Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-01-30
LONDON'S MANY SPANS.
THE INTERESTING THAMES AND ITS
NINETEEN BRIDGES.

There are eighteen bridges over the
Thames within the boundaries of London
A nineteenth bridge, the largest of all and
the only one with draw, is near the
Tower.
OF the eighteen bridges the ugliest is
Lambeth (some critics say it is the ugliest
bridge ever built), and the most imposing
is Waterloo. OF this bridge Canova said
at is the nobest in the world 1t is worth
coming from Rome to London to see."
Dupin, celebrated French engineer, called
it "a colossal monument, worthy of Sesos-
iris and the Caesars" The Gar Alexan
| der of Russia declared it "the finest work
of masonry in the world"
Waterloo bridge connects the Strand
with the md-Surrey bank of the Thames
1t is 1850 feet long, or with its graded ap
proaches 2,426 feet long 1t is built of gran
ite yet its grace, as well as its strength
commands admiration. 1t consists of o
semi-elliptca arches, each of 100 feet span
and 35 feet high, supported on piers which
are 30 feet thick at the foundations, dimin
! ishing to 90 feet at the springng of the
arches. Each pier is 81 feet in length. with
Gothic cutwater points. The bridge was
opened on the second anniversary of the
]
ON WATERLOO BRIDGE.
Stand in the middle of Waterloo bridge
at any hour of the day or night and you
have a wonderful and ever memorable
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 flash 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
curvng sweep of the river from West
minister to St. Paul's.
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
tistc 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 his Ten o'clock"
"When the evening mist clothes the riv-
er side with poetry as with veil, and the
sky, and the tall chimneys become cam
panili, and the warehouses are palaces in
the night and the whole city hangs in the
heavens, and fairyland is before us-then
the wayfarer hastens home; the working
man and the cultured one, the 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 he
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 Wordsworth's lines; it is an expert
ence of a lifetime; the beauty of the pict-
ure, the grandeur of the scene will linger
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
a sight so touching in its majesty;
This city doth like garment
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 ghttering in the snokeless air
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor valley, rock or hill;
Ne'er saw l-never fet-a calm deep
The river glideth at its sweet will.
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, Som
erset House is Immediately in front of the
spectator. 1t was for the view to be haC
at this bend of the river that the Lord Pro
tector Somerset built a palace here i'll the
> reign of Edward vi Whether the lore
3 protector ever surveyed the view from hi!
windows is matter of doubt.
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.
In the cheerful manner of those day!
Somerset despoiled his neighbors in orde
! to secure the land for his fine dwelling
, But before his new palace was finished h'
was deprived of his Office and sent to tn,
Tower, where he remained two years, re
turning there year later on charge o
high treason which cost him his head
|
the place, and then the palace was used TO
the reception of ambassadors, In l716 Som
= erset House was altered and extended Il
its present proportions But it then cease,
: to be a palace and became a government
Office, and of all government offices tn
most unloved, for here abide the collector
of the stamp and income taxes.
The Victoria embankment extends from
;. the Salvation Army headquarters at Black
= friars to the house of parliament. 1t Is
wide driveway, well ornamented with tree
: and gardens. 1t runs along the front of al
- the river stretch as you see it from Water
i loo bridge. Behind it is the Temple, tina
legal and literary nest known to all tn
!. students of English law and all lovers o
= English books.
The river Thames has been the making
a of London. Having tidal course for sixt.
q miles or more from its mouth, it became
= at very early period great commercial
= waterway. Large vessels come up us fla
= as London bridge. above bridge tn
big Thames barges, floating up and dow
on the swift current, convey their varie