THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1277, 30 July 1883, Page 2

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE.

Some weeks ago a cable message spoke of a great panic having occurred on the above bridge through a false report that it was giving way. This "bridge riiay i also claim the title of a wonder of the world. The New York correspondent of the " Sydney Morning Herald," writing on April 28th, thus speaks of it : — T After nearly 14 years of patient work, the great suspension bridge which is to connect the two cities of New York and Brooklyn will be opened to the public on. the 24th of next month. Three years ago the ' huge stone, towers jwhich form its supports 1 were 1 completed, and took their place as the great landmarks of the city. They may be discerned with ease from the deck of an incoming steamer 20 miles from laud, and from a hill in New Jersey 35 miles in the interior, the writer aided only by an ordinary field-glass, has clearly made •outjtheir outlines. The work of suspending the cables and the iron beams on which the roadway for passengers ftnd vehicles rest, has kept several hundreds of men constantly busy ever since, and the people on the ferryboats have watched its progress with ceaseless interest. The bridge is so far above the level of the water that the . huffe^ c^,b,les v §eem.|l»ut slender cOrds, ! 4fiiK BHel ligrreerV stays and braces shrink into gossamer threads, arrayed in symmetrical order. Scarcely anything now remains to be done. The painters are putting on the last coat of paint ; posts are being erected for the electric lights, the wires for which stand in coils ready for suspension ; , the railroad tracks are already laid, and the machinery for running the cars by endless cables is being placed in position. The bridge trustees have decided, after an animated discussion of two days' duration, that three cents shall be the permitted fare for passage on the cars, , and would also have imposed a toll of one cent, upon every foot passenger, but that the Legislature promptly came to our rescue, and passed au Act prohibiting the levying of such a tax, and making the bridge for ever free for pedestrians. This is undoubtedly a wise measure, hastily as it was enacted, for henceforth a promenade on the bridge will be one of the great sights of the city, and, indeed, for that matter, of the world. The views of Paris at night from the well-known " coigns of vantage," and even of London from St. Paul's, all foil snort m picturesque suggestiveness €o the scene from the bridge in the earlier hours of the night. The eye not only follows the stream of lights on the thoroughfares of the two cities one on either hand, but beneath the East Kiver is bright with the coloured signals of the swiftly moving ferry boats, and away seaward the hundreds of ships at anchor in the bay contribute each its speck of blue and red '

flama to the picture. A week ago, in j spite of exceptionally cold weather, a ' favoured party of sightseers paced the bridge, for an hour, cheerfully running the risk of pneumonia for the sake of mastering the details of this most novel and striking of spectacles. A generation heij&<3~>the view from 3ftboklyn Bridge will iiave almost as world-wide fame as the; falls of Niagara, and the vast -burdens upon the taxpayers, en-tailed-by^htrtjo^strtictiott of the work will be held a clieap price for the end gchievedv Es'tiina'te's 1 of the real cost of the bridge vary greatly. The trustees have -accumulated a debt of 14, 000,000$ in bonds, and upon a steadilyincreasing proportion of those the two cities ha vehad to paythecurrent in teres t. Probably 20,000,000$ "is a fair computation '■ of the total cost, and the interest' upon this sum is not after all an excessive price to pay for establishing a pertaij^ and assured communication oetween the two cities.' Brooklyn, with rits 700,000 people, is as much a parHr«o-«"Ne\£ Ydtl as ' Southward or liaWbetli iH "of London. They have, unfpr < {iuuately 9l however, separate muni[Jfca^gQyernraents, oach hoheys-xjombied-with* corrupt rings, and between $e.ru -they 'r^isie and disburse annuallxnearly, a larger sum than some of the smaller European kingdoma Extravagant as this ! :may seem, it should be remembered that it includes some things which in many parts, of the world are £90ffcely regarded as taxes.. Oneeighth: of the 30,000,000$ railed by Key Ytfrk' goes for the public scfcoolsj Wfiicii absolutely free— even the ,t>ooks being furnished gratuitously, — and so good as to make the private ' 'academy practically ' 'an uakhoWh :;iifsii;tfttiotiu There are,\&'vlfl $rue ?il 'a /flpmber of private kindergarten§,|or ohildren below the school age, lauda few thousand rich men's sons I are serittfo so-called military academies 1 dr* 'aftjijolid^'.But nineteen-twentieths of a^^p'ys^jriich aiid poor alike go to the puj4isbßcliools— 'the poor, because they muSfcyJiuricler the compulsory education flaw 7 j'^aiM I ' tJie ' ri2h, because nowhere l^iu'iiL "JlVWt'- fJ**'!-'.-*** " v' ' -i ■eis^ .^H^l^great, ppst, .can i so good |ai; ftd^catiflft .be , obteiiied. . New York and Brdokiyi* «fclsb i dh|oy ; a lavish supply'of waiter at a -ridiculously low rate, We '■'Hilfe-'; 7Bj : v pier ; capital. 450 gaHbins .|ojc an 'ordinary, ifamily ; and the tax is Qjaly, one cent, for the 100 gallons-— just enough to cover the runhingiexpehses of the water department : while th^'iiiterest; on the bonds, issued, Co. fpj^f f .ip^he purchage offthesu^pl^ lakes, .agid-jof the aqeducts is paid out of the-'gerieral taxfun<J.' i