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| The towers, at 277' above the water were taller than everything about by a factor of seven. |
Last night and this morning I
Watched a good share of a
PBS documentary “Sunshine
And Shadow”* about the
Development of the city of
New York in the nineteenth
Century which I found worth
Recommending. The most
Affecting portions of the story
For me dealt with the building
Of the Brooklyn Bridge, Tammany
Hall under Boss Tweed, and the
Photographic work of Jacob Riis.
I vaguely recalled each of those
Topic from several clipped
Paragraphs in my high school
American history text. Had the
Documentary been about back
In 1960 I would have been far
More impressed with the events
Of that time and their effect on
The national scale. Somewhere I
Knew that the Brooklyn Bridge
Was a significant structure for its
Time. However, because it was
Always shown fully completed
Against a skyscraper filled
Skyline, I failed to grasp how
Distortive such imagery was.
When the bridge was begun
Buildings in New York rose
At most only four stories. The
Undraped towers rose over
Six times as high and stood like
Cathedral towers across the area.
In that light I can understand how
The structure stunned the imaginations
Of New Yorkers. Camera views
From the top gave them their first
Concepts of how large the city
Could become. The bridge became
Possible technologically with the
Invention of wound cabling in
Which the bridge builder, Johann
Augustus Robling, invested heavily
For the proper steel and winding for
The many suspension bridges he
Designed and built. When the elder
Robling was injured surveying for
Tower placement and died of infection,
The job of completing the bridge
Fell to Robling’s son Washington.
Washington was one of the first
Injured in building the towers by
What then was called “caisson’s
Disease” (the bends). While
Washington monitored progress
On the bridge from a room with
A view to the two towers, his wife
Emily took over the actual supervision
Until the bridge was finished.
Washington, with characteristic
Aplomb was puzzled by the fuss
Over the formal opening of the
Bridge on Queen Victoria’s
Why they didn’t just hang a sign
On each end, “Bridge Open.”
The fanfare thrown to Queen
Victoria alienated the many Irish
Who sweated and died to build
It. They boycotted the festivities.
How I wished we could have had
These marvelous documentaries
To make history come alive for
Us when we were young. Sorry
My description is so dull
Compared to the liveliness of
The experience.
c. J.S.Manista, 2016
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