The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-14
IosDoN.s RIVER
The Interesting Thames and Its Nine-
teen Bridges.
pr.S<or. Herald

A nineteenth bridge, the largest OF all anu
the only one with draw. Is approaching
completion near the tower.
OF the eighteen bridges the usfiest IS
Lambeth some critics say it Is the ugiiest
bridge ever built, and the most imposing
is Waterloo. OF this bridge Canova said !:
1T is the noblest in the world. It Is worth
comingssfro Rome to London TO see" Du-
pin, celebrated French engineer, called 1t
"a colossal monument, worthy of Sesostris
and the Casars." The Gar Alexander L.
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; 1t Is
], $50 feet long, or, with its graded APP
proaches, ,426 feet long. It is built Of
granite, yet its grace, as well as its
strength, commends admiration. 1t con-
sists of semi-elliptical arches, each OF I'D
feet span, and 35 feet high, supported on
piers which are 80 feet thick at the founda-
J tons, diminishing to 20 feet at the spring
ing of the arches. Each pier Is 81 feet in
length, with Gothic cutwater points. The
bridge was opened on the second ami
versary of the battle of Waterloo, June
Is, 1917.
Stand In the middle of Waterloo bridge
at any hour of the day or night, and you
have a wonderful and ever-memoracle
view. By day the most famous and ma
jestic structures of London rise before you,
and on each hand, along the bold sweep of
the river; by night myriad lamps nash
and glimmer, some high in air, some rush.
ing down the embarked shore, some creep
ing on the black river and revealing dinly
the mysterious forms of bulky craft. By
day the spectacle is grand; it is even beau
tiful. IN some lights, when you get the
whole ctirving sweep of the river from
Westminster to st. Paul's. There is no
inner effect of love architecture anywhere.
Nowhere else is there such restful, satisfy
ing color. The London atmosphere is
made for artists and artistic effects. You
may rave as you like about smoke and
fog, but save when these things are very
bad. real London particulars" there is a
compromising 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
his Ten O'clock
When the evening mist clothes the
river side with poetry, as with vail, and
the poor buildings lose themselves in the
dim sky, and the tall chimneys become
campanili, and the warehouses are palaces
in the night, and the whole city hangs in
the heavens, and fairyland is before US
then wayfarer bastens home; the working
man and the cultured one, the wise man
and the one of pleasure, cease to under
stand, as they have ceased 70 see, and ma
ture, who, for once, has sung In tune, sings
her exqisite song to the artist alone, her
son and her Inaster-her son in that nc
loves her, her master in that he knows
her"
1t was on Westminster bridge In 1868,
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
immeasurably more impressive and inspir-
ing than at Westminster, and ii is far finer
than it could have been in 1908. Stand
here at sunrise on a summer morning and
recall Wordsworth's lines it is an expert
ence of a lifetime; the beauty of the
picture, the grandeur of the scene will
Hnger IN your mind and thrill your heart
forever:
Earth has not anything to show more fair;
Dull would he be OF soul who could pass by
a sight SO touching In its majesty;
This city now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships. towers, domes, theaters and temples lie,
Open unto the fields and to the sky.
All bright and glittering in the sInokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor valley, rock, or hill;
Neer saw l-neyer felt--a calm SO deep,
The river glideth at its own sweet viii
Dear God 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. Somer-
set 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
rasg<x IF Ell prI 81. l.
protector ever surveyed the view from his
windows is matter of doubt.
In the cheerful manner of those DAYS
Somerset despoiled his neighbors in order
to secure the land for his tine dwelling.
But before his nav palace was finished he
was deprived of his office and sent TO the
Tower, where he remained two years, re-
turning there year later on a charge of
high treason, which cost him his head
Royalty during several reigns inhabited
the place, and then the palace was used for
the reception of ambassadors. In I776
Somerset house was altered and extended
to its present proportions. But it then
ceased TO be palace and became govern
ment office, and OF all government offices
the most unloyed, for here abide the col.
lectors of the stamp and income taxes.
The Victoria embankment extends from
the Salvation Army headquarters at Black
friarS 10 the house of parliament. 1t is
wide driveway, well oTnamented with
trees and gardens. 1t runs along the front
of all the river stretch as you see it from
Waterloo bridge. Behind it is the temple,
that legal and literary nest known to all
the students of English law and all lovers
of English books
The river Thames has been the making
of London. Having tidal course for sixty
miles or more from its mouth, it became,
at very early period, great commercial
waterway. Large vessels came up as far as
London bridge. ''Above bridge" the big
Thames barges, floating up and down on
the swift current. convex their varied