River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-02-07
Top of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Appletons Journal.
Before we set off across the river. stop
for little quiet enjoyment of the mar
velous picture spread out beneath our
view this pleasant summer afternoon. If
You have ever doubted the correctness of
the bird's-eye view Of cities and the ilke.so
common in the print shops, here at least is
an assurance that such things are possible.
Brooklyn lies displayed at our teef, with
its. fringe Of warehouses, docks. and slips
perpendicularly under US. How afffer-
ent is the comparative newness of the
sister city, and how marked contrast
offered By its bushy greenery marking
out the streets like colorcd lines on a plan,
as compared with the densely packed,
dark, imposing mass Of architecture over
the river!
The bay, sparkling silver and golden in
the sunlight, and dotted with its many is
lands, is visible clear beyond the Mar
rows and down to Sandy Hook. Far
eastward we can almost pick out the sand
hills OF Rockaway and Coney Island, with
the blue sea-ine beyond, and to the west,
under the sinking sun, the picture is
framed in with the purple of the High
lands, r eversink, and the Jersey hills.
Look at that Terry beat just starting
from the Fulton-sreet slip, packed with
heads CALL we can seq, and notice the odd
effect Of the dots ofwhite faces turned up
TO watch us, interesting as we are not by
our individuality, but by our position.
We can fancy them repeating Pope's
lines on the fly in amber:
Not that the thing itselfis rich or rare
The wonder is, how the ID it got there
As for ourselves. proud of our momen-
tary elevation, and drunk with the keen,
sweet, salt air, and the gorgeous prospect,
one is reminded of the man who, on the
ladder ready TO be hanged, when a mad
bull caused dire confusion in the crowd
below, said, in thoughtless exultation to
his companion rogue: Glow lucky it is
we're up here!"
And now down the steep slope Of the
river span, digging our heels well into
the stats, and checking our momentum by
the side ropes till we stand where a few
| wears ago no mortal ever expected to
stand two hundred feet over the channel
of the East Rive, with all its varied traffic
| flowing beneath us. Hurry Just here
want to get plumb over the Bristol as she
| sails malestlcally up stream, and ENJOY
the small vanity of doing what no one but
the shipbuilders ever did before--look
squarely down her smoke stack int her
| tire-box
Notice her exquisite, fish like lines
seen thus in plan and the way in which
the narrow hull is marked off from the
guards by the timber work Of the cabins
Phew! What racket! Bristol, Massa-
chusetts, Stonington boats, al as they pass
under the bridge salute us with whistle,
while ferry boats, tugs, and all the small
/ fry, salute them, till the whole air is
vocal with one great treble of demenic
| howl and screen, set off by the deep bass
hum Of toll and traffic the grand diapason
of labor supplied by the two great cities.
As noble steamers pass on up the river,
notice the beautiful, divergent lines of
waves from their paddles like double
tail of comet You remember the same
effect, only more distant, feathery, and
! fairy-like, as we looked down in the
early morning from the Rigi-top on the
dark polished surface OF the Lake OF the
/ Four CantOns