The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-07-22
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER.
and our Trip to London

Special Correspondence anderson lnteligcnccr.
Birmingham is a.beautiful city of over
four hundred thousand inhabitants and
one of the greatest manufacturing places
| in England, its chief productions being
hardware and fire arms. Of the latter
it is said that an average of a gun per
minute is made during the entire year.
We wheel out to Darlaston nine miles
distant. and spend the Sabbath with
friends. After visiting Wolverhampton
FIVE miles beyond, We return to Birming.
ham Tuesday, June Is, to enjoy Whit
suntide holiday. We visit the art gallery
and museum. The structure without is
magnificent and within the walls are
beautifully decorated with paintings
mostly by English artists. A great num-
ber of curiosities interested US, among
| them the first locomotive steam engine
built by VIM. Murdock in 1871 and was
first tried on road in 1884. 1t was a
small affair about 18 inches in length
and hadn't the slightest resemblance of
anything intended for a locomotive of
to-day. We naturally compared it with
one of our great American railroad
engines and remembered that "great oaks
from little acorns grow" Later in the
day we visit Ashton Hall and Parks.
Thesl1aA is ansold structure dating tback
several centuries. .x:In 1643 OliyerB Bronl.
we'll stormed the premises. and traces of
several cannon shots are distinctly seen
about the buildings. The hall is filled
with old paintings and relics, some of
great antiquity. DR.. johnson was a
frequent guest at this house during his
Cay and in the room where he. usually
sat may be seen the first edition of his
dictionary. "A painting of St. Sebastian
by Guido did not escape our notice. At
$50 occurred the great event of our lives,
the great open air picture, "The erup..
ton of Vesuvius, or the last days of
Pompeii," gigantic painting several
hundred feet in length by Hart, of Lon
don: tis constructed in sections show
ing Mount Vesuvius in the distance with
Herculaneum nesting closely at the foot.
Pompeii is at the left and in the fore.
ground at the center is flight of broad
steps leading to the temple Of Isis, ,-.at
the right the market place. The whole
picture is a scene of bustling activity.
Representatives of all the professions,
trades and denominations then known
under the Roman Empire are arrayed in
groups requiring several hundred per-
formers. Thus begins the first tableau.
a scene is shifted and the ampitheatre or
arena is in view crowded with an excited
populace witnessing the different sports
common to chat people. Soon rumblings
like thunder is heard, the earth quakes,
buildings totter and fall. Vesuvius
smokes, and soon the whole heavens are
filled with fire and ashes. The people
are frantic with. terror. A few are con-
veyed out into. the bay in boats and are
saved. The scene closes and where Pom
peitstood.is now a heap of ashes and for
nearly 1000 years the city of the dead
iatforgotten. ltIwas the first presentation
Of this great picture and was exhibited at
cost. Of $i5, ,OOO.. The entertainment
closed with some brilliant fireworks In.
cludingsa portrait -of-thc Queen. We
are satisfied and retire. Wednesday
morning We wheel to Coventry, distant
eighteen miles, the place where centuries
ago lived the far famed Lady Godiya,
wife of the Saxon Leofric, who to obtain
the freedom of Coventry from taxation
rode through the city on horseback
naked, the Inhabitants having all except
one, retired from observation, and he,
wicked wight. was punished for his
pryiDg curiosity by the loss Of sight: An
effgy called "Peeping Tom," is stilrex-.
hibited at the corner of Hertford street.
We have letters of introduction to Prof.
Wyles of Allesly College, two and one
half miles frpm,th The city Sandiin the. after;
part of Che day. We spin out to his home
deightfhiplaee ins thes country We
find him absent but are cordially well
coined by his daughter who prepares tea
for us and kindly guides; us about the
premises. After short but pheasant
visit we wheel to Kenilwortb, seven
miles away, and arrive there at sun set.
We are anxious to catch a glimse of the
old castle before dark and draw near just.
in time to catch the few sunrays that lin.
ger around the old ivy mautled towers.
The birds are;swarming into their. differ
ent places Of abode, aud as We watch
them we are reminded that this was once
the abiding place Of Geofroi de Clinton
Robert Dudley, Cromwell's commission;
.er, De Montfort's son, Edward the.
Second Ia prisoner), Mortimer, John Of
Gaunt, time henored- Lancaster, Harry
the Eighth, Charles the First aud his
brother, associating with these names
their histories and the tales of Sir Walter
Scott. u'e rub our ewes and quietly
whisper, Do I wake or am dreaming.
Thursday morning we make sketches aud
wheel to Warwick, eight miles. We
stop on the way at Guys Cliffs and watch
for. moment the quient River Avon
and catch glimpse of the last home Of
the great Guy Earl of Warwick, who it
is claimed was nine feet in height. We
ride on mile farther, buy our tickets
and enter the gateway leading to the
castle of Warwick which was begun by
Ethelred, Earl of Mercia, in the year
915.
Passing through the embottled gate.
way, called the Porter's Lodge, we enter
fine road deeply cut through solid
rock, the ample branches of foliage form
ing "a canopy above, while beneath the
moss and ivy creep in fertile wildness
form q picture at once romantic and
pleasing. Proceeding about 100 yards
the stupendous line Of Notifications with
the "cloud cap'n towers" breaks suddenly
on the right in all its bold magnifcence,
seeming firmly joined as it is to its rocky
foundation, to bid defiance to the all sub.
DUNG power of time. On the right is
the fine polygon tower, dedicated to
Earl Guy, having walls ten feet thick
and base of thirty feet in diameter and
reaching to height of 12S feet. On the
left is the venerable Caesar's Tower, said
to be- coeyal with the Norman Congress,
and althoughlit has braved the ravages
Of time, and the depredations of man for
nearly 300 years, still it continues as firm
as the rock on which it is founded. But
we have not time to further describe it..
We pass through another great archway
into an inner court, thence into the inte-
rior of the Castle, which is still in fine
state of preservation Everything is
magnificent. The walls are crowded
with paintings, many by the old masters,
and relics Of antiquity thousands of
years old. In the Greenhouse we saw
the celebrated Antique Vase. 1t is OF
wb;ta n3orh1a doa;enad and eyecuted in