A Butterfly's Wing207A Mermaid's Song182A Studious Elf234A Tale of Bremen101A Thoughtless Daisy351Cloud Pictures374Dream-time310Fairy Pictures163'Fire!'243Fire Pictures258For the Little Ones159Going to Bed126Heart's-ease387Little Things62Little Workers190Looking Up and Looking Down299Lying Awake at Night115Made Beautiful379Morning339Mr. and Mrs. Brown's Journey in the Family Coach406My Dreams147My Garden291Night and Day396No Harm Meant6Perhaps110Santa Claus358Santa Claus's Postman171Stop Thief!227The Almond and the Raisin83The Bee54The Daisy75The Disappointed Hen26The Disobedient Mouse213The Fairies' Night363The Fairy Queen's Gift34The Fountain319The Glow-worm195The Grumbling Rose276The Little Blind Linnet254The Moon-ship70The Mysterious Visitor139The Night before My Birthday94The Pedlar407The Princess has Come286The Shepherd Moon131The Singers Yet To Be218The Singing Bird402The String of Pearls384The Undecided Travellers43The Wrong Wind18Time Flies257Two Little Drops of Rain326
Close on His Heels,FrontispieceThe Boy Doctor,facing p.64A Fight to a Finish,facing p.128Opportunity Makes the Thief,facing p.192'Chorus, Please!'facing p.256Tent Pegging,facing p.320
PageA Brave Lad309AChatterboxCostume348A Clay Grain Storehouse293A Contest with the Longbow213A Cow Waggon Encamped and on the March364'All went well at first'392'A Madi village being removed'253An Arab Bakery357'A native lay at the foot of a tree'129'A terrible sight met their view'289'A wren built its nest in the pocket'325'By waters still in sweet spring-time'388'Charlie Eccles half lay, half sat upon the ground'97'Colonel Smith emptied the glass'361'Concealment was impossible'137Crossbow and Arrows used for Sport213Egyptian 'Sakiveh'44Egyptian 'Shadoof'44'Fast Asleep!'301'Father, is that my present?'377'Fire!'244'Give me back my money'356Grain Huts293'He finished by backing hard into the small wooden gate'400'He handed John an official paper'180'He has a winning tongue'408'He placed a sovereign on the counter'121'He placed the "drum" on a chair, and practised diligently'33'He ran out just as he was'84'Here is a nice little bit of work for you, my lad'268'He sat silent, waiting for the reply'265'He seized one of the ladders'85'He staggered forward and reached the landing'240'He swung himself off the ground'329'He was chaired all round Covent Garden'156'He was greeted by a jet of water'152'His shoulder caught me as he passed'153'Hold hard there!'197'I held a long stick for him to hook on'93'In his despair he clenched his fist'4Iron-smelting in India285'I say that he is a French spy!'305'Is the bird alive or dead?'277'I struck furiously at the brute'385'I struggled up'260'It became necessary to descend the shaft'41'It is only the masterful calf269'It's Captain Halliard!'393'I was received with joy'205'I will come with you at once'365'Just then a man on horseback appeared'25'King Louis leaped fully armed into the sea'29'Let me have a doll to play with'208'Lieutenant Fegan led a gallant resistance'241Loading a Military Crossbow212'Mag raised her shrill note of warning'53'Managed to upset a wooden watch-house'108'Mother, this chair was full of gold pieces!'56'Mr. Merry was just leaving the house'389Muriel's First Patient328'My partner being the lamp-post'337'No room for Jealousy'404'One at a time, they found themselves pinioned'105'One of the largest pounded upon the wall with his tusks'45Peeps into Nature's Nurseries (Illustrations to),12,37,60,76,76,100,101,132,164,165,204,236,237,276,300,340,341,372'Piggy lifted the heavy lid to feed upon the cheese'141'Please, sir, will you—would you buy a pincushion?'92Ploughing in Syria316Plymouth Breakwater188Prairie Dogs61'Scores of angry bees came buzzing round her'109'See! A Matabele!'193'Set to the hardest and most menial work'57'She was floating away in the midst of the stream'280'Some one is lost in the snow, and Lassie knows it'373'Soon the two little mischief-makers were busy atwork on the pictures'140'Stalked while I myself stalked the water-buck'36'Stepping down from the vase and crowding round Hugh's