West Texas Historical and Scientific Society Publications, Bulletin 48, Number 5 Page: 27
76 p. : ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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WEST TEXAS HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY
tion hole; J. W. Newton and W. P. Philips, Valentine; Bill Goss,
Fort Davis; B. Englebright, San Angelo; Mexicans of Alpine,
P. Lianes, L. Bugarin, M. Nunez, and H. Hernandez; and Fort
Davis Mexicans, Louis D. Dutchover, P. and F. Hernandez, and
various Granado men with the initials J., G., A., F.; and E.
W. O. Meeks of Fort Davis hauled the structural and re-en-
forcing steel, the cement, lumber, and contractor's equipment,
much if not all from Marfa; while Edgar Martin of Alpine got
out, washed, screened and hauled the sand and gravel, and also
hauled the necessary water to the summit of the mountain. The
sand and gravel and water came free of cost from the J. W.
Merrill & Son ranch where it borders the U-UP-and-U-Down
ranch, at the spring called Agua Blanca. Lewis Spencer of
Alpine had the sub-contract to furnish the equipment and labor
to do the excavating.
On December 7, P. E. Bliss, President of the Warner & Swasey
Company, was here on a brief visit. In November a telephone
line was put in from Fort Davis to the summit, Sam Luedecl1
of Fort Davis having charge of the work. Early in January
Frank F. Friend and J. H. Conklin, surveyors for the Univer-
sity, were here marking definite lines and corners on the 400
acres, which, it is understood, will be fenced.
The contract price for the Observatory, including the tele-
scope and mirror, was published as $325,000. It is expected
something like $75,000 more will be spent by the University in
fencing, putting up several cottages on Benedict Bench, get-
ting water piped to the top of the mountain, putting in an elec-
tric plant, and doing other necessary things not included in
the main contract. The well to date, without pumping power,
has cost a little over $5,000.
The telescope will be of the reflector type with a mirror,
rather than a refractor with lens. The mirror was cast by
the Corning Glass Works, Corning, N. Y., which had the sub-
contract therefor, December 31, 1933. The operation, for which
many preparations had been made, was reported successful.
It was cast of pyrex. It is to be 80 inches in diameter, 12
inches thick at the edges, with a concavity of about one and
one-quarter inches, and is estimated to weigh about three tons.
Three months, according to latest statements, will be required
for it to cool. The first estimate was six months, but Charles
J. Stilwell said that better methods had been worked out, the
last word in the industry. The cooling process will be by
a gradual withdrawal of electric heat in a room fully guarded
against any current of cooler air or sudden dropping of the
degree of heat. When it is cool, it will be removed to Cleve-
land to be ground and polished by the Warner-Swasey works.
The grinding will require something like two years, because27
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Sul Ross State Teachers College. West Texas Historical and Scientific Society Publications, Bulletin 48, Number 5, periodical, December 1, 1933; Alpine, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1065592/m1/29/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.