FIFTY YEARS OLD

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 103, 28 October 1936, Page 7

FIFTY YEARS OLD

STATUE OF LIBERT*

A,G!I;.T OF THE FRENCH

1 Today' the'most'celebrated statue v* the world is half a century old,' It is the Statue of Liberty which stands at the. entrance'of New York's UpperHarbour, on Bedloe's Island,, and welcomes the sea traveller..after he has passed between Staten Island* and Long: Island and is nearing. the point of Manhattan.

The statue'was "executed by a famous French artist, Frederic, Auguste Bartholdi, at the commission of a number of prominent .Frenchmen as a gift to the American people.. It was intended to express .the friendship of France for the .United .States and to commemorate the centenary of American, independence. The site on which the statue was placed was suggested by Bartholdi himself. Bedloe's Island had been presented to the Federal Government by the city of New York for use as a defence reserve and Fort Wood' was built there in 1841. In 1877 Congress passed a measure authorising a site to be set aside for the statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" and in 1884, fourteen year 3 after the project was launched, the statue was completed. SHIPPED TO AMERICA. In- June, 1885, the French vessel Isere took the great figure to America packed in 210 separate sections and the work of assembling it began. On October 28, 1886, the. statue was unveiled, President Cleveland being present at the ceremony. The day was called Bartholdi Day and there were marches through lower New York, a naval review of 300 ships was held on the harbour, and distinguished visitors, including the aged Ferdinand De Lesseps and a nephew !of Marshal Ney, came to the event. For the next 39 years the statue was under the control of the War Department and only; in 1925 did the Statue of Liberty receive her civil status. ....',.' .v The great statue is 305 feet high from the base of the pedestal to the top of the torch. The figure itself is 151 feet tall. The weight of the statue is 225 tons. It is made of brass and bronze, and the head is just overl7 leet high and 10 feet from ear to ear... One hand -is: 16 feet; 5 :inches ,long; <■. one ' finger: 8; feet, long.: ::• Twelve persons can stand inside the torch which Liberty holds • aloft. The right v arm is 42 feet long. An elevator and stairway, reach the head. In the left hand is a tablet bearing' the date.,of the signing 6f the Declaration of Independ■ence. .- '. /" ; : :'." ..'.:, ::c' ■'■ ESTIMATES OF COST. ■ -''■ . In making this immense figure Bar* tholdi moulded 300 sheets of brass over a metal framework. The cost was tremendous. : Estimates vary, but the lowest of .them, is that the figure cost £50 000'1 and the' pedestal £ 70,000. One estimate gives a total of. '£140,000 as having been raised in ; Frahfce and £60,000 in the United States. F.qr years the statue was used as a lighthouse but this use of it was abandoned when it. was found that the right ami was weakening. '■■ Nineteen years ago elec-tric-illumination for the.whole statue, including the torch, was completed. This installed over 250 floodlights at the base [Of the pedestal which makes the great statue (which is painted green) stand out impressively at night. The cost of lighting the giant lady runs to:about £100: a month. ; From time to time repairs have been.necessary but it js only eight years1 since the.statue.had'its;first complete washing. The annual upkeep is calculated to be about £4000. ' ■'■;> ■■ Never until' July 4 of this .year .had any other flag than the American been flown from the statue, but on '•Bastille Day" the colours of the Eepublic of France .were lunfurled "as a preliminary to the fiftieth anniversary of the • dedication 'of .the: statue. '". Bartholdi died in. October, 1904.