bed'177'Stop thief!'228'The African beauty was greatly taken with Lander'209'The bear would eat and drink in a truly dignified fashion'249The Birmingham Water-works317'The carpenter took off his coat'281The Cooking Lesson77'The crowd drew him along in triumph'308'The dog darted after the bat'16'The dog gave the horse the turnip'160'The dog took kindly to her foster-children'17The Duck-billed Platypus181The Egg Poacher65The first Passenger to cross the Brooklyn Bridge1The first Railway Journey in England80The Forth Bridge245The Giant of the Treasure Caves (Illustrations to),8,9,24,32,40,48,49,64,72,73,88,96,104,112,113,124,136,144,145,157,168,173,184,185,200,201,216,224,232,233,248,256,264,272,273,288,296,297,312,313,321,336,344,345,360,368,369,384The Great Eastern149'The great work was soon accomplished'120'The head of a snake thrust out close to him'169'The kitten at once began lapping'333'The lad emptied the pail over his employer'133'The luckless fugitives were dragged forth'89The Manchester Ship Canal284'The most wily and cunning black pig that ever made his escape'192'The motor came to a standstill'401The Music of the Nations (Illustrations to),21,52,69,116,148,172,196,229,261,292,324,380'Then came the difficult task of bringing down the little lad'13The Nile Dam at Assuan220'The pike seized the stoat'161'The precious picnic-basket rolling down the turf'376'The promise of a thousand songs'217'There, still on the boulder, was Collie, barking'352'The thing exploded in the air'225'The third time he collapsed, and was pulled back353The Union Jack348'The weight of the two birds had the desired effect'189The Words of Command117'They began to examine the damaged axle'332'They were passing a field of ripe corn'409'They were playing with me as though I were a big mouse'68'This is a present which your uncle has sent you'397'Three yelping, delighted dogs'28'Throw your bad temper overboard'304'Tim pressed up the lid with his head'412Victoria Falls128'"Watch him!" said Douglas'252'What a feast I had!'221'What did the strange beast mean by gazing at him?'381'What do they want with me?'320'"What is the matter?" I asked him'81'Who's that that dares to serve me so?'5'Why don't you take off your hat to me?'176'Why not start, a round of story-telling?'20Yaks125'"You have found me out," said the captain'257
The First Passenger Across the Brooklyn Bridge.The First Passenger Across the Brooklyn Bridge.
HEN two large cities stand opposite to one another on the banks of a river, it is not likely they can do very well without a bridge to connect them. Yet the citizens of New York and Brooklyn were obliged to manage as best they could for a good many years before they had their bridge. There were many difficulties in the way. For one thing, the river is very broad; for another, the tall-masted ships ply up and down so frequently that it would never do to build anything which would obstruct their passage; and to overcome these difficulties would mean the expenditure of a vast sum of money. But the folk who earned their daily bread in New York and lived in Brooklyn grew thoroughly tired of spending chilly hours in foggy weather on the river-side piers, waiting for the ferry-boat to come and take them across, and at last they began an agitation which resulted in the Brooklyn Bridge.
The engineer who made the first design was Mr. John A. Raebling; but he did not live to see it carried into effect; for one summer day in 1869, when selecting the spot at which the great work should be begun, he met with an accident which caused his death a few days later. His son, Mr. Washington Raebling, then took the lead. Plans were carefully drawn and submitted to the Government, who, after much consideration, ordered that the bridge should be five feet higher and five feet wider. This apparently slight change added about 172,800l.to the cost of building, for little changes in big things mean more than big changes in little ones. The original cost was to be 10,800,000 dollars, or about 2,160,000l.; but in the end it amounted to nearly 3,100,000l.
