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THE DEDICATION OF THE EIFFEL TOWER

1 April 1889

The Eiffel tower has now attained its full height – 300 metres (984 feet). When the proposal was made, two years ago, to erect the structure, artists and literary men signed a protest against the scheme, declaring that it would disgrace and disfigure Paris, and would destroy the effect of the great monuments of the city, such as Notre Dame and the Louvre. It must be admitted that the effect produced by the drawings was unfavourable. The form suggested the ugliest parts of a suspension bridge, and it was predicted that the deformity would be increased with the increase of size. The result has not been what was predicted. Even some of those who protested most loudly against the proposal now admit that the effect of the structure is not what they anticipated. They acknowledge that it has a light and graceful appearance, in spite of its gigantic size, and that it is an imposing monument, not unworthy of Paris.

At half-past 2 o’clock to-day the ceremony of hoisting the first flag from the summit was celebrated, in presence of a crowd of spectators. M. Eiffel, with about a dozen persons, ascended the tower to the last small platform, and from that point the flag was hoisted by pulling a rope. The appearance of the flag was saluted by a salvo of 20 guns, followed by the cheers of the crowd. The flag is seven metres and a half long by four metres and a half wide. It bears the letters “R. F.” The engineer, M. Condamin, addressed those present on the platform. He said he saluted the flag of 1789, which their fathers had borne so proudly, which had won so many victories, and which had witnessed so much progress in science and humanity. They had endeavoured to erect a monument worthy of the great date ‘89, and it was for that reason that colossal dimensions were required. To M. Eiffel, who had conceived this idea, and to the fellow-workmen who had enabled him to carry out his work, they were glad to do honour. M. Berger then proposed the health of M. Eiffel, the workmen, and the Municipal Council, which was drunk in champagne, amid cries of “Vive la France! Vive Paris! Vive la Republique!”

The descent from the platform was found to be as trying as the ascent had been, and lasted 40 minutes.

Tables had been arranged for an entertainment to be given to the guests and about 200 workmen. The party were joined by M. Tirard, the Premier, and M. Alphand, city surveyor, and when the repast had ended M. Eiffel delivered a speech, in which he said that it was a great satisfaction to him to have that day hoisted a flag on the highest monument man had ever constructed. After thanking his fellow workmen for the assistance they had given, he said France had shown that she was still capable of great things, and of succeeding where other nations failed.

The Eiffel Tower was the winner of a competition held by the French government to design a fitting gateway for the great exhibition planned for the centenary of the Revolution in 1889. It was created by several engineers working for the construction company owned by the architect Gustave Eiffel, whose previous commissions included devising the interior framework for the Statue of Liberty.

Intended to demonstrate French technological prowess, the wrought-iron structure, planned with extraordinary precision for the times, was erected in just two years. It was then the tallest edifice in the world and the first to top 300 metres. When it was inaugurated, however, the lifts were not completed, and Eiffel’s party took more than an hour to climb the 1,710 steps to the summit.

It has since attracted 250 million visitors and become perhaps the best-known symbol of France. Not everyone, however, became reconciled to its charm. The writer Guy de Maupassant was said to have lunched in one of its four restaurants (French, Flemish, Russian and Anglo-American) every day because only there could he not see the Tower.