Informing my guide that I had seen and heard enough, we went out of the stifling cellar, beyond the heavy oaken door, up the narrow stone staircase, reached our calèche, and as the fresh breeze welcomed us, and the clouds overhead broke away, revealing the stars, I seemed to have been transferred to another sphere, and I wondered that such dens of crime could exist and flourish under the beautiful exterior of Paris.
XXVIII.
THE EAST RIVER BRIDGE.
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS UNDER WATER.—HOW THE WORK WAS PERFORMED.—THE CAISSON.—HOW IT IS MADE.—ITS MODE OF OPERATION.—WORKING UNDER WATER.—EXPLORING THE BED OF THE RIVER.—DESCENDING INTO THE BOX.—EFFECTS OF A GREAT PRESSURE OF AIR.—AN UNPLEASANT SENSATION.—A STRANGE SIGHT.—ACCIDENTS.—HOW A MAN’S ARM WAS CAUGHT.
A bridge to connect New York and Brooklyn has long been desired, and many plans for such a structure have been made. It was finally determined to erect a suspension bridge high enough to permit the passage of ships beneath it, and stretching, in a single span, from one side to the other of the East River. Work was begun in 1870, and continued, with occasional interruptions. The bridge, by comparison with similar structures, is the longest and largest of its kind in the world.
The Brooklyn Suspension Bridge—Now Building.