Sketcher.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 49, 3 March 1894, Page 3

Sketcher.

THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAIj.

(By Aukoka.)

Few events of the past few years have caused tnore commotion in the North of England than the opening, on New Year’s Day, of the Manchester Ship Canal. The dream of years has at last been realised, and Manchester has secured water communication with the sea. It occurred to me that many of your readers might like to have some short account of it, as I know a number of them are Manchester people. So, by conversation with those who were there, and by newspaper accounts, I have made myself as familiar with the whole scene as I possibly could. When the midnight hour boomed from the great clock tower of the Manchester town hall and ushered in the New Year, the crowd which tilled Albert Square was permeated with one thought that dislodged all others from their minds. Despite the efforts of the Directors to make this a mere “ formal opening,” it was a magnificent demonstration, with vast crowds, unanimous enthusiasm, and imposing effects. Finding mid-winter inappropriate for pageantry, on account of short daylight and possible snow or fog, the directors have resolved to postpone the great ceremony until Easter. The Queen will then probably perform the honours of the occasion, in the midst of a pageant worthy of the -wealth of this, the second greatest centre of population in the United Kingdom. Yet it is questionable whether the crowds will be greater then than they were on New Year’s Day or the enthusiasm more genuine. There were, it is said, 100,000 tickets issued to shareholders and their friends to permit entrance at the Manchester end, and if that be so, then the two long lines of spectators ranged along both sides of the Canal fo irteen miles up to Litchford (the starting point of the procession) •mn n, have numbered somewhere near a million of people. All of them east of Latch ford were awaiting the first thxill of beholding the foremost vessel glide into sight. The nearer M mchester the thicker were the crowds, and the quicker beat the pulse of expectancy. The ceremony was quite an early affair, completed when there was still an hour or two of daylight to spare. It was arranged that at half-past nine o’clock a number of vessels containing the Directors of the Company, the Manchester Corporation, and other bodies should leave Latchford and sail up the Canal to Manchester. This is considerably less than half the distance of the canal, but it is by far the most important and costly section. There were one or two unlooked for delays. It was nevertheless a triumphal progress all the way. No ceremony" in the future could possibly be blessed Avith finer Aveather than prevailed in the early part of the day. The sky- was blue, and the canal was azured by the magic of reflection with the same tint. The keen sting of the Avind nipped the ears, and made the cheeks glow and the ey-es sparkle. Therefore, the hundreds of thousands of people were in the very best of: humours. They waited Avith quiet good-nature until the golden prow of the white yacht “Norseman,” which led the procession, daAvned into sight ere they gave vent to any demonstration of feeling. That great crowd was not assembled there Avithout creating an element of danger. The authorities foresaAv that roAVS of people pressing behind each j other, might push the foremost too near fixe abrupt edge of the Canal side, and so they posted placards , everywhere appealing to the good , sense of the people to do all they" could ; to avert the danger. The people j loyally- followed that advice, and no | accident happened to mar the plea- | sure of the proceedings. The croAvd ; between the docks and Mode Wheel • locks —the last step in the staircase ■ by which vessels ascend sixty feet j from the Mei’sev at East ham to the I

quays at Manchester—were all ticketholders, and so Avere hundreds more who wandered downwards towards Barton, moving in a long black procession by the side of the four-mile wall that the Ship Canal Company' built Avhen they cut away a slice of Sir Humphrey de Trafford’s estate, exactly- that length. Thousands of spectators poured in from the Barton end, not possessing tickets nor needing them. Shortly after mid-day those in the A'iciuity could see the great sAving aqueduct which carries the Bridgwater Canal over the Ship Canal turn x-ound and leave the passage clear, and the pennoned masts of the “ Norseman ” moving into the scene. The cheers that had begun at Latchford rolled on like a A\ r ave past Barton and Mode Wheel into Manchester, gathering force all the Avay, and then broke there in a thundering crescendo. As the vessels passed, the black line of spectators on both sides Avas decorated with a white frill of fluttering handkerchiefs. The sun shone down upon the leader of the procession of ships, and made her Avell varnished masts and spars glitter, and her Avhite hull whiter still. Mr Platt’s beautiful yacht, which is Avell-known in Norwegian fiords, is renoAvned for the elegance of her outline. She glided on with the stately grace of a swan, her prow cutting aside the crystal ridges of water that darted diagonally to the canal banks, and her chaste form mirrored in the sunlit Avaters. Mr Platt and other directors stood on board all smiles and bows. People cheered and waved their hats and handkerchiefs, but that did not suffice. Some other outlet to their feelings was desired. So they" tried to sing, but did not knoAV Avhat to sing. “ Auld Lang Syne ” was started, but dropped as out of place. A bar or tAA-o of “ God Save the Queen ” was gone through ; and similarly “ Rule, Britannia,” which had a semblance of appropriateness, came to an untimely- end. Clearly", a ship canal ode A\-as wanted. Over the gx*eat stretch of Avaters outside the Salford Docks, whereon a navy might manoeuvre, could be seen the high rail way, Avhich forms +he boundary of the Manchester race-coux\se. Almost eA'eryone got a good vieAV of the canal and the flotilla that floated on its bosom. Every mound or pile of planks or other remnant of the contractor’s plant Avas taken advantage of by the spectatoi’s. On these coigns of A-antage they- SAA-armed like bees, and so there were pyramids and domes of people jutting up all along the line. A long line of steam navvies that had done their share during the last six years in digging out the fortysix or seven million tons of excavation that Avas necessary-, were soon mounted by men and boy**, and their big’ iron arms Avere manned like the yai’ds of a A-essel. There Avere some steamers already- lying in the canal, and when the procession passed their greeting was of the most enthusiastic

description. Fantastic tricks Avere played Avitli the steam whistles, which made them emit exultant y-ells, and this Homeric laughter droAvned all other noises. When these were silent, and the cheers could be heard, there Avas always the sonorous bass of the “ Norseman’s ” horn as a groundAvork for the ’ harmony. The bang of guns from the y"acht’s side added to the din. Many people gazing upon the scene could not help recalling Mr Madax Brown's fresco depicting the opening of the Bridgewater Canal, near the same spot, about a century and a half ago, and thinking that it Avould need to properly depict this last of canals canvas of a different size, and ei’lours of a different hue than sufficed 1 1. depict the first —one scene all quaint simplicity- and old - world grotesqueness, and the other A"ast, sombre in colour, and throbbing Avith pride in the Avond.erful acliieA r ement of lattcr-daA' science.