The Washington herald., 1907-07-28
Correspondence Of The Washington Herald.

Correspondence Of The Washington Herald
Cardiff. July H-Saturday last, when
the great Alexandra docks and new city
hall were opened by the King and new
avenue in the municipal park named by
his majesty, was an important date in the
history Of both this city and the prinei-
pality.
The growth of the metropolis Of Wales
has been remarkable. Cardiff has devel-
oped rapidly from a small cluster of
houses hanging on to the skirts of an an
cient castle into a city with the finest
municipal buildings in the kingdom. and
a population close on 200,0C0 In the "a
pidity Of its growth it is more akin TO
the mushroom cities on the other side of
the Atlantic than to any town on this
side. \ century ago there was not a sin
gle dock at Cardiff. 1t was just a sleepy
little seaport, containing about 4OO houses
and population of little more than
Loo persons At that period a vessel used
TO leave once a week with coal for Bris-
'oi, and that coal was brought down from
the hills. distance of nearly twenty
miles. on the backs Of mules.
IN the Earth.
a century ago the people of South
Wales never dreamed that beneath their
green hills lay wealth greater than even
enc imagination could conceive. in the
shape Of the finest coal measures in the
world, or that their small town would
become the chief coal-exporting port of
the world.
FoI Two or three centuries the people
OF south Wales were content merely to
get what coal they wanted for their own
use by digging hole in the ground ont
side their back doors. OF if there was no
CU4 quite so handy, going TO the nearest
HliLs4ae' ourroWing a hole, and then tax
ING OUT all they wanted. II never enter
60 tEe head Of the most imaginative
w. " HelSiinan OF that day that nearly 5o.O60-
W. IONS OF coal would ever be won from
tne bowels OF those hills in the course Of
single year and dispatched nv steam
ships from Cardi1 and neighboring ports
10 all parts Of the world.
New Dock IN Immense.
The new dock Is ffty-two acres in ex-
tent about three acres larger than rba
old east dock. The depth Of water will
be forty-two feet. as against thirtv-5ve
feet OF the ROath dock and the thirtv-ona
ieet Of the east dock. Seven RAILWAYS
connect with the Butte docks-the Great
Western. London, and Northwestern Mid
land, Taff Vale, Rhymney. Brecon. and
Merthyr, and the Pontypridd. Caerpbillv.
and Newport Railway.
Just as 1t has been necessary to in
crease the number OF docks at Cardiff so
have improved shipping appliances had to
be introduced. The most important of
these IS the Lewis Hunter crane. Of which
Sir William Thomas Lewis. present head
OF the great Butte undertaking. is joint in
Nentor. Half a century ago il would
nave been regarded as smart work to
snip iU5 tons of coal into a vessel In one
Gay. Now, by using the Lewis-HtInter
cranes, as much as l0,OC0 tons can be mt
into one vessel I'm the course of twenty
four hours. Often 600 tons of coal are
tipped into vessel in an hour.
Brunel's Dream Outdone.
In another direction one finds striking
evidence Of how things have moved since
the first dock was begun at Cardiff. Bru-
mel, the great engineer. upon whose re-
port The Taft Vale Railway was con-
structed. referred to the possibility of a
single engine bringing down as much as
loo tons of coal at one time To-day an
engine will bring down d thousand tons
at Il speed twice as great as that mention
ed by the great Brunei.
Cardiff has many interesting buildings.
but none more picturesque or with more
historical interest than Cardiff Castle. be-
longing to the Marquis Of Butte The
building dates from the eleventh cen
fury, and part Of il is little more than
q ruin. Caerphilly Castle, now a ruin.
with its leaning tower and many tradi-
tions is another of the show places that
will be visited by their majesties. The
town hall and law cosrts. though they.
OF course. are comparatively modern.
have a very interesting story of com
mercial prosperity to tell. and cost a
quarter Of Il million to erect