The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-04-18
Glasgow

Is the chief commercial city of Scotland and
contains about one-half as many inhabitants
as Philadelphia. 1t is situated on both sides
of the little river Clyde 1t is substantially
built, and many of its streets are broad, clean
and lined with beautiful shop windows. The
city has more of an American aspect than
any other town in Europe 1t has thrifty
stirring, cosmopolitan air.
st. Georges square, in the centre OF the
city is very fine and contains monument
of Sir Walter Scott, surrounded with statues
of Sir John Moore, Sir Robert Peel, James
Watt, Lord Clyde, and other distinguished
Scotchmen.
The Cockburn house at which we stop over
night is one of the best hotels that we have
thus far found on this side of the "big pond.
The chief sight of Glasgow is the cathedral
erected in the twelfth century. Within its
walls are ornate tablets to soldiers who have
fallen in Englands wars Most of the one
hundred and fifty mine windows which light
its spacious interior are filled with beautiful
stained glass of the most exquisite workman
ship. Just back of this fine old cathedral
rises the Metropolis, an abrupt hill elevated to
the top of the cathedral root, one OF the mostta-
nous and picturesque cemeteries IN Scotland
This hill forms beautiful background to the
brown walls of the old church, the steep hill
sides being finely terraced with tombs, COW
cred with monuments to the dead and 1t Is
surmounted on the peak with an elaborate
memorial to John Knox.
We spend but single day in this Scottish
metropolis After slight search we find
=" Cooks agency" where we purchase tickets
to London via Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool and
SO on. The steamer for Belfast leaves at 3
PM, so we will have fine sail down the
CT A ALLIGATOR
the splendid iron steamer aboard which we
presently find ourselves, sails promptly on
time. The names of the vessels of this line
are peculiar. There are six in all, called the
Alligator, the Dromedary, the Gorilla, the
Lizard, the Locust, and Lamprey. l asked
our captain, bluff, kind-hearted sea dog,
why the company chose such odd names for
their ships. "Well," said he, 81 tell you we
build so many thousand crafts here on the
CLYDE that we have hard work to find names
enough to 90 round. We have almost ex-
hausted the list" Vast shipyards (the largest
in the WORLD are strung along both banks of
the narrow canal-like Clyde for twelve miles
below Glasgow. 1t was here that most OF
the swift blockade runners of our late war
were built, one of the finest of which the
writer helped to destroy at Galveston, Texas,
Just before that city surrendered to our union
as large as our Schuylkill. In some places it
is not over two hundred and twenty-five feet
wide. 1t is only huge canal made and
kept navigable at an enormous expense. I'M
mense steam dredges of pattern very differ
ent and much more effective than those which
we are accustomed to see in America are kept
continually at work in order to maintain the
channel. The improvements already made
are truly marvellous. Great rocks IN the bot
tom of the river have been blasted out, crook
ed places have been made straight and the
original nine feet depth of water has been in
creased sufficiently to float the Oregon, the
largest steamer except the Great Eastern, ever
built For few miles above Greenock the
channel is marked by series of buoys, tow
ers and other beacons, sometimes In rows only
two hundred feet apart Above this the river
is embarked for miles with walls of masonry
faced with broken stones to resist the action
of the wash of passing ships. Take it all in
all the Clyde is one of the most wonderful
rivers in the world 1t reminds one of
crowded street. It is thronged with multi
tude of all kinds of crafts steaming slowly up
or down the stream, and at night the signal
lights line each shore like rows of lamps along
a boulevard AS we leave Glasgow we pass
the vast shipyards of Napier & Son (where the
Black Prince and the Cars yacht were built),
Tod q Co., and John Elder 81 Co. This latter
yard is the largest in the world. Fifteen or
sixteen ships are built at time and between
six and seven thousand men are employed.
Most of the blockade runners of our late war
were constructed by this firm. Nearly oppo-
site this vast establishment fellow passenger
points out to us the only yard on the river
which puts in engines and boilers before the
ships leave the stocks. AS we steam past this
point we observe the banks of the river crowd
ed with great multitude of people, tearfully
watching the efforts made to recover the
bodies of two hundred of their friends and
relatives who lost their lives in the launching
of the ship Daphne, which lies here capsized
in the bottom of the river close by our side.
part of the vessel is visible above the sur
face of the water. Thus far the cause of this
sad catastrophe remains unexplained. The
shores of the river as we proceed on our way
present many beautiful landscapes All along
the river the country is exceedingly we'll
titled. But look, yonder are the picturesque
ruins of
DUNGLASS CASTLE,
which was formerly the property of the Colqu-
houns, of Luss. 1t is said that the old Roman
wall ended at this point. The marble shaft
which we see standing near its crumbling
battlements is monument erected to Henry
Bell, who ran the first steamer on the Clyde
or, indeed anywhere in Europe, except
small one ON Dalswinton loch. Bells steam
err the Comet" ran between Broomielaw,
Greenock and Helensburgh. The following
was the owners advertisement "Comet
steamship will sail three times week (weath-