The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-07-13

London. E c., June 81
Editors Messenger:
L have seen the greatest wonderl
that the world can show to the aston
ished spirit; / nave = il, n am still
astonished. / meal i have seen Lon
don" l can in part adopt the above !
language OF some foreigner who visited
this city; for / have been seeing it
On SuECly 1 attended services at ST.
Paul's cathedral morning and evening
and heard the bishop OF Kentucky
preach In the afternoon at 800
O'Clock / went to services at Westmin-
lister Abbey and took an underground
railway ride, and a boa ride on the
Thames river, during which time / saw
much Of the city in other ways. On
Monday the 18th, / was on top OF the
London monument which marks the
point from which il is thought the
great fire of London started in 1866.
when 1876 acres of ground was burned
over, destroying Is, 200 houses and SO
parishes, valued at some S54. 900, 0O0. L
also visited the London bridge-one OF
the many great bridges which cross
the Mansion House and other parts OF
the city.
On Tuesday, 18th, l visited the Tower
bridge, saw the tower of London,
which is the most historically famous
fortress in England, the new Law
Courts, Westminster Hall, which is
the public entrance to the house of
parliament and where Mr.. Gladstone
lay in state on the 26th and 9th of
May, 1898, previous to his interment in
Westminster Abbey. l was again at
Westminster Abbey in the afternoon
on the occasion of the funeral OF MI.
Gladstone, and saw on this days tour
many monuments to, statues and
busts OF many Of England,s great
men AMI women of the past, and many
of the principal streets, ~circuses,
squares, etc., of the city.
On yesterday, with two other Amer
leans, the Geological Gardens, the
Blackwell tunnel and the Greenwich
observatory were visited and o
twenty miles of the most prominent
streets, travelled on BUSES and cars to
reach them. All We're grand sights,
but the Blackwell tunnel, under the
Thames river, was the most wonder
full, and deserves to ank with the
Tower bridge as one Of the most re-
markable engineering feats of the cen
fury. 1t is the largest tunnel of its
kind in the world, and it tool upwards
of five years to build it. The work
was commenced on the 1st of March.
1892, and the unnel was declared
"open to the public forever by the
Prince of Wales, in the name of the
Queen, on the 22d of May, 1897. 1t is
twenty-three feet in diameter n $500
feet long, and is wide enough for two
vehicles to pass at a time.
Today the weather is unfit for sis
seeing and | am staying in doors writ.
ing you this short letter and doing
some other work.
While on the streets yesterday I was
approached by a negro from WASH
ington, D. c., and asked if / was not
an American. / told him / was. He
was on his way to the Paris exposition
and was out of money. He was the
only negro / had seen in London and
I was really sorry for him, but it
greatly reminded me of home, and l
was, as were the other two Americans
who were with me, glad to see him,-as
he seerred to be all Ugh in appear
ance. We gave him a little money and
told mir him if he would get across
the channel, he wou be all right, as
he could hen wolk to Paris.
I reached here safe and we'll after a
voyage Of zoos miles from Marse1lles-
from where / last wrote you. We
made stops at Gibraltar and Plymouth.
and anchored in the English channel
during the night, and were u int
dlFOlISI snip, Dul Will Io ddilioSC SA
cept to the ship we were on. All the
passengers were ordered on deck AMI
there was a great excitement for a
short while till it was found that no
damage was done except above the
waterline of the ship.
The weather was pleasant on the trip
except on the Bay of Biscay. WHiie
crossing that our ship fairly lay on one
or the other of her sides for a day r.
more n many of US were agar sick.
We sailed close to the shores of Spain
and Portugal, n a was in sight
much OF the way. The cities OF BARGE
Iona, Valencia, Malaga and Cadiz,
| Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, were not
| far off our course, and the town OF
| Tangier, Morocco, could be seen from
Gibraltar. I thought of going overland
from MarSeilleS to Paris, but the desire
to see one of the most notable fortified
tons in the world and one of which
had heard ever sine / was a boy
could not we'll be overcome. The rock
was in sight for many miles before we
reached it, and in order to get into ms
harbor from the east had to sail part,
ly around it. From my Peninsular anC
oriental pocket book | will copy a brie1
description of it which l am sure vii
be Interesting to The readers of tht
Messenger:
Gibraltar, population, civilian, Il 600
military. 5000. The Rock of Gibraltar
was taken from the ~Spaniards by az
English fleet. under the command o.
Sir George Rookie, on July oath, 1904
and was exposed to many attacks ant
sieges previous to July 18th, 1873. a
which date the great siege of Gibralta5
by the French and Spaniards, com,
menced. and was continued till Marcel
18th, 1888, when peace was signed be
tween General Elliott, the Englisl
governor. and the Due de Crollon, tn
commander of the Spanish forces, wh'
met for the purpose on the neutra
ground. h fortress, therefore, hai
remained in the possession of the Eng
lish ever since it's first capture b!
them in 1904.
The rock is a bold ridge in the form
of a ~peninsular, running due nortl
and south, three miles in length
greatest breadth three quarters OF
mile and about seven miles in circum
ference. The north, south, and cas-
sides are very steep and p~recipitous
but on the western side. where tht
town is built, it slopes down to a fins
bay. 1t is Joined to the mainland OF