The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-12-25
UNDER LONDON DOCKy.
A Giimpsc OF Che vvi:,c vaults.
a London letter says

London letter says:
The London docks. visited bv alI r,rrirr,,,
p MnW paSS through London. nrc objects of great
nh,rfcHl, viewing them from Ill. outside. MS
harburS, where canal crosses canal. tin thry
'N.chu in Il c'iy combining" the two strange.
Ic,a ,,, n 'cn'cr wifi hrr iip!id ;horou.l,iarcs.
ann NINA with her loa,in. i,uIsrs.
:, blil under The .ccnr, iam'i;trin every ,nc
,,o,ii Inscription II not aciral view, Is Il still
IN norr curious slsht whcn il is more difficult
t0 ob'In. Thanks Ia The efforts OF :, rrl,t;y"
oi IL merchant who lril Stores drl,o lied thrr,.
we wer" provided with Il pass 10 the wine
Vaults of the East Cooper. or branch of The
.,', a,uh"9i uocks. There were six in lite PARTY
u.i" ., a'icr long, rainy. muddy drive through
.hr 1lu part ri the city, past Illinrs.ratr fish
,harkci, where cochucy men AMI bows subsli-
.a,e @ inc wn;i"-rcnowncd fish women of lilo
n" th" ,,ear u r:s sauce sold with the fish,
l'.'. .nc tower with its many spires and gloomy
Dat,ienenls, we at icnsth arrived rt fhr or,
trance to the docks. 4 government ,,N;ci,,
y o%ai,i,1cu i, o,r passes ami WE drove on through
nMhucrhcsS "i casks, coils III rope" and hcnt,s
oi nrah, I'LL "" reached the door ul' cellar M
4. Hoih" Gown 4 flight of stone steps, we came
10 SORT OF vrSihi,ic, where. on one side, was
an oilicc for The examination and s;,ruiu,r nr
passes; OH H." c;licr, a place tilted nm viii,
shrlvcs. having brass eyes like those. undr to
receive The ends of door bolts, Il lnn,r wr,l,rc
,Sn,l9u w''.i PADDLE with metal lamp ON The
proud end, sticking in "ari! eye An ui,.:-in-
grfcd, diriy-facrd individual. siriknrly rcsciu-
ni'hG LAMPS. OF 'Mugby Junction, stood in
IN, shale OF mi; recess, a co;nlntuion sitting
Der TWO, ;lS q calendar Oh the wall informed
,ls, ovor which was written usher. through
the vaults for Monday" Lamps u,accd n
liTh, III cac.' oso'Ir hands ami ..c entered, th.
N'"!l'i. imagine eleven acrcS OF ground or
rather underground, under streets nrd below
nc water line OF line Thames. divided into long
r:ti'rd alley ways, covered with s..w,l,,st, 4
un'inii iron Track for barrels 20 roll on running
'rcclly III inc centre. ON either Sidc three tiers
ol barrels OF port, old port winr amounting i'm
all TO thirty-flvc thousand barrels of mort ALONG
ana yo!, have one Of The eighteen large cellars
under the docks. We had The rare priyiIn.rc nf
tasting the port number OoO-ihrrc tljilrrcnt
6arrcis. Tasting orders are frequently given
Tor sherry, hut seldom for port, aud with II
oGh'r .,.r oi seii-Satisiac,ion our conductor con-
gr'tulllc,i rs But was already dizzy with tho
iies oi 81, 0e9 barrels, and the ilickrIur of our
amps In the dark archways, penetrated Iy bin
tliilE rays: like ropes of fire. running from and
%inccliliS % laii way between the reflector, rs
powerful us We use OH steam engines, at one
end of each alley, and then opening into the
main rotunda al tile other end. On the cell
inGs NUM- the fungus formed from the cvapo-
ration. One piece, called the crocodile, from
its shape, u great rdgy animal clinging with
It's feet To the ceiling was hundred and ffty
years Oh Nearly all the fungus was of dun
color, resembling the inside nap OF lcad-color-
cd walding, but occasionally Ileachc,l
white, when it looked like the Stalarlitcs i'm
caves. Otlr conductor WAS mol sn Suptrstitlous
ABOUT the hlnGs ns Joey l.adc, and declared
pieces had often fallen OIL him and he wasn't
dead yet" Still he seemed very proud of it,
and with great reverence hunted around for
he largest and most curious formations, riv-
ing us some little incident, curious and inter
cstin., about each piece. In tho brandy and
whiskcy vaults the fungus Is all white
Scarcely Knowing whether was on Inv head
or my feet, the illckcring lights and dark edges
oi The barrels, fungus. suwdust, people mud
posts dancing Ia Will procession through my
brain, stopped with fiie rest before Il row Of
barrels marked 600. l'hc usher drove sharp
steel Instrument through the end of the first
one, blew nto Il, ana OIL, spurtcd stream
OF pure rich port ily years old liopln. an
internal application wOuid rciucdy the diZZi-
ness ca;isctl by iutallng it, tasted it and felt
instantly better, aa. .lic second ANA third bar
rcls dared moi 'try," and even our usher
threw away one glass for which many an cpl
c,,rc would have given fifty dollars sterling.
The holes were li!lcd up again hy sticking
wooden pegs in them choppng them oil, and
leaving the barrels as sound and secure as ir
taty had never been opened. Emerging from
these cellars, we We're glad to enter our car
riagcs, drive home an,l take y nap.