hands. Many of them were associated with the most eventful incidents
in his life. He only admitted his most intimate friends, or such as
could understand and appreciate the variety of objects connected with
art and mechanism, to his workroom. His natural taste for neatness and
arrangement gave it a very orderly aspect, however crowded its walls
and shelves might be. Everything was in its place, and there was a
place for everything. It was in this workroom that I first began to
handle mechanical tools. It was my primary technical school--the
very foreground of my life.

[Image] Bow-and-string Roofs and Bridges

I may mention one or two of my father's mechanical efforts, or rather
his inventions in applied science. One of the most important was the
"bow-and-string bridge," as he first called it, to which he early
directed his attention. He invented this important method of
construction about the year 1794. The first bow-and-string bridge was
erected in the island of St. Helena over a deep ravine.

Many considered, from its apparent slightness, that it was not fitted
to sustain any considerable load. A remarkable and convincing proof
was, however, given of its stability by the passage over it of a herd
of wild oxen, that rushed across without the slightest damage to its
structure. After so severe a test it was for many succeeding years
employed as a most valuable addition to the accessibility of an
important portion of the island. The bow-and-string bridge has since
been largely employed in spanning wide spaces over which suburban and
other railways pass, and in roofing over such stations as those at
Birmingham, Charing Cross, and other Great Metropolitan centres, as
well as in bow-and-string bridges over rivers. I give the fac-simile