the centre, he will find himself under a dome, 

 100 feet across, and 113 feet high. A few comparisons will show 

 a little what this will look like. The Croton R3servoir is itself 

 40 feet high, so it will be quite overtopped. Trinity Church is 

 189 feet long, by 84 feet wide, and 64 feet high. The City Hall 

 is 216 feet Ions:, 105 feet wide, and, including the attic, 85 feet 

 high. 



The Reservoir square nave will thus be twice as long as Trinity 

 Church, and nearly twice as long as the City Hall. 



The Capitol at Washington comes somewhat nearer. That, 

 including the wings, is 352 feet in length, and each wino- is 121 

 feet deep ; the rotunda is 95 feet in dianaeter, and, to the top of 

 the dome, 120 feet high. So, if the eye could have a clear sweep 

 from the extrem3 end of the Senate chambei', across or throurrh 

 the Rotund:i, to the othjr extreme of tlie House of Representa- 

 tives, the mind would get a pretty good idea of oae-half of the 

 Crystal Palace, for that building being as we have said a Greek 

 cross of equal proportions, would present two vistas hke this. 



For aught we see, therefore, we must come to the inevitable 

 conclusion, that this building will be larger, and more efiective in 

 its interior view than anything in the country. If so, the edifice 

 will be a great show of itself. 



This building contains, on its ground floor, 111,000 square feet 

 of spa2e, and in its galleries, which are 54 feet wide, 62,000 

 square feet more, making a total area of 173,000 square feet, for 

 the purposes of exhibition. There are thus in the ground floor 

 two acres and a half, or exactly 2 — 52-100; in the galleries, one 

 acre and 44-100 — total, within an inconsiderable fraction of four 

 acres. There are on the ground floor one hundred and ninety 

 columns, 21 feet above the floor, 8 inches diameter, cast hollow, 

 of ditfarent thicknesses, from half an inch to one inch thick ; on 

 the gallery floor there are one hundred and twenty-two columns. 



Now, to compare this building with some of the great foreio-n 

 wonders : St. Paul's, of London, is five hundred feet long, and 

 this beats the Reservoir square Palace. But, St. Paul's h;is only 

 84,025 square feet on its ground floor, and is thus, on the whole, 

 decidedly smaller. St. Peter's Church, at Rome, is 669 feet long, 

 and has 527,069 square feet. So that our Crystal Palace will 

 be, on the ground floor, just- half the size of St. Peter's — but, 

 with the galleries, the available room in St. Peter's is only one- 



