1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



43 



bolt siiiiU fit accurately, iron to iron — the screw bolts ai'e to be 5-8tlis of an 

 inch diameter, and 5 inches long, with square heads, and a neat iron collar 

 under each head and nut, excepting where iron iuterveues, when the bolt 

 shall be as much longer as the thickness of the iron, so that every bolt shall 

 have a screw of 3 inches deep in the timber. The joints of the planking 

 shall be shot straight, fitted close, and caulked, so as to render every joint 

 perfectly water-tight. 



The pivots on which the gates revolve are to be cast hard, and fitted accu- 

 rately to the hollow bearing in the vertical shaft. 



The gates are to be made accurately at the meeting posts. At the sides 

 which abut against the piers and walls, and at the cills and wherever iron 

 intervenes, it shall be chipped and filed so as to fit flush with the timber, so 

 that no water shall escape at the joints— the pivot and step are to be so 

 made that the least possible leakage shall take place. 



All the cast iron bearings are to be accurately turned, so as to work truly 

 and easily, and iu every case where iron works in iron, either the shaft or 

 bearing is to be east hard, as may be deemed advisable by the Company's 

 engineer — the upper bearings to liave set screws and keys for adjustment, as 

 described in the drawings. All the wheel work is to be fitted accurately, 

 and if required by the Company's engineer, the teeth are to be cliipped and 

 filed. 



The same directions that are given hereinbefore for the joints in the 

 timber and connecting straps and bolts, are to be observed in the construc- 

 tion of the trussed foot-bridge, which is to be wholly of the best Memel fir. 



Reference to Engravings. — Plate II. 



Fig. 1. — Plan of the Balance Gates, Sills, Inverts, and Piers. In 

 "Invert No. 1," the sill pieces are shown, and the iron pivots upon 

 which the gates are to turn. In " Invert No. 2," the gates are sliown 

 at an horizontal section through the timbers and planking, and vertical 

 shaft; the eccentric shafts are also shown. In "Invert Xo. 3," the 

 top view of the gates is exhibited with the quadrant and pinion for 

 working the gates, and the wheel upon the top of the eccentric shaft. 



Fig. 2 is an elevation of the work described in Fig. 1. The gates, 

 however, are shewn m jjwjectwn, or as they will appear wlien closed; 

 the trussed foot-bridge for tlie support of the upper bearings of the 

 shafts upon which tlie gates turn, is also shown in elevation and 

 section. 



Fig. 3. — A transverse section through C D (Fig. 1) of the gate and 

 trussed foot-bridge, and an elevation of one of the piers and section 

 of the invert, sill, and apron. 



Fig. 4. — Transverse section through A B (Fig. 1). 



Fig. 5 is a plan of the trusseil foot-bridge, a portion of it planked 

 as it will appear when linishcd, and another portion as it will appear 

 before the planking is laid down, exhibiting the trussing and cast iron 

 frames for the support of the upper bearing of the vertical shafts. 



Plate III — contains enlarged views of the gates described in 

 Plate II, which may be sulficiently understood by reference to the 

 drawings. 



LONDON SHOPS. 



[A very able and interesting article on "London Shops and Gin 

 Palaces," by Candidus, appeared in the December Number oi Frasi/'s 

 Magazine, from which we select the following extracts.] 



We need not speak of the very superior mode in which shop-win- 

 dows are now fitted up, not merely as regards the large squares of 

 glass, and the more than atlas folio sheets of plate-glass, which have 

 of late become almost so common as to cease to excite astonishment, 

 but also in respect to the framework of the windows, the polished 

 brass-work which covers the w indow-sill. One contrivance, however, 

 which has been but very lately introduced, will, when it comes to be 

 more generally adopted, greatly enhance the appearance of the shops 

 after dark, — we mean that of throwing a very powerful light upon the 

 goods at the window, the first experiment of which was made, we 

 believe, on the east side of Temple Bar, viz. at the splendid new shop 

 opened in St. Paul's Churchyard by Hitchcock and Rogers ; which, in 

 point of extent, has scarcely a rival in any other part of the town. The 

 proprietors appear to have spared no cost to render their establish- 

 ment as attractive as possible even to the very labels or tickets at- 

 tached to the goods, which, instead of being merely written, are taste- 

 fully emblazoned on large card-boards, ia gold, azure, and other bril- 

 liant colours. Still, when we come to consider this, and some other 

 shop fronts of the same class, architecturally, we cannot help being 

 ott'ended at a defect which is here carried a t'outrance, to a much 

 greater degree than any where else. In fact, the whole of this un- 

 usually extensive shop front presents to the eye nsthing but glass set 

 in very slender upright brass styles, or bars, without any apparent 



support whatever — without even jambs to the doors — so that the 

 house itself, over the shop, has the look of being miraculously sus- 

 pended in tlie air, after the fashion of Mahomet's cothn; and this not 

 particularly agreeable appearance is strikingly increased by its return- 

 ing on the west side, without any indication of pi'op or stay of any 

 kind beneath the superincumbent angle of the upper part of the struc- 

 ture, which is actually suspended over that corner. There is no doubt 

 that sufficient precaution has been taken to ensure security ; and so 

 far we are at liberty to admire the skill shewn by the biulder in achiev- 

 ing what is certainly a momitrpiece, if not a masterpiece, in construc- 

 tion. His task may have been exceedingly difficult; yet we are 

 tempteil to say, with Dr. Johnson, that we wish it had been impossible. 

