Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/538

 516 THE BUILDING NEWS. June 28, 1872. i ap ge ee oe ee a Re +o its destination. The water surface of the impounding reservoirs covers 200 acres, and the contents of these reservoirs exceed 800,000,000 gallons. The Bradgate reservoir is about one mile in length, and is at its broadest part nearly half a mile in width. The embankment is between 40ft. and 50ft. high, and is about 760 yards long, and forms an artificial dam to the beautiful valley at the foot of Bradgate Park, the former resi- dence of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, and now the property of the Earl of Stam- ford and Warrington. The public road lead- ing from Leicester to Charnwood Forest is carried along the top of this embankment. It is formed of the alluvial earth of the valley, and is secured by a water-tight puddle wall, which penetrates to a depth of about 40ft. beneath the surface of the ground. The water is controlled by a system of valves, shafts, and tunnels of considerable magnitude, and the safety of the reservoir is secured by a weir and bywash, over the latter of which is constructed a Gothie bridge, executed in the green granite which forms a distinguish- ing geological feature of the neighbourhood. From the reservoir the water is conducted by iron pipes to four large filter-beds of an ornamental character, whence, after under- going a perfect clarification, it passes to a central pure-water tank, of hexagonal shape, and thence to two double-cylinder expansive steam-engines, each of 80 horse-power, built and erected by Messrs. Nielson Brothers of Glasgow. These engines, with their four boilers, are placed in a very handsome engine house, designed in the Medieval style, and proyided with a tall tower, which is carried up to a height sufficient to conceal within it the boiler chimney, and gives access to a gallery from which a fine view is obtained of the surrounding country. From this point of vantage it is easy to perceive that a consider- able amount of artistic taste characterises the relative disposition of the filter beds, the pure water tank, and the storage reservoir. in fact, the whole arrangement is sufficient to demonstrate beyond doubt that our engi- neers are quite capable of comprehending the ornamental as well as the constructive part of their business. The only thing need- ful is the funds, and the company do not appear to have grudged anything in the way of expense that could enhance a work the whole county may feel justly proud of. The engines are each adapted to raise 1,200 gallons per minute either into the service reservoir situated at New Parks, or more directly into the town, as the conditions of distribution may require. The reservoir is vaulted over and contains two million gallons of water. It is intended to be ultimately supplemented by a second service reservoir to be situated on the Bradgate Main at a place ealled Gilroes. The conduit mains are about 16 miles in length, and vary in diameter from 18in. to 24in., and the system of distri- bution is very general, and extends to a length of 60 or 70 miles. The capabilities of the undertaking are to be measured by the rain-fall of the district and the area of the watersheds. The average rain-fall is about 29in., but this is reduced by re-evaporation to a net quantity of about 14in., and on the mean of three consecutive dry years of ex- ceptional character the available quantity is found to be further reduced to about in. As, however, the watersheds comprise 11 or 12 square miles, this minimum amount of rain-fall produces a daily quantity of four million gallons, which is adequate to the supply of 200,000 people, at the economical rate of 20 gallons each, or of 160,000 people at the more extravagant rate of 25 gallons each. The inspection haying terminated, the party, numbering upwards of 200, adjourned at about 4 p.m. toa large marquee, where a very substantial and recherché cold collation was laid out by the orders of Mr. Hawksley. As the time for the return to London was fixed, the speeches were limited in both number and duration. Those of the Presi- | Lalanne has a frame of vigorous dent, of the Chairman of the Waterworks, who speaks himself remarkably well of the town and county of Leicester, and of Mr. Forrest, the indefatigable and genial Secretary of the Institution, were the most prominent, and received with all the honours they merited. It should be mentioned that the whole of the undertaking has been devised and carried out by the directors of the company in the most liberal spirit, and with the utmost regard to its efficiency for the purposes for which it was intended. To Mr. Ellis, the Chairman of the company, the inhabitants of Leicester are greatly indebted, not only for his energy and perseverance in conducting the affairs of the company, but also for the very re- markable talents he displayed when, at the request of his brother directors, he under- took the duty of controlling the practical operations which had deyolyed on the com- pany by the withdrawal of the original contractors. It is always somewhat difficult to arrive at the exact cost of an engineering work of magnitude similar to that we have been describing, andit may be safely said that the cost of one is no criterion of what may be the cost of another. But taking the price of land and all other contingencies into consideration, the cost of the Leicester Water- works has not fallen short of £150,000. <At a little after 10 p.m. the whole party arrived safely at their original starting point, haying spent a most agreeable and instructive twelve hours. —_—_—__—__ EXHIBITION OF WORKS OF ART IN BLACK AND WHITE. MONG the many indications of the revival of an intelligent appreciation of art by the public, not the least favourable is the perception of the value of sketches and drawings. Pictures