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't, not«?V aS a ^ orce ’ sufficiently great, might movehp 0o j t ''“Standing its weight, and the small hold of the sea*‘ ar <VL at "?' ^ rea ^ 'he cement before time had given it that
4a/, Ss ' v hich it might be expected to acquire afterwards;to a tormet-_ c„: _*V.„ „„..
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on e ri " e ^ more expedients than one for fixing the coursesUt j g ^ at Jother, so as absolutely to prevent their shifting ;
ejc Pedi° Uali n °' trouble my reader with a recital of thosea lon„ n .' s at present, as they will more properly come in^tu^i ' Vl 'h the reasons of my choice, in the detail of thell r Proceedings.”
'be 2 n , rrie aton made his first voyage to the Eddystone on'be April, 1756, but was prevented from landing by
j r ’ hut on the 5th of the same month he was more• f> ^ . > and staid upon the rock about two hours and a8 Uu a ti r ' n g which time he observed, “ such traces of the>i a 2 irons fixed by Mr. Winstanley, as that it
!jf th e °,' h e difficult to make out his plan, and the position‘V -ty. hoe ; from whence it appeared very probable that'bat Jt .'"Hanley’s building was overset all together ; and88 the j la< torn U P a portion of the rock itself with it, as far'bat had been fastened in it.” He also “ perceived
jailer ’ “udyerd’s iron branches, as then called, were muchN'toie a ? < '. 8 h°rter than he had described them to be at thei beq ° > P r ’ nt ! that many of them were loose, and some° be n't bent: and that, in regard to the steps, describedflb' c b tf U P on 'he rock, there were only five of them, ofi °r t 6 traces were remaining : so that there was but onev]per r, , a ste P above the centre of the house ; and thepin, °f the surface of the rock above that, was a sloping^ainij. " bad been at first. Three steps, of the five nows b er ttto^’ Seeme< b to have been but faintly cut, and thepM o° St but one was so imperfect, that he supposed a largepte 6 fphnter had come from it ; and this appeared thelo th 6 f , ba hle, as the uppermost step was so shaken, thatJ 8 sli r ,, ai 'S e spawl might have been easily raised from it,p r 0e ]b " a ction of a wedge. Above the uppermost step'tnv
'be l traces.
seemed to be of a softer nature, was cracked in. firg “ v '® s > and probably had received some damage fromtl^b tw , °f e °f the steps appeared to have been cut withH^.'Park ' ar ity, either as to level or square ; but to have allIfil'Sht r °b hurry upon them. In the centre of the housenilbtcl les ° 0 '* n g was out for the mast, suitable to a square ofdi S> a H(j Wl 'h large iron branches, answerable to two of its, a , Slna ll hole bored in the centre, of about inch'be ^ “ ein g 6 inches deep. By consulting Plate I., many•n ' ^ 'ben V ” Ina " ers will he made apparent to the eye.s . Mii^ ’ says Mr. Smeaton , “ proceeded to try the degree^bice, ; n j l . e r °oh was workable, and found that from a flati ijJbe ra . ‘fferently taken, I could, with a pick, sink a hollow; "-' I n > e °f five cubic inches per minute ; and could cut or
0, >e i n ? with a jumper of inch diameter, at the rate
C|h«. in minnf/io T olnA O Ap
’ j, u Cl 0g deep iu five minutes. I also tried a method of: t 0 h'Uiei - ° b°' es into one, by a square flat-faced bruiser, orj ’ a S ° 'hat, if there should be occasion, I might be able
'l>e f 0 f C< i t i'* n ued groove; or let in an iron branch, in thej tl lft Mr. Rudyerd, and I had the satisfaction to findi(j J 1 tli e ,°1® succeeded to my wishes.”
of °' Ce of materials, Mr. Smeaton was determined' ' m oor-stone or granite, for the outside work, and
by 'be 0ut 0| m for the inside. The latter was not eligible8 h'ario '! urface > on account of its liability to be destroyed; 8 4t ? 8 ‘ v e i * nsect 5 and the moor-stone was too hard andA bun j. tlle working to admit of its being used through-tb 6 7mng.
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v at - 'h of May, Mr. Smeaton had made ten voyagesHfcfg 1 , 011 'o the Eddystone , and then returned to Lon-having settled with the proprietors, he received4 Q
his commission to proceed on the work. He then went backto Plymouth, and, on the 3d of August, landed with the firstcompany of workmen on the rock, where he began to fix thecentre and lines of the work. After describing the difficultiesunder which he laboured from the uncertainty of the weather,and the necessity in which the workmen were placed, ofreturning to shore every tide, till a vessel fit for their recep-tion could be properly moored off the rock, Mr. S. observesupon his preference of the use of picks and wedges foroperating upon the rock, that “ it might seem, at first sight,that a greater dispatch would have been by the use of gun-powder, in blasting the rock, in the same manner as is usualin mines, and in procuring limestone from the marble rocksin the neighbourhood of Plymouth: but though this is a veryready method of working hard and close rocks, in proportionto the dispatch that could be made by picks and wedges ; yet,as a rock always yields to gunpowder in the weakest part,and it is not always easy to know which part is weakest ; itmight often have happened, if that method had been pursued,that, instead of forming a dovetail recess, such as was required,the very points of confinement would have been lost. Besides,the great and sudden concussion of gunpowder might possiblyloosen some parts that it was more suitable to the generalscheme should remain fast. For these reasons, I -had pre-viously determined to make no use of gunpowder for thispurpose.
“On the 7th of September,” says Mr. Smeaton , “I sentto Portland the draughts for the six foundation courses, thatwere to be employed in bringing the rock to a level; which,with the draughts for eight that I had before dispatched,completed the order for the whole quantity of Portland stoneto be used in the solid up to the entry door ; being all thatwe could expect to set in place the next season. The rockwas not indeed yet ready for completing the exact mouldsfor those stones that were to fit into the dovetails made in it;but, by ordering the stones large enough, and being scappelledsomething near their proper form, it would prevent loss oftime in waiting to get the true figure from the rock, as wellas unnecessary waste.
“ Nothing happened to prevent the companies from work-ing every tide from the 27th of August till the 14th ofSeptember, in which time they had worked one hundred andseventy-seven hours upon the rock. In this interval, havingprocured a carpenter to be applied to that purpose, I beganto make the moulds for the exact cutting of the stones totheir intended shapes. This was done by laying down, inchalk-lines upon the floor of a chamber, the proposed sizeand figure of each stone, being a portion of the plan at largeof the intended course; and the carpenter having prepareda quantity of battens, or slips of deal board, about threeinches broad, and one inch thick, shot straight upon the edgesby a plane ; those battens being cut to lengths, and theiredges adapted to the lines upon the floor, and properly fittedtogether, became the exact representatives of the pieces ofstone whose figure was to be marked from them, when theirbeds were wrought to the intended parallel distance.
“ It is obvious that there was no necessity for makingmoulds for a whole course after the work became regular ;as was the seventh course, after the six foundation coursesbrought the rock to a level; it was sufficient to make onemould to each circle of stones, beginning with the centrestone; but as the six foundation courses were adapted tothe particular irregularities of the rock, and consequentlycould not be strictly regular, it was necessary that a separatomould should be made for every separate stone composingthat part of the work.
“ During this interval, I visited the rock, and on arriving