Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1856-05-10

six miles, in London. They the omnihuses
of the river, making frequent stops, and carry
immense numbers of people at fare of two
cents each. Nine bridges, of iron or stone, span
the river in the city, all of which are costly and
elegant structures, exceeding anything of the
kind elsewhere in the world; the London
Bridge" in particular, which undoubtedly is the
most magnificent bridge ever built, costing above
ten million dollars land if there is one spot
above all Others calculated to impress the stran.
ger with the power and ceaseless activity of the
vast city, London Bridge is the place, crowded as
it always is with an ever-moying mass of people
and vehicles. 1t is about nine hundred feet long
and fifty feet wide and is toll free, are most of
the bridges in London. London Bridge is stu
ated below the rest of the bridges, the others be-
ing scattered along up the river. one to two miles
apart Below the bridge, the river is wider and
deeper, and is covered for miles with dense mass
of shipping, from all quarters of the globe.
Two miles below London Bridge, is situated
that modern wonder, the Thames Tunnel"
which is roadway, or sunken passage, few feet
under the bed Of the ,iUer. 1t is nearly quarter
of mile long, and is made of brick laid in &C.
ment, and SO arched on all sides as to resist the
pressure of the water. At present, it is only
used by foot passengers, at two cents toll the APP
proaches to it for carriages not having yet been
made. Numerous little shops, stands, are
scattered along the sides of the passage way, for
the sale of fruit and small fancy articles. They
are mostly attended by young women, who pay
rent of one hundred dollars each, per annnm, for
the privilege Of selling what few articles they
m fban Inv int At daT oil
sunless place. 1t is kept clean, and is neatly
whitewashed, and is brilliantly lighted with gas.
As the visitor walks through it. the idea of the
mass of water, with the huge ships floating in it,
over his head, is far from a pleasant one, and he
feels relieved he energies from it into the open
light of day. The Tunnel was built by compa-
ny. at cost of above three million dollars and,
as speculation, it has proved total failure, the
receipts hardly being enough to meet tho expens-
es for repairs.
Not far from the Tunnel, are the celebrated
Docks, for ships to load and unload in. There
are number of them, and they are all immense
basins, hundreds of acres in extent, built of mas
sy blocks Of stone. They are gigantic works, and
cost enormous amounts of money, to complete
them. Near by the London Docks" and con
nected with them, are the great Swine Vaults"
through which I walked. They are like a vast
cellar, about eight feet deep, measuring over eleu-
en- acres in extent, and are filled with an immense
quantity of wine, stored here by the wine mer-
chants. Visitors aae admitted by ticket, and it
is customary to treat them all to glass of wine.
London is abundantly supplied with water,
which is mostly taken from the " New River"
tha
city. OF course, the quantity of water re-
quired for the daily of two and islr Ii4ITUHS
| u people, must be enormous-quite large river
There are but very few public Fountains to be
seen in London-and the difference in this respect
from the Continental cities is very striking to
the stranger.
The English people drink so much porter and
beer, that the Breweries are numerous. Some of
them are enormously large, and their business is
immense. ] visited that of Barclay Perkins,
which is the largest in the world. Their brewery
is in the heart of London, and the buildings
which they occupy in their business, cover six
teen acres of ground. -Four hundred men are
employed, and one hundred and seventy horses,
of noble and gigantic breed, are worked in the
carts, &c. Eleven hundred bushels of barley are
daily used. and five hundred barrels of beer are
manufactured every day. Some of the beer casks
in use here are a curiosity from their enormous
size Several Of them will hold over three thou
sand barrels each. They stand on their heads on
frames of timber, six or eight feet high, so that
they will be out of the way. Their heads are
forty feet in diameter, but they are not much more
than twenty feet high. The beer in one of these
large casks is estimated to be worth more than
forty thousand dollars!
We spent an interesting day at the "Kew Gar
dens," situated on the borders of London The
Gardens belong to the Government, and the
| grounds include about one hundred and eighty
acres. 1t is probably the most perfect and com.
plete botanical garden in the world exceeding,
so far as short visit enables me to Judge, the
celebrated Botanical Garden in Regents Park,
| The entrance gate to the Kew Garden, is grand
and imposing, and, as the visitor enters. he is
struck with admiration at the great extent of the
walks, and the perfect order and beauty of the
whole scene before him. Here are to be SEEN
probably, the greatest variety of trees, plants
&C., in any collection in the word-comprisne
almost every thing of the kind, from every quar-
ter of the globe. Some ofthe specimens are very
large-Cedar of Lebanon trees, three feet through
the body, giant Palm trees, &C., &c. But it would
fill large volume to describe half Of what il to
be seen here In the Botanical Museum, very
large building in the garden, among an immense
collection of curiosites, particularly interesting
to the botanist, is specimen of every known
variety of wood in existence, cut in transverse
sections, all in perfect order, and scientifically
arranged and labeled. AS a sample of the expense
incurred here, it may be mentioned, that the cost
of the single building in which the palm trees are
kept, was near one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars No entrance fee is charged at the gate,
which is an anomaly here, as in England nothing,
hardly, is free the visitor is compelled to ay at
least shilling (twenty four cents) at almost
every door or gate he enters. How unlike France
IN this respect Said one of our friends in
London, 81 am ashamed to say IT, hut, it is
iact' that spectators must pay shilling before
'hey are admitted into our Court Rooms when
'ne Nourt Is in session l'--an excellent plan,
'nouBht We to diminish the crowd of idle speeta.
TORS IN a court room! will here say, incidental.
~ that the Court Room went into. was very
unlike ours in Massachusetts, for convenience
ana comfort The narrow seats all had hi,h
straight backs and those for the iurv ,vo.a
out cushions, or places to rest the or,rs 49,.
and must be exceedingly uncomlortabo nl.oaa 49,
sit in, to hear long and dull arguments ~ Az ~
law questions The iudoes and i.,,, ~