are a luxury, and their possession must always be confined to a com- paratively limited class, but sketches even by the most eminent men are within the reach of persons of moderate means, and if only the public can be induced to prefer a good sketch toa bad picture, the gain both to themselves and to the advancement of art will be con- siderable. An exhibition was opened on Monday last at the Dudley Gallery, whieh we are much mistaken if it does not mark what in America would be called a new departure, and exercise a salutary influence upon public taste as well as benefiting some of our most deserving and least known artists. The Exhibition consists entirely of works of art in black and white, and comprises pencil-draw- ings, sketches in charcoal, chalks, sepia, Indian ink, pen and ink, mezzotint, and wood engrayings, etchings, and every form of reproduction without the use of colour. As might be expected from a first exhibi- tion, the exhibits are very unequal in merit, and there are some defects in arrangement and classification, but upon the whole it isan extremely interesting collection, and will very well repay careful examination. The numbers in the catalogue extend to 512, but this does not represent the number of draw- ings exhibited, as in many cases several are placed in one frame. By far the finest sketches are those by foreigners, chiefly Frenchmen, who greatly excel in this branch of art. The chalk drawings by M. l’Her- mitte, ‘¢ Dragging the Pond” (153), and the ‘* Vimeral” (154), are of the highest degree of merit, and the colour and sentiment, especially of the last, are admirable. The same may be said of a landscape by the same artist, “A Village near Chateau Thierry ” (128); it is really wonderful how much colour and distance is expressed by merely black and white. M. Laugée exhibits several portraits ; that of Professor Jowett (21) is, perhaps, the leasthappy; the Professor wears a simpering air which does notat all become him ; the portrait of H. B. Brabazon (148) is, however, a noble work, and the likeness has evidently been well caught. M. Maxime pencil sketches, mostly of architectural subjects (11), ‘* A View of the Pare Monceau before its Restoration” (138), and some etchings, all very effectively drawn. Mr. Poynter sends a large charcoal cartoon of his ‘‘ Perseus and Andromeda,” as well as a study for the figure of Andromeda. The defects of the picture are not so obvious in the cartoon as in the finished work, which must be regarded as a comparative failure; the figure of Andromeda is beautifully drawn, but is uninteresting, as it is in the picture. Mr. F. Leighton exhibits four drawings, the most interesting of which is a study for the head of young Giotto (444), made in Rome in 1853, for his picture of ‘‘ The Procession of Cimabue,” the first painting exhibited by the artist in England. Mr. F. Walker has a charming drawing (483), an illustration of an episode in Mr. Black’s novel, ‘* A Daughter of Heth,” and the original cartoon for the large poster advertising ‘The Woman in White” at the Olympic Theatre, with which most Londoners are familiar, besides proofs of his clever illustrations to Miss Thackeray’s tales in the Cornhill Magazine. Mr. Burne Jones contributes a study for a picture (453), not in the catalogue, of ‘ Venus Concordia,” in pencil, slightly heightened by a tint in his usually careful manner, but rather sickly in sentiment. The figures are well drawn, but archaic, and the allegory, like most allegories, is not very intelligible. Mr. Jones’s other contribution (431) is a study of three heads, intended for a picture, which remind one forcibly of Raphael’s careful sketches. A novel feature in the Exhibition is a series of drawings upon wood, chiefly contributed by the proprietors of the Graphic, being draw- ings executed for that paper by various artists, among whom are Mr. Small, Mr. Pinwell, Mr. H. W. Brewer, and others. Itis open to question whether this imnoyation is a judicious one. A drawing may look very well upon the wood, but may make a very in- different picture when it comes to be engraved, and the surface of the wood block gives a peculiar softness to the drawing which is entirely lost when it is engraved and trans- ferred to paper. The sketches by the late John Leech con- clusively show how much that somewhat over-rated man was indebted to the skill of the wood engraver for the reputation he acquired as a caricaturist. The sketches are merely suggestions, and those who remember the drawings as they appeared in Punch will have some little difficulty in identifying them with these sketches. In striking contrast as to workmanship are the careful pen-and-ink drawings by Mr. G. Du Maurier, Mr. Leech’s successor. Nothing can exceed the finish and beauty of these drawings, which are about twice the size of the woodeuts in Punch, the originals being drawn upon paper and then transferred to the wood blocks by photography. Mr. Du Maurier, it must be admitted, is not a carica- turist in the true sense of the word; his figures are too true to nature, and heis want- ing in breadth of humout, but there can be no question as to the thoroughness and artistic quality of his work, and it is gratify- ing to find so much thought and labour bestowed upon these ephemeral sketches. In etchings the Exhibition is particularly strong. The palm must certainly be awarded to those by M. Méryan, whose command over this difficult branch of art, as shown more particularly in the series of illustrations of old Paris on the screen in front of the door, is simply marvellous. Mr. Whistler has anumber of etchings lent by Mr. J. Anderson Rose, chiefly of scenes on the Thames, of very great merit, the shipping and houses beautifully drawn. M. Jacquemart’s etchings have mostly appeared in that excellent publication the ‘* Gazette des Beaux Arts.” 229, after a picture by Hals,