Before we talk of the trouble and labour, let us look for a moment at the great things the engineers have accomplished.
The Brooklyn bridge is five thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine feet long and eighty-five feet wide. The huge cables that support it stretch like the strands of a monster spider-web from the tops of two towers, each two hundred and seventy-six feet high and standing one thousand five hundred and ninety-five feet apart. The above is the length of the central span; the two other spans, from the land to the towers, are each nine hundred and thirty feet long in addition. The roadway, one hundred and thirty-five feet above the river, is divided into five parts. The two outside ones are for vehicles, the middle one for foot passengers, and the remaining two for cable trams. The footway is eight feet higher than the others, so that an uninterrupted view is gained from it. The four cables supporting this heavy structure are anchored at both ends in blocks of masonry weighing sixty thousand tons each; so that there is little fear of their being dragged from their moorings. The bridge was opened amid a blaze of fireworks on May 24th, 1883.
On May 7th, 1870, the tower on the riverside at Brooklyn was begun, and completed just five years later; its companion on the opposite side was a year behind it. The foundations of these great towers lie in solid rock seventy-eight feet below the high-tide line on the New York side, and only a little less on the Brooklyn side.
The towers once completed, the task of laying the cables across from summit to summit engaged the thoughts of the engineers. This was no ordinary case of swinging a steel rope across a river, for the gigantic size and weight of the cables made it impossible to use ordinary means. First of all it would be necessary to make a communication from tower to tower. To accomplish this, one end of a coiled steel rope was carried to the top of the Brooklyn tower and passed over until it dangled into the river beneath. Here a steamboat dragged it across the river to the foot of the New York tower, where it was hauled up, and having been passed over the top, was carried down to the masonry anchorage already mentioned. Here it was wound round a revolving drum or pulley, and started back again to Brooklyn in the same manner, thus forming an endless band along which material could be carried by revolving the pulley at either end.
Though this rope was three-quarters of an inch in thickness, it was almost invisible to the people on the river, two hundred and seventy-six feet below. Yet it was the first 'stitch' in the great web, and thousands of eyes were turned towards it on August 25th, 1876, when the very first passenger crossed along it from shore to shore. This passenger was Mr. Farrington, one of the engineers. He wished to encourage his men by a good example, for over that terrible gulf it would soon be necessary for many of them to go. His seat was a small piece of board such as we use for a swing in a playground, and it was attached to the wire by four short ropes. The perilous journey took more than twenty minutes, and the people below watched almost breathlessly as the slender thread swayed up and down with the weight of the traveller. To their eyes it appeared at times as if he was soaring through the air unsupported, so thin was the line by which he hung.
And now the weaving of the cables began, and this was perhaps the most remarkable undertaking in the construction of the great bridge. To the endless band by which Mr. Farrington had crossed, there was fixed what is called a 'carrier.' This was to grip the end of the first wire (as the eye of the needle takes the thread); bear it across the river over the tops of the lofty towers; 'stitch' it to the New York shore (or anchorage) and bring it back again.
And that is what it did. This new wire (only one-eight of an inch thick—thinner, that is, than the first wire, on which Mr. Farrington had crossed) was two hundred miles long, and it had to perform the journey many hundred times before the first 'skein' was complete. Thus you will see that a single 'skein' stretched from shore to shore, consisting of nearly three hundred separate threads. These were bound tightly together at frequent intervals, and when a bunch of nineteen of them had been made, the first cable was ready for completion. But this was a matter of great difficulty. You will easily understand that it was necessary for every wire to do its share in bearing the weight of the bridge. Therefore, they must all be at an equal strain from tower to tower. Now you know that on a sunny day a bar of steel is longer than it is on a cloudy day, for the metal expands with heat. Consequently, when the sun came out to see what they were doing at Brooklyn, the wires upon which it shone became longer than those in the shadow behind them. Of course, in a short distance this would not be noticeable, but it made such a difference in the work we are describing, that the strength of the cable would have been greatly lessened had the strands been bound together in the sunshine, while some of the wires were slack, and some were tight. Even the wind interfered sadly; but by choosing dull, still days, when all the wires were subjected to the same temperature, they were at last successfully bound together.
