AN ACRE OF LANDING STAGE.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 289, 6 May 1848, Page 4

AN ACRE OF LANDING STAGE.

The following description of the construction, first floating, and intended uses of the immense lauding stage in the Mersey, as extracted from the_ Liverpool Mercury, cannot fail to interest every enlarged mind :—: — This stupendous construction was launched from the dock in which it had been built, and took its station for p 'rm'anent use opposite to the George's Pier Head. The embankment which kept the water .from the, stage was removed, and the, dock allowed to fill with the rising tide. She was floated from her moorings, and taken in tow by the steam-tug Express. As soon, as the stage had cleared the wall, seven steamers belonging to the Steam-tug Company were fastened to her — thieeon each side,- and one a-h'ead to tow her to her moorings. The steamers selected were the Dreadnought, 120; the Albert, 100; the President, 100; the Victoria, 100; the Livery 100; the Express, 100; and the Mona, 80; in all, 700 horse-power. The stage on leaving the dock proceeded up the river, and when off Seacombea salute of guns was fired. She was immediately attached to the mooring chains. The permanent bridges now being built by Mr. Fairbairn, of Manchester, will be ready in about two months, and as soon as they are completed carriages will be able to go on the stage. It is also in contemplation to make a bridge from the centre of the pier-head for the exclusive use of foot passengers. The figure of the upper surface of the landing stage is as near as possible that of a ship's deck, with a bow at each end, as some of our river steamers are constructed. The length of the stage is 508 feet, and its width over all 82 feet. The flooring consists of five-inch planks of the best pitch pine, such as is used for the same purpose in a first-rate line-of-battle ship; and' we understand that the dock trustees were fortunate in securing, just at the time when they required, the finest cargo of timber ever imported into Liverpool. The flooring is secured with patent compressed treenails, such as are used in the royal navy, and all is made perfectly tight by caulking. Inconvenience or injury from the lodgment of water on the stage is further prevented by the surface being made to slope gently towards the edges. From the edge inwards, for a breadth of 16 feet, the planks are laid longitudinally, or in lines parallel with the sides of the stage ; after that, for a breadth of 18 feet, they are laid diagonally ; down the centre they again run' longitudinally, and the same order is repealed between the centre and the opposite sid£/ Thus, much additional strength is gained, and increased power of resisting the shook of a vessel or other body coming in confabt with the sides of the stage. The edges of the stage are, not protected by any bulwarks or chains. It has been thought thar this would interfere with the facility of landing or embarking. Massive oaken stanchiofts, a foot square at the base, and secured on ttfe' inside by strong iron knees, encircle

the deck at intervals of ten feet, with low mooring posts at the intermediate spaces, well strapped to the deck. Near each bow are four longitudinal timbers, 35 feet in length, to serve as mooring bits, and bearing evidence of a capacity for sustaining the utmost strain to which the mooring chains may be subjected. The flooring which we have thus been describing rests upon a double tier of balks firmly strapped down together, making the entire depth of the wood work 3^ feet. Underneath, running transversely with this substantial platform, are thirty-nine iron pontoons, flat on the upper surface, on which the timbers rest, and cylindrical on the lower, so as to offer the smallest amount of obstruction to the flow of the tide beneath. The length of the pontoons corresponds, of course, with the length of the flooring ; except when the latter tapers off towards the end, they are 80 feet long, by 10 feet in width, and 6 in depth. These pontoons are connected with the woodwork by iron straps, and they can be entered by man-holes from the deck, for the purpose of being examined and repaired. Should it be found necessary to remove any one of them, when the stage is at its moorings this can be done by loosing the bolts, and letting in, by means of a hole drilled in the bottom, a small quantity of water sufficient to sink it clear of the flooring, when the hole may be plugged up and tl.e pontoon withdrawn. The connection between the landing stage and the pier will be by means of two iron bridges, which, are at present in course of construction under the direction of Mr. Cubitt. The length of the bridges will be 150 feet, and the width 17 feet. They are not, we believe, to have double carriage-ways, but all confusion will be avoided by having one fur ascending and the other for descending. Some idea may be formed of the strength and solidity of this part of the structure when we state that the pressure of the ends of the bridges upon the end of the stage will be equal to a weight of about 100 tons. The pontoons will always be in deep water, so that steamers will be able to come alongside in any state of the tide. The area of the deck is 4467 square yards, or nearly an acre. The tonnage, by carpenters' measurement, is 16,000 tons. And upon the entire area of the deck, 40,000 persons could find standing room. There are 40,000 cubic feet of timber in the stage. And in the construction of the pontoons from six to seven hundred tons of iron have been used. The draught of water is two feet ten inches, but it will be over three feet when at its proper bearings, a draught which will require a superincumbent weight of 2500 tons. The entire depth is eleven feet — namely, pontoons six feet, and deck five feet. The cost of the stage will be more than £50,000, and the working of it £1500 per annum, irrespective of repairs, which will necessarily be very considerable. A lighthouse is erected at each end of the stage with powerful reflectors, from which suitable lights will be displayed. We congratulate the dock committee on the success of their labours, so far ; a success which we hope will be permanent. Some persons indeed, have said that the stage will not be able to sustain a gale of wind and a heavy sea, but we should think that were they to consider its form, strength of materials, and weight, there would be no reasonable ground for such an apprehension. The only doubt, so far as we can see, is to be apprehended from the holding power of the anchors. Should these retain their- grasp, the stage has every prospect of maintaining its position in any weather. At all events it is a great experiment, the test of which will remain for a future day, leaving the dock committee the honour not only of doing what they could,- but of producing a marine structure such as has no parallel in the world for its colossal proportions anJ also for the cheapness of the work — considering its strength and magnitude.

