Frequenters of the Embankment in London will recall with interest that yesterday marked the sixtieth anniversary of the erection of the obelisk, commonly known as Cleopatra's Needle, which took place on September 12, 1878. The Needle a four sided tapering monolith is of the red granite of Syene, and together with a number of others, all suitably Covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, were placed in pairs at the entrances of Egyptian temples. Twelve of these survive in Rome; one from Luxor was set up in the Place de la Concorde in Paris in 1836. Cleopatra's Needle was originally erected at On, Heliopolis, and was later removed to Alexandria by Augustus about 23 B.C. In 1877, while being brought to England, Cleopatra's Needle was lost in a gale near Ferrol, but was ultimately recovered, and found a resting place in its present position. It is over 68 feet long and weighs 186 tons, though when originally quarried it was probably considerably longer. The largest obelisk known is that in the piazza of St. John Lateran at Rome. Originally set up by Tethmosis III at Heliopolis, 15 B.C, it was brought to Rome by Constantine the Great and erected in the Circus Maximus, being ultimately re erected in 1552, in its present position by Pope Sixtus V. It is 105ft. 9 in. high. Probably Cleopatra's Needle was longer than it is now for it is recorded that when the obelisks were removed to Alexandria the lower parts were broken -away the monoliths being subsequently erected with bronze crabs at [the corners, one of which with three reproduce [tions may be found in the specimen on the Embankment,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.