New Chapel Tower Tops Memorial Hall By Five Feet, and Will Soon Be Anchored in Cement--Not a Lightning Rol.

With the exception of a wind vane which will be six feet tall, the spire of the New Memorial Chapel has reached its greatest height with the erection of the pipe spike, raised to position Saturday. The spire already rises higher than any other building on the Cambridge horizon, surpassing the battlements of Memorial Hall by five feet.

The spike is an almost solid tapering pole weighting eight and one half tons. It is used principally to strengthen and make the spire secure. In three sections the pole was lifted through the framework, screwed together and temporarily clamped. The appearance of a slight lean is due to the fact that it has not yet been secured in the ceiling of the rectangular room housing the old bell, now ringing from Harvard Hall. Bolts, cables, and cement will be used to fasten the pole within the framework beginning today. Contrary to current suppositions, it is not a lightning arrestor, although wires which will ground any electrical disturbances will run down through the tower separated from the pole by insulators. The flaring color of the spike is caused by red lead paint which forms an adhesive scale on metal, and prevents seepage of moisture which would gradually oxidize the iron.

The principal difficulty that faces engineers in the construction of steeples is the wind stress. Although the girden seem scarcely able to support the stock pole, the chief concern is to make all joints form the ground up so tight that the wind will not be able to move the spire. Slender towers present little difficult since they expose a more or less rounded figure to the wind which meets more resistance in square buildings. Contrary to popular opinion the sway of even the tallest modern buildings does not exceed an inch. Experiments, in which a plumb line was dropped from the tallest elevator shaft in the Woolworth Building during one of the severest wind storms that have visited New York City this winter, revealed a away of only 5-8 of an inch.

Copper and slate will be used to cover the spire, and scrolls and figures in harmony with the staid Colonial architecture will be used in decoration. A large wind-vane, erroneously called a weather vane, will be cut from copper to cap to Chapel.

Practically every day that President Lowell is in Cambridge he makes a tour of inspection, sometimes alone, often accompanied by members of his staff. Although squads of about 240 and 100 workmen alternate each day on the work according to the particular work to be done, they will not be able to complete the chapel by Class Day unless extra workers are added.