BURIALS IN THE, EARLY AGES OF CHRISTIANITY. — Christianity has the great merit of having discovered the poesy , of the grave. From the outset it' abhorred the Pagan custom of burping the dead, and faithful to its Jewish origin, and mindful, of Christ's burial, it renewed the old Roman custom of interring the departed. This was the origin of the catacombs. The early Christians loved to be deposited with or near the martyrs, and grounds for burial capable of receiving a large number of the dead were wholly wanting. The population of Rome, Naples, Alexandria, and Syracuse, was so great, that there was scarcely room enough for the living. To find hew receptacles for the dead became an urgent necessity. It is true, that digging into the, bowels of the earth for the purpose of eutombihg the, bodies of the dead was no new operation. Egypt and Etruria had in their time set the example. The one idea of immortality led to similar results in different, creeds., The early Christians found their cities of the dead already prepared for them. Paris, in oar own time, stands' upon a soil which

is hollowed throughout. The limestone upon which Paris stands was taken from beneath to supply the wants of the builders. Rome, in like manner, has a second and subterraneous town of vast extent, with its Btreets and squares in endless number. Nor is it without its inhabitants. In this town did Christians seek refuge from Pagan persecution, and here did they likewise inter their dead. The caves and passages were not dug by Christian hands, but were discovered already made. They date from the last century of the republic, when the clay upon which Rome stands was required by the mania then raging for extensive and magnificent structures. The Christians took possession of the hollows, and enlarged them ; the Work was by no means difficult, for the clay was soft and plastic. It was after the time of Constantine,' that the catacombs came into more general use. Martyrs were more revered subsequently to the reign of this emperor than before it, for martyrdom became less easy of achieve-^ ment. The chief martyrs had found a resting place in the catacombs. Churches rose above their remains, from which secret and sacred doors led to the city of the dead, the cemetery of the saints. It was at the period to which we refer that the • regularly formed spacious catacombs were first fashioned — a fact established by the date of the coffins, all of which belong to a time later than that of the emperor Constantine. The wealthier members of the community constructed small chapels in the catacombs for the reception of the bodies of their relations and friends. These chapels are for the most part situated at the crossing of passages or at the end of them, in which latter case the chapels form the termination of one particular passage. They are most important as indices to the development of art. Besides the curious character and beauty of the architecture, they afford specimens of the most ancient grave paintings that we know of. Their walls and ceilings are covered with a thin crust of gypsum, upon which the colours were laid. Not unfrequently we find ornaments of stucco and marble. Altars and stone seats, too, are found in these chapels. An astonishing number of skeletons have been discovered in the passages by which the chapels are connected ; it was not the custom, as now, to bury the dead beneath the floor, and to cover the grave with a stone slab. The bodies were placed in niches of from three to six feet in length. Sometimes four and six together, one above the other. The corpse of a departed brother was thrust into one of these niches; a lamp and some tool explanatory of the trade he had followed in life, were placed besic'e him, and then the aperture was walled up, and lastly covered with a thin marble slab, bearing an inscription, and the particulars of the life and death of the departed. Church service was frequently performed in the catacombs, yet not in the days of persecution. It was after Constantine that these tombs were used for such a purpose. On Sabbath days they were open to the public, and were much visited. Devotion, love for departed relatives, and mere curiosity, carried vast numbers to these silent halls. Saint Jerome tells us of his having often explored them with bis comrades whilst he was still a student in Rome ; and he lived some 350 years after the death of Christ. The catacombs were but badly lighted at first, light being admitted by a few apertures only in the ioofs of the chapels. At a later period great care was taken to prevent visitors losing, their Way amidst the labyrinth of passages. The guardianship of the catacombs was confided to a certain body of the clergy, who went under the name of fossores, or grave-diggers. It was their office to inspect the chapels and passages, to point out the places where new passages might be formed, and to portion out and sell the spots in wh eh burials might take place. — BlackwooiTs Mi gazine.