Mrs. Gladstone opened the new Dee Swing Bridge last Saturday.
A splendid bouquet was presented to her which had, up to the last moment, rested near the central pillar of the bridge, and its removal disclosed an electric bell which, when pressed by Mrs. Gladstone, caused the bridge to swing open. This new Dee bridge has the largest span in the King- dom of any bridge of this type. Mr. Gladstone, who made a speech on the occasion, remarked on the curious irony that he and his wife, who belong to