 It will, perhaps, be argued, that what we hero behold is, after all, not 

 a whit more contrary to sound architectural taste than a geometrical 

 staircase, where the steps are attached to the wall only at one end. 

 The two cases, however, are not perfectly similar; because, in the 

 second instance, each step is no more than either a balcony or large 

 bracket inserted into the wall, whereas, in the other, the bressuraers 

 of the floor, above the shop, have to support all the upper part of the 

 front, while they themselves seem to rest upon nothing except the 

 slight frame in which the glass of the shop window is fixed. As far, 

 therefore, as the general aspect of such front is concerned, the etl'ect 

 is disagreeable; while, as regards the lower part, or shop itself, taken 

 distinct from the rest, it is exceedingly insipid and ))Oor — very little 

 better than what would be produced by the same space of unglazed 

 opening for the display cf goods; the chief dift'erence being, that 

 instead of Oeing exposed to injury, the articles so exhibited are pro- 

 tected by the glass. 



No doubt, every tradesman is anxious to make as attractive a dis- 

 play as possible of the articles he deals in ; but it is, nevertheless, a 

 great error to suppose that this is best accomplished by making the 

 shop-window as large as the width of frontage will permit, and then 

 to put up at it as much as it will contain. In fact, this mode — the one 

 now almost invariably resorted to, and in many cases carried to an 

 extent cpiite preposterous — rather defeats the object aimed at, because 

 it utterly excludes all variety of design, or rather excludes design 

 itself — reducing tiie whole front of eacli shop to only so many feet 

 superficial of glass. Hence there is nothing to distinguish any one 

 shop from the rest — nothing to mark it out to the eye from any dis- 

 tance. If strikingness of character be at all an object worth attending 

 to, it might be far more easily and more satisfactorily accomplished 

 by adopting a contrary system to that now in vogue, dividing what is 

 now a single window into distinct compartments, the spaces between 

 w liich would afford room for decoration, together with ample scope 

 for invention. It is true that, as far as mere quantity goes, the ilisplay 

 would be less than at present ; but then the show of goods might fre- 

 quently be rendered more striking, and nught be every day made a 

 fresh one, by some of the articles being changed. The great deside- 

 ratum, it may be presumed, is to render the shop itself a conspicuous 

 object — one that cannot fail to arrest the attention of every one who 

 passes ; and this, we conceive, would, in most cases, be better accom- 

 plished by making it a catching architectural "frontispiece" — no 

 matter how much the space now allotted to a window might be trenched 

 upon for such purpose. * * 



Even at present we have one or two things, which, although they 

 do not exactly exemplify the mode of design we could w ish to see 

 adopted, may be quoted as instances of very superior taste, and wdthal, 

 of more originality and study than are to be discovered in buildings of 

 far greater importance. Among these, we do not hesitate to say that 

 i\ie/aci/e princejjs for recherche eleganee of design, for j)urity of taste, 

 for happiness of invention, in the whole composition, together with 

 admirable beauty of finish, is a small shop front, or, rather, a small 

 fa9ade, in Tavistock Place. It is an exquisite architectural gem — at 

 least every professional man and real coimoisseur nuist at once recog- 

 nize it as such — although its beauties and merits are of that kind 

 which are not likely to ensure it particular attention from persons in 

 general ; because in such matters the million are apt to form their 

 estimate according either to size or to gaudy showiness. No man 

 who understands architecture can look at it without feeling that the 

 worthy George Maddox here worketl up his ideas cun amore, with the 

 relish of one enthusiastically devoted to his art for his art's sake. The 

 wdiole of this front — for we ought to observe that the design is not 

 confined to the lower part or shop alone — is in perfect keeping: we 

 do not find merely a very good bit in this place, a very nice piece of 

 ornament in another ; something happy there, and something not amiss 

 here, but the ensemble is complete ; the same taste pervades every 

 part : nothing can either be added or taken away without detriment 

 to the whole. What simplicity in the general character of this little 

 facade! yet so very far is it from partaking of any thing like poverty, 

 that it is particularly remarkable lor the unusual care bestowed upon 



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