Part 13 (1/2)

On leaving Coalbrookdale I trudged my way towards Wolverhaht Next day I was in the middle of the Black Country I had no letters of introduction to e there, I proceeded at once to Dudley The Black Country is anything but picturesque The earth seems to have been turned inside out Its entrails are strewn about; nearly the entire surface of the ground is covered with cinder-heaps and round is blazing on the surface The district is croith iron furnaces, puddling furnaces, and coal-pit engine furnaces By day and by night the country is gloith fire, and the s and clanking of iron forges and rolling mills Workmen covered with sst the glowing iron and the dull thud of forge-ha works, I beheld the remains of what had once been happy farround underneath the out of the coal, and they were falling to pieces They had in former times been surrounded by clumps of trees; but only the skeletons of therass had been parched and killed by the vapours of sulphurous acid thrown out by the chiray--the eetable death in its saddest aspect Vulcan had driven out Ceres In so sound, as of so the ruins of the old farmsteads But no! the chirrup was a vile delusion It proceeded fro chains, which were placed in seless road

I went into soes to see the workmen at their labours

There was no need of introduction; the works were open to all, for they were unsurrounded by walls I saw the white-hot iron run out from the furnace; I saw it spun, as it were, into bars and iron ribbands, with an ease and rapidity which seemedrolling-mills I wandered fro the blast furnaces, seeing the flood of molten iron run out from time to time, and remained there until it was late When it became dark the scene was stillabout amidst the flames as in a pande belt of fire,even the stars look pale and feeble

At last I came aith reluctance, and made my way towards Dudley

I reached the town at a late hour I was exhausted inand exciting A sound sleep refreshedearly, to recommence my journey of inquiry,

I made my way to the impressive ruins of Dudley Castle, the reinally built by Dud, the Saxon

The castle is situated on a finely wooded hill; it is so extensive that it

You enter through a treble gateway, and see the remnants of the moat, the court, and the keep Here are the central hall, the guard, roonificent structure In the Midlands it was known as the ”Castle of the Woods” Now it is abandoned by its owners, and surrounded by the Black Country It is undermined by collieries, and even penetrated by a canal The castle walls sometimes tremble when a blast occurs in the bowels of the mountain beneath The town of Dudley lies quite close to the castle, and was doubtless protected by it in ancient tirees of antiquity, and are orthy of study, as e the successive periods which they represent Their randeur is rendered all the more impressive by the coal and iron works hich they are surrounded-- the olden type of buildings confronting the le for existence under the destroying influence of sulphurous acid; while the grass is withered and the vegetation everywhere blighted I sat down on an elevated part of the ruins, and looked down upon the extensive district, with its roaring and blazing furnaces, the smoke of which blackened the country as far as the eye could reach; and as I watched the decaying trees I thought of the price we had to pay for our vaunted supremacy in the manufacture of iron We may fill our purses, but we pay a heavy price for it in the loss of picturesqueness and beauty I left the castle with reluctance, and proceeded to inspect the lihbourhood

The li been worked out from underneath the castle; but not far from it is Wren's Nest Hill, a mountain of limestone

The wrens have left, but the quarries are there The walk to the hill is along green lanes and over quiet fields I entered one of the quarries opened out in the sloping precipice, and penetrated as far as the gliht enabledof water fro soe ht of day An occasional ray of the sun lit up the enormous rock pillars which the quarryht

Having eed froha, and foundday I visited some of the factories where processes were carried on in connection with the Birham trade I saw the mills where sheet brass and copper were rolled for the purpose of being plated with silver There was nothing in these processes of novel interest, though I picked up many practical hints I could not fail to be attracted by the dexterous and rapid irls whose quick sight and niree of perfection

I could have spent athe vast variety of sham is the headquarters

Even in what is called ”the toy trade,” I found a vast aoldss, beads, and glass eyes for stuffed birds, dolls, and men

I was especially attracted by Soho, once the fah this was not the birthplace

[footnote

The birthplace of the condensing engine of Watt was the workshop in the Glasgow University, where he first contrived and used a separate condenser--the true and vital element in Watt's invention

The condenser afterwards attained its true effectiveengine, but as the condensation was effected inside the steam cylinder it was a very costly source of power in respect to stea in a separate vessel reine in the Glasgow University workshop, and before he had made the one at Kinniel for Dr Roebuck

of the condensing steaine it was the place where it attained its full lish reater influence on the productive arts of mankind than any other that can be nah man of business, without whoainst the world, or perfected histo my mind was the memory of that incoy, and Watt's right-hand hest practical sense Murdoch was the inventor of the firstpurposes; and yet he always kept hiround, for he was excessively modest He was happiest when he could best proreat house of Boulton and Watt Indeed he was a ard by all true engineers and ht which I obtained of the vast series of workshops of this celebrated establishenius of these round in regard to everything connected with steaned by Watt--the prototypes of the powerful condensing engines of the present day--were still perfor their daily quota of work There was ”Old Bess,”

a sort of experiine, upon which Watt had triedit for puine with the sun-and-planet motion, an invention of Williaines were still at work

I went through the workshops, where I was specially interested by seeing the action of the machine tools There I observed Murdoch's adine to other sines attached to the individual machines they were set to work The poas communicated by pipes led from the central air or exhaust puines devoted to the driving of each separateand leather belts, the required speed being kept up orwith the otherpower dates from the time of Papin; but until it received the masterly touch of Murdoch it remained a dead contrivance for more than a century

I concludedupon a little known but very ingenious h, in a beautifully constructed foot turning-lathe made by John Drain I was so n, execution, and completeness of the lathe, that I made it one of my chief objects to find out John Drain's workshop It ith soham

His workshops were very small; they consisted of only one or two rooms

His exquisite lathes were not much in demand They found their way chiefly to distant parts of the country, where they were highly esteemed

I found that he had soraving the steel plates for printing bank notes They were provided with thesuch intricate ornaer Perkins had done a good deal in the sa lathes to surpass anything that had before been attempted in the same line I believe that Drain's earnest attention to his work, in which he had little or no assistance, undermined his health, and arrested the career of one who, had he lived, would have attained the highest position in his profession I shall never forget the rare treat which his fine mechanism afforded me Its prominent quality was absolute truth and accuracy in every part

Having now had enough of the Black Country and of Birham workshops, I proceeded towards London There were nonoas to be green lanes, majestic trees, old mansions, venerable castles, and picturesque scenery There is no way of seeing a country properly except on foot By railway you whiz past and see nothing Even by coach the best parts of the scenery are unseen ”Shank's naig” is the best of all methods, provided you have time I had still some days to spare before the conclusion of my holiday I therefore desired to see some of the beautiful scenery and objects of antiquarian interest before returning to work

I made my way across country to Kenilworth The weather was fine, and the as perfect The wayside was bordered by grassy sward