Ireland Under Coercion: The Diary of an American (2 of 2): (2nd ed.) (1888)Hurlbert, William Henry
History
Ireland Under Coercion: The Diary of an American (2 of 2): (2nd ed.) (1888)
Hurlbert, William Henry
Ireland -- Description and travel; Ireland -- Politics and government -- 1837-1901
This stands near Donegal Square, a fine site, disfigured by a quadrangle
of commonplace brick buildings, occupied as a sort of Linen Exchange,
concerning which a controversy rages, I am told. They are erected on
land granted by Lord Donegal to encourage the linen trade, and the
buildings used to be leased at a rental of £1 per window. The present
holders receive £10 per window, and are naturally loath to part with so
good a thing, though there is an earnest desire in the city to see these
unsightly structures removed, and their place taken by stately municipal
buildings more in key with the really remarkable and monumental private
warehouses which already adorn this Square. Mr. Robinson, one of the
partners of a firm which has just completed one of these warehouses, was
good enough to show us over it. It is built of a warm grey stone, which
lends itself easily to the chisel, and it is decorated with a wealth of
carving and of architectural ornaments such as the great burghers of
Flanders lavished on their public buildings. The interior arrangements
are worthy of the external stateliness of the warehouse. Pneumatic tubes
for the delivery of cash--a Scottish invention--electric lights, steam
lifts, a kitchen at the top of the lofty edifice heated by steam from
the great engine-room in the cellars, and furnishing meals to the
employees, attest the energy and enterprise of the firm. The most
delicate of the linen fabrics sold here are made, I was informed, all
over the north country. The looms, three or four of which are kept going
here in a great room to show the intricacy and perfection of the
processes, are supplied by the firm to the hand-workers on a system
which enables them, while earning good wages from week to week, to
acquire the eventual ownership of the machines. The building is crowned
by a sort of observatory, from which we enjoyed a noble prospect
overlooking the whole city and miles of the beautiful country around. A
haze on the horizon hid the coast of Scotland, which is quite visible
under a clear sky. The Queen's Bridge over the Lagan, built in 1842
between Antrim and Down, was a conspicuous feature in the panorama. Its
five great arches of hewn granite span the distance formerly traversed
by an older bridge of twenty-one arches 840 feet in length, which was
begun in 1682, and finished just in time to welcome Schomberg and King
William.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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