Daily Republican., 1884-02-26
ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
Visitors VINO Desire lnf0rmatlOn
or Assorted Kinda.

Visitors VINO Desire Information
OF Assorted klnds.
New York Sun.
II begin to feel very much like'
pocket guide book Of New York AM
Brooklyn, said a bridge policeman to
reporter yesterday. "The number o
questions asked of me, not only In re
gard to the bridge, but in regard to tn
points Of interest in the harbOr ant
both cities, is enormous. l have gOtteI
10 now ! can answer the question ask
ed without looking In the direction in
dicated. A woman said to me yester
day: is that Governors island ?
Yes, ma am, said l. Is that Slater
island q Yes, ma'am.' is that
Yes, ma am But you did not bea
my question, said she. Madam, said
l, you were about To ask whether tha
lie Trinity church steeple.' She did not
question me any further"
"Are you required to reply to all the
questions put TO you."
"Ob,nO BUTT pays to be courteous.
This IN ?rning q man from Connecticut
asked If the large cables were hollow
and used to carry water from Brook lyn
to New York. assured him they We're
because that seemed to be the reply he
expected. But a. a rule make replies
to the best of my ability and rs &C.
Curately as l can. People have the fun.
niest notions about the bridge. A few
days ago a man asked me when the
cables were TO be taken down. l told
him hoped not until after 4o'clock,
when I was to go off duty. He had an
idea that the cables were used as o sort
of scaffolding, to be removed as the
bridge was finished"
just then a short, blink-eyed man,
with tall hat and strut asked els
this the centre Of gravity ?" pointing
TO the plates In the middle of the bridge.
Being assured that 1t was he passed on,
apparently satisfied.
" A young GIRL" said the policeman,
" asked me the other Gay whether the
middle Of the bridge was about half
way across. Nearly every one asking
questions goes through the regular list
in regard to the size of the cables, their
length and weight, the height of the
towers, when the cars are going to run,
and 80 on. The machinery that runs
the, endless cable has been the source of
much question asking. The only really
absurd question on that subject was
asked by q man over here in Brooklyn.
He wanted to know whether the cable
was used to strengthen the bridge"
81 suppose Engineer Roebling comes
In for share of the interest? ?"
Yes, and all sorts Of questions are
asked about him-how old he Is, and
how he looks, whether he will ever get
we'll, and how much money he received
for the bridge work. But by far the
worst was the question of little, thin /
faced woman who spoke through her
nose. She wanted to know whether
Mr.. Roebling lived happily with his
wife. Every one wants TO know where
Col. Roebling lives, and If We did not
profess ignorance on this point don't
loubt that be would be overwhelmed.
"Do people betray any nervousness
about the strength Of the bridge 2"
"Not exactly nervousness, but they
10 strange things that We can only
lscribe to their thoughts about the dis
,ster. They take hold of the cables
md try to shake them. They jump up
md down on the bridge, with the idea
hat their weight will cause the cables
o sway. They ask minute questions
lbout the way the cables are anchored,
md whether there is any danger Of the
anchorage giving way. A man over on
he Brooklyn side makes a point of
ceiling Of the foundations every time
le goes across, apparently to see if
here are indications of their crumb-
ing"
"What sort of people cross the
ridge"
"From Z to 9 in the morning, and from
to 7 at night clerks and business men
o to and from their places of business.
,uring the middle of the day, however,
t least nine tenths of those on the
ridge are visitors. Last week there
vere great numbers of Englishmen,
nd they were very curious. Boston
eOple make me mad. They were +,
ways criticising little details about Z
le work and whenever they can, max.
~ unfavorable comparisons with
ridge architecture about Boston. A a
3D. haired man, who said he was from =
oston, told me last Thursday where he !
fought Mr.. Roebling had made :
,istakes in his work. He suggested r
lacing the promenade over the railway. =
referred him to Col. Paine.
There are two or three characters q
nat have noticed. One old man we q
all Count. Heis tall, with military =
caring, q padded coat, and marches. =
[e Is German, and apparently as poor +
8 a church mouse. He lives in Chat
am street, and takes his walk every
forming, evidently as a constitutional.
very time he passes policeman he
ives q military salute. Then there is I
tile old woman living in Brooklyn r
'ho walks about half way across every t
forming. She is quite feeble, and leans Il
u a cane. She has not missed morn
lg yet, and think she has improved +
l health. There is dumb man whom b
o have to look out for. He works in o
'ew York, and once In while goes d
ONE drunk. He gets taken care of by b
10 various policemen. u
Speaking about that accident, I think u
lat was one of the best things possible. u
o be sure, several persons lost their n
yes by 1t, but it taught the public "
sson. Very few people stop long at d
le place, and we seldom have crowds
deal with. Besides tuis the bridge
the best guarded place anywhere
,ont here. There are thirty-two po- Of
cemen on duty at this, time. With &C
,ery one on guard against danger, and IT
many policemen to protect them, W
'e chances are that such an accident N
Ill never happen again. We have
10 most trouble with excursion par. OF
as. Scme Of the New Jersey roads ~
We excursions to New York Brooklyn Y
I'd the bridge. OF course the excur. 10
onists come on to the bridge ina body.
very one is loaded with q square m
'per box containing lunch, and SO uni IN
rm are these boxes that you might p
ink the same person put them all nj
}. Ito
"The excursiOnists are pretty inquisi- 70
ve AZ rule, and usually they start "
It by telling where they are from and W
hat they are here for. An old man VI
me on the bridge this morning, and, ps