Notwithstanding the perilous nature of this cable-weaving, it was attended by only one serious accident, and that was when one of the 'skeins' broke loose from the New York shore, and, leaping like the lash of a giant whip over the tower top, plunged into the river below. It narrowly missed the ferry-boats and other craft.
The effect of the temperature on such vast quantities of metal is shown in many ways. By shortening and lengthening the cables, it heightens and lowers the bridge, which is consequently slightly higher above the river in winter than it is in summer. At the tower-tops the cables rest on huge iron saddles, which are placed upon forty steel rollers, so that the cables may move more freely in expanding and contracting. Again, the bridge itself is not made in one piece, but is severed half-way across and provided with a sliding joint, so that all shall act obediently to the dictates of the ever-changing weather.
Thus you see there is more in building a bridge than appears to those who do not remember that a knowledge of nature's laws must guide the architect's hand when he is drawing his plans, and govern the engineer's tools when he is carrying those plans into effect.
John Lea.
'You might do it for me, just this once, Barton,' said Lopes in a tone of anxiety not often heard from a schoolboy. 'Your father is a rich man, and you can always get all the money you want from him, and if you will only lend me this, I will never borrow from you again. Do ask for the money at once!'
Barton looked much perplexed at this appeal, but he answered firmly: 'I can't do it, old fellow! I have given my word to my father never to be mixedup in any betting transaction, and I cannot ask him for money to go to a bookmaker.'
'Then I'm ruined!' said Lopes, passionately, 'and much you care, though you and I have been chums together ever since we first entered the school!' and in his despair he clenched his fist and seemed almost as if he were going to strike his friend.
Barton put up his arm to shield himself as he said in a low voice, 'Look out, Lopes; don't shout so! we don't want all the kids to know about this matter;' for just at this moment a trio of merry lads came round the corner of the Fives Court, whooping and shouting at the top of their voices. 'Come to the garden; we shall be quiet there, and can talk over matters, and see what can be done;' and Barton closed the book he had been studying and led the way to the nut-walk which was sacred to the Sixth Form.
Lopes followed gloomily. 'It's no good talking, if you won't help me,' he said as they reached the quiet path.
'But I want to help you,' said Barton, 'and I think I see a way out of this scrape.'
'Oh, do you?' said Lopes eagerly. 'If only I could pay off this man and have done with him, I would never bet again. I see now what a silly fool I have been. Tell me your plan, Barton.'
'Go and tell Mr. Arundel all about it. I don't believe bookmakers have any right to tempt boys like us to lay money on horses, and—— '
'Mr. Arundel! one of the masters! He would go and tell the Head straight off, and I should be expelled,' said Lopes bitterly. 'I thought you had some better plan than that!'
'Mr. Arundel is a gentleman,' said Barton quietly, 'and what you tell him in confidence will go no further, you may be sure of that; I believe he could help you.'
'I wish I could think so,' sighed Lopes. 'I can think of nothing, and settle to nothing with this debt on my mind.'
'Go to Mr. Arundel,' urged Barton. 'I know you will not regret it.'
'Well, I will,' at last said Lopes. 'I will go at once before my courage fails me.'
'I will come with you,' said Barton, taking his friend's arm.
'You are a good chap, Barton; you don't desert a fellow when he is down!' said Lopes gratefully. 'I wish I had taken your advice at first, and thrown the bookmaker's letter on the fire.'
There is no space here to tell of all Mr. Arundel said and did to help Lopes out of his ugly betting scrape. Though the master did not fail to show Lopes how wrongly he had acted, he had a real pity for the boy who had been so tempted by the bookmaker's letter, and he determined to let that gentleman know what he knew of him.
So a very strong letter was sent off by Mr. Arundel, telling the man that unless he released the schoolboy from all his so-called debts, he would have him publicly shown up and prosecuted for dealing with a minor.