1884.] on London (below bridge) North and South Communication. 503 



tunnel on both sides being open, as already said, to the sky, the covered 

 part will not be more than 1200 feet long ; a person walking three miles 

 an hour will pass through this in less than five minutes ; but having 

 regard to the fact that it will be lined with white tiles, will be lighted 

 by incandescent lamps, will be kept thoroughly clean, and will be 

 well ventilated, no one need hurry with the desire of getting out of 

 an uni^leasant place. The roadway of 28 feet wide is sufficient for 

 four vehicles abreast, and thus quick and slow traffic can both be 

 accommodated. It is estimated that the total cost of this work 

 including acquisition of property, embracing that taken from the 

 Docks, will not exceed the sum of 1,800,000^. The estimate being one 

 put forward by the Engineer of the Metropolitan Board, is entitled 

 to the confidence of the public, as that Board can point to a large 

 number of works executed within the estimated amounts. 



I had put on one side for a time, the question of ferries. I will 

 now say a few words upon them. It is proposed to at once establish 

 two : one on the site of the old horse ferry, from the Isle of Dogs to 

 Greenwich, the other from Woolwich to North Woolwich. 



These ferry services will be conducted by steamboats probably pro- 

 pelled by paddles, and having deck accommodation for carriages and 

 horses, and cabin accommodation for foot passengers. I have said pro- 

 bably propelled, because there is always the alternative of the floating 

 bridge arrangement, where chains are laid in the bed of the river, and 

 being hauled in over properly shaped wheels, the bridge is drawn along 

 as is practised at Portsmouth, Southampton, and many other places. 

 With respect to the difficulty occasioned by the variation in the height 

 of the water, this may be met in a variety of ways. 



If a floating bridge be used, its rising and falling gang-board 

 effects a connection at all times of the tide with a sloping " hard." If 

 steamboats be employed, then there are the following modes avail- 

 able : — 



1. By the vessel coming alongside a float connected to the shore 

 by hinged bridges, as at all our steamboat piers. 



2. By the float being raised vertically by hydraulic power to the 

 required level. 



3. By the deck of the vessel being lifted the whole height, as is 

 done in Stephenson's floating bridges on the Nile. 



4. With a view to the diminishing of the angle made by the hinged 

 bridge at extreme low water, a combination of No. 1 with No. 3. By 

 any of these modes thoroughly satisfactory results can be obtained. 



In conclusion, I trust I have caused the audience present here 

 to-night to wonder how it is that the two towns A and B have been so 

 long cut off the one from the other by a stream which never attains 

 to a quarter of a mile wide, to agree with me that this is a state of 

 things which should no longer be suffered to continue, and also to 

 agree with me that in common honesty we, at the West End of 

 London, are bound to do our best to ensure that those at the East 

 shall obtain the much-needed accommodation. 



Vol. X. (No. 77.) 2 l 



