Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 27 - CHI-ELD.pdf/582

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534

DRESDEN

Geisendam—For excavating and transporting 6’2 miles and discharging into the Scheldt, requiring a tug and 5 scows. The work done was 1765 cubic yds. per diem . . 5 '2d. per cubic yd. Elizabeth—For transporting 1 ‘55 miles and discharging into Scheldt with tug and 3 scows, 3793 cubic yds. per diem 2'Id. ,, ,, Scheldt III.—Transporting 2T7 miles and discharging upon lands of Polder 1312 ft. behind the dyke, 1 tug and 5 scows, and using a suction boat for discharging over the dyke, 4839 cubic yds. per diem. 4'8d. ,, ,, Scheldt II.—This suction dredger excavated, transported 2'48 miles, and delivered upon the Polder 2943 cubic yds. per diem . . . 4'8d. ,, ,, The above prices are those paid to the contractor. It is estimated that the cost was about 2‘5d. delivered on the bank and T5d. delivered into the Scheldt. River Garonne.—The cost of dredging upon this river was given in a paper by M. H. Desprez of Paris. The mean cost of dredging, transporting, and placing upon the bank 14,271 cubic ft. was 4‘625d. per cubic yd., made up as under :— Dredging ...... 1,425d. Transportation ..... l'68d. Placing on bank . . . . 1 '3d. Management, &c. .... 0'22d. 4-625d. Total . River Loire.—In 1897 the dredging of 1,233,670 cubic yds. with three bucket-ladder dredgers cost 2'5d. and 3‘75d. per cubic yd., made up as follows :— Dredging . . . . . .1 '25d. per cubic yd. Transporting for a short distance and discharging from hoppers . . l’25d. ,, 2-5d. If discharged upon bank with floating elevator, including tow-boats, elevators, and barges . . . 3‘75d. Transport and discharge, transporting 21| miles I’eSd. With suction dredger and transportation not miles, the cost was 2,25d. per cubic yard.

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Dresden (the name is derived from the old Slav word Drezga = forest; Drezgajan = forest - dwellers), the capital city of the kingdom of Saxony, headquarters of the 12th German Army Corps, and the fifth largest town in the German Empire. It lies in a broad valley on both banks of the Elbe, 111 miles south from Berlin. Its delightful situation, no less than the richness of its art treasures and the educational advantages it offers, has ever made it a favourite resort of strangers, and during the last few years the numbers of foreigners who have made it their home have largely increased. Particularly is this the case with the so-called Kussian, British, and American “colonies.” Within two decades (1880-1900) Dresden almost at a bound advanced into the front ranks of German commercial and industrial towns; but whilst gaining in prosperity, it has lost much of its picturesque mediaeval aspect. Old buildings in the heart of the Altstadt have been swept away, and their place occupied by modern business houses and new streets. Konig Johannstrasse has opened up the Altmarkt to the eastern suburbs, while the Schloss-strasse has been widened, an operation involving the demolition of the famous Georgenthor. The city, in its expansion in all directions, is gradually assimilating the more distant suburbs, which through a well-arranged tramway system are now brought into easy connexion with its centre. The prospect of the Elbe and of the undulating and pine-clad hills beyond, as formerly enjoyed from the Bnihlsche Terrasse, has become somewhat marred, owing to the extension of the town up the river and to the two new bridges (both east of the old Augustus-

briicke) — the Queen Carola - briicke, 1070 ft. long, resting on a couple of pillars in the stream, built in 1892-95, and the Konig Albert-brticke, 1037 ft. long, with four arches, each 102 ft. span, built in 1875-77. But in spite of its having become to a certain extent modernized, it cannot be denied that, architecturally, Dresden has gained in general embellishment by the new buildings which have lately been erected. In the old town the most striking of the new edifices is the Maler-akademie. It consists of a complex of buildings, constructed from designs by Lipsius, in the Italian Renaissance style, in the years 1890-94, and is profusely decorated with busts and medallions of famous artists, poets, and illustrious men. It contains not only the academy proper, but also the permanent exhibition of the Kunst-verein. The Albertinum, formerly the arsenal, built in 1559-63, was rebuilt in 1884-89, and fitted up as a museum of Oriental and classical antiquities, and as the depository of the state archives. There are also a bronze statue of Semper by Schilling (1891), a statue of Ludwig Richter by Kircheisen (1898), and the Moritz monument (removed here in 1895). The royal palace has undergone a radical restoration since 1890. The Bruhl Palace is about to be reconstructed ; the central portion of it is destined to form part of a new Parliament House for the kingdom. An elaborate equestrian monument of Konig Johann, by Schilling, unveiled in 1889, faces the Hoftheater. The latter is a magnificent creation, rebuilt after the designs of Semper on the site of the theatre burnt down in 1869, and was completed by his son Manfred in 1878. The exterior and interior are sumptuously decorated. In the old town there are further the Saxon industrial art museum, with a school, collection of drawings, and library attached ; the Kreuz-kirche, rebuilt after destruction by fire in 1897 ; the municipal museum (antiquities, archives, coins, pictures, &c.) ; the Reformierte Kirche (1894) ; the Holy Trinity church; the Renaissance Yictoria-Haus(1891-92); the Luther monument (1885), a copy of the Rietschel model at Worms ; and the Dresdner Bank. In the suburbs which encircle the old town on west, south, and east there are to be noted the central railway station (1893-98), occupying the site of the old Bohmischer Bahnhof; a new station in the Neustadt, comprising the Leipziger and Schlesischer Bahnhofe, is in course of construction ; the vast premises of the municipal infirmary; the graves of Friedrich von Schlegel and von Weber (the musician) in the Roman Catholic cemetery ; the bronze statue of Korner (1871), and a bust of Gutzkow (1887); in the Grosser Garten is the botanical garden, laid out in 1891, and a large exhibition building : the imposing law courts; the Johannes Kirche, richly sculptured in the interior; the Schilling Museum; and two ornamental fountains (Gerechtigkeit und Gansedieb). On the right bank of the Elbe stands the fine ministry of finance (1896), the war ministry, the ministry of justice, the Korner Museum, and the Japanese Palace, this last containing the royal library of 400,000 vols., 6000 MSS., and 20,000 maps. Albert-platz is adorned with two fine fountains by Diez. In this same quarter are also the Luther church (1887) and the architects’ school. On the Bismarck-platz is the technical high school, which since 1870 has enjoyed the privilege of conferring the degrees of doctor of engineering, doctor of technical sciences, &c. Beyond the N eustadt, and extending for more than a mile at half height on the range of hills which form its background, lies the Albertstadt, the military quarter, consisting of an imposing line of barracks and other military buildings, reference to which has been made in the article Barracks. Behind these stretches away the romantic pine forest—the so-called Dresdener Heide. Dresden is