The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-30
LONDON'S MANY SPANS.
THE INTERESTING THAMES AND ITS
NINETEEN BRIDGES.

The Uefv Lambeth-The Imposing Water
Ioo and It's Dfmensisns-The Famous
Westminster Bridse-The View from
the WaterIoo-A Charming Scene.
There are eighteen bridges over the
Thames within the boundarles OF London
A nineteenth bridge, the largest OF all and
the only one with q draw, is near the
Tower
OF the eighteen bridges the ugliest IS
Lambeth (some critics say it Is the ugiiest
bridge ever built), and the most imposing
is Waterloo. OF this bridge Cariova said:
1T is the noblest in the world. IL IS worth
coming from Rome TO London to see.
Dupin. a celebrated French engineer, called
il "a colossal monument, worthy of SesoS
iris and the Csesars." The Car ALexan-
der I of Russia declared it ''the finest work
of masonry in the world
Waterloo bridge connects the Strand
with the mid-Surrey bank of the Thames
It is !. $50 feet long, or with its graded ap-
proaches q ,426 feet long 1t is built OF gran
Ite. vet its grace, as well as it's strength,
commands admiration 1t consists or
semi-eilipsical arches. each of 40 feet span
and 35 feet high, supported on piers which
are so feet thick at the foundations, dimin-
ishing TO % feet at the springing Of the
arches Each pier is 81 feet in length. with
Gothic cutwater points The bridge was
opened on the second anniversary of the
battle of Waterloo. June IS, 1917.
ON WATERLOO BRIDGE.
Stand IN the middle of Waterloo bridge
at any hour of the day or night and you
have wonderful and ever memorable
view. By day the most famous and ma
iestic structures of London rise before you,
and on each hand, along she bold sweep of
the river; by night myriad lamps fash and
glimmer, some high in air. some rushing
down the embarked shore, some creeping
on the black river and revealing dimly the
mysterious forms of bulky craft. By day
the spectacle is grand; it is even beautiful
in some lights, when you get the whole
curving sweep of the river from west
minister to st. PauPs.
There is no finer effect of town archi-
lecture anywhere Nowhere else is there
such restful, satisfying color. The Lon
don atmosphere is made for artists and ar
tistic effects. You may rave as you like
about smoke and fog, but save when these
things are very bad, real London partic-
ulars," there is a compensating effect for
all who have eyes and who know how to
see. This London atmosphere softens,
subdues, transforms. Do you remember
what Whistler said in bis "Ten o'ClOek2"
'When the evening mist clothes the riv-
er side with poetry as with q veil, and the
poor buildings lose themselves in the dim
sky, and the tall Shimneys become cam
panii, and the warehouses are palaces In
the night, and the whole city hangs in the
heavens, and fairylaHd IS before us-then
the way arer h5stens home; the working
man and the cultured one, tAe wise man
and the one of pleasure, cease to under
stand as they have ceased to see, and nat
ure, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings
| her exquisite song TO the artist alone, her
son and her master-her son in that be
| loves her, her master in that he knows
| her"
ON WESTMINSTER
1t was on Westminster bridge, in 1903,
! that Wordsworth composed his beautiful
sonnet. Had Waterloo bridge been stand
| ing then, Wordsworth would. doubtless,
have wooed his muse there, for the view is
immesurably more impressive and inspir-
| ing than at Westminster, and it is far
finer than it could have been IN 1903. Stand
here at sunrise on a summer morning and
recall Wordsworths lines; it is an expert
ence of lifetime; the beauty of the pict-
ure, the grandeur of the scene will inger
| in your mind and thrill your heart for
ever:
Earth has not anything to SHOW more fair;
Dull would he be Of soul who could pass by
sight so touching in it's ma jesty;
This city now doth like garment wear
The beauty OF the morning; silent, bare.
Ships, towers, domes, theatres. and temples lie.
Open unto the fields and TO the sky.
| All bright and glttering in the smokeless air
| Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor valley. rock, or hin;
Ne'er saw I-never felt-a calm 50 deep.
! The river glideth at its own sweet will
Dear Cod the very houses seem asleep,
And all that mighty heart is lying still.
From Waterloo bridge one commands
the river from Lambeth and Westminster
on the left to st. Paul's and London bridge
on the right, with, on either hand, sug
gestions of more distant structures. Som
erset House is Immediately in front of the
spectator 1t was for the view to be had
at this bend of the river that the Lord Pro
tector Somerset built palace here in the
reign of Edward VI. Whether the lord
protector ever surveyed the view from his
windows is matter of doubt.
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.
In the cheerful manner of those days
| Somerset despoiled his neighbors in order
to secure the land for his fine dwelling.
But before his new palace was finished he
was deprived Of his Office and sent TO the
| Tower, where he remained two years, ~
turning there year later on charge Of
high treason which cost him his head.
! Royalty during several feigus inhabited
the place, aud then the palace was used for
| the reception of EN- bssssdors. In 177e Som
/ erset House was altered and extended TO
/ its present proportions. BUTT then ceased
| to be palace and became government
| Office, and Of all government offices the
most unloved. for here abide the collectors
of the stamp and income taxes.
| The Victoria EN- bankTBeEt extends from
the Salvation Army headquarters a Black
/ friars TO the house Of parliament IL Is .
wide driveway. we'll orRaaeDted with trees
and gardens II runs along the front 0f al
/ the river stretch as you see IL from Water
( loo bridge Behind il i The Temple, that
/ legal and literary nest known 70 all the
| students Of English law ann al lovers OF
English books.
| The river Thames has been the making
/ Of London Having tidal course for sixty
| miles or more from its mouth, u became
at very early period great commercial
Waterway. Large vessels ecns up as FAR
/ a. L0ndon briaEe Above bridge" the
| big Thames bargss, sosting up and down
4 on the swift currrnt. convey their varied
/ ghts.-Boston Herald