Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/517

497 DUBLIN 497 The rainfall is nearly 33 inches ; rain or snow falls on 200 days per annum ; and the wind blows from the N. or E. for 120 days. The average death-rate is 27 per 1000. The plan of the city is singularly simple. The Liffey flows almost through the centre from west to east, and the bridges connect long lines of streets running north and south. The communications between the two sides of the city are ample, there being 9 bridges in a distance of about a mile and a half, and ferries for the two miles of shipping between the last bridge and the mouth of the river. Saekville Street is the finest avenue in Dublin ; the houses, however, are not uniform, and the street is not long enough for its width, while the Nelson Pillar, itself a beau tiful object, blocks the view and interrupts the traffic. The memorial consists of a fluted Doric column 120 feet high, raised on a massive pedestal, the four sides of which show The Nile, Copenhagen, St Vincent, and Trafalgar. On the summit is a colossal statue of Nelson, surrounded by a balus trade, to which there is an ascent by a spiral stair. The O Connell monument, almost completed by Foley before his decease, is destined for the southern end of Sackville Street ; it will cost about 12,000. On the other side of the Liffey, across Carlisle Bridge, is Westmoreland Street, Environs of Dublin. with the Bank of Ireland and Trinity College at its southern end. At right angles to Westmoreland Street is Dame Street, unquestionably the best street in the city. The houses are lofty and massive, and more than one of them colossal. At one end is &quot;Dublin Castle, and at the other the great front of the Bank and of Trinity college. The chief drawback to Dublin as a city is the sudden transition from magnificence to meanness, and in no part of it is there freedom from this displeasing contrast. Close by its every splendid edifice is a purlieu, with its unpleasant character istics. In addition to this, the soil is so oozy that, after even a slight shower it is melted into far-spreading mud- lakes, justifying the conjecture that Dublin was in old times the &quot; Town of the Ford of Hurdles on the Black- water.&quot; The River Liffey, too, which ought to be a source of beauty, is rendered offensive by receiving the drainage of the city. There are numerous elegant houses in the suburbs, surrounded by well-kept gardens. The slighter rivers, the Tolka, the Dodder, and the Tongue, meander through a well-cultivated country ; there is a nobie supply of water for domestic purposes ; and lines of tramway run from the heart of the city to every outlying district. Formerly Dublin was said to be bounded by the circular road, which is nine miles in extent ; but the growth of the city has far outrun that limit. There are about 820 miles of streets in the borough under the control of the corpora tion ; the valuation of the borough in 1871 (excluding exemptions, Government buildings, religious houses, &c.) amounted to 596,000 ; the number of houses inhabited was 23,896, uninhabited 1059, and building 87. The want of a Building Act in Dublin has resulted in the absence in many places of anything like uniformity in the frontage, height, or character of its buildings. The condition of the various orders of the community is perhaps best shown by citing the census returns as to the mimber of families occupying the four different classes of houses. There were 5035 families in houses of the 1st class, 10,523 families in the 2d class, 16,819 in the 3d class, and 26,733 in the 4th class. The 58,110 families thus hold 23,896 houses. Another way of estimating Dublin society is by taking the occupations of the people. In 1871 there were 331 clergymen inDublin, 286 barristers, 370 attorneys, 49 architects, 215 accountants, 4000 bootmakers, 1660 tailors, 19,500 domestic servants, 83 photographers, 1000 coachmen and cabmen, 1600 drapers and mercers, 1280 carmen and carriers, 936 cabinetmakers, 3500 clerks, 177 civil engineers, 394 fishmongers, 38 glovemakers, 1867 grocers, 11,530 labourers, 4590 milliners, 1477 printers, 31 sculptors, 223 watch and clock makers, 458 wine and spirit merchants. Judges, lawyers, and doctors may be said to constitute the higher society of Dublin ; of the 182 peers of Ireland only two have residences in the capital. The lord lieutenant lives in Dublin Castle in winter, and in the Viceregal Lodge, Phcenix Park, in summer. He is* assisted in the executive by a privy council, nomi nated by the Crown, and his chief secretary, who must have a seat in the House of Commons. Lords justices govern in the temporary absence of the lord-lieutenant the lord chancellor, the commander-in-chief, and another privy councillor usually being appointed. Prior to the Act of 1869 disendowing and disestablishing the Irish branch of the Established Church, the archbishop of Dublin was in variably named a lord justice ; but in future the archbishop may or may not have a seat at the Council Board. Dublin is the seat of the Irish courts of law and equity, from which appeal lies only to the House of Lords. The judicial functions are exercised by the lord chancellor, a lord justice of appeal, a vice-chancellor, the master of the rolls, and four judges in each of the courts of Queen s bench, common pleas, and exchequer. There are also judges (1) in the court of admiralty, (2) in the bankruptcy court, and (3) in the landed estates court for the sale and transfer of estates in Ireland. The recorder s court determines civil bills and city criminal cases. Local Government. The municipality is under the government of the lord mayor and corporation. Previous to the Municipal Reform Act of 1840 the corporation consisted of the lord mayor, 2 sheriffs, 24 aldermen, 124 common councilmen, 28 sheriffmen, and 96 representatives of the 25 civic guilds. At present the corpora tion consists of 15 aldermen and 45 councillors, there being one alderman and 3 councillors for each of the 15 wards into which the city is divided. An alderman or councillor is annually elected lord mayor. The income of the body arises from rents en property, customs, and taxes. The yield in 1875 was 286,804, the expenditure 255,944, and the debt 337,476. Under an Act passed in 1875 the corporation have the right to forward every year three names of persons suitable for the office of high sheriff to the viceroy, one of which shall be selected by him. The lord mayor holds a weekly court for debts above 40s. and under 10, and for the settlement of cases between masters and servants. He is also clerk of the markets, and supervises weights and measures and deals with cases of adulteration. A court of conscience determines debts under 40s. and is presided over by the last ex-mayor. A com petent fire-brigade is maintained by the corporation. The average number of fires per annum is between 50 and 60 ; 15 lives have been lost in ten years ; and property to the value of 485,800 saved in the same period. The city coroner is a corporate officer. There were 292 inquests in 1875. Under an Act applicable only to Dublin the local rates are collected by a collector-general, and are distributed by him to the different authorities concerned. Police. The Dublin metropolitan police is a force peculiar to the city. The remainder of Ireland is protected civilly by the Royal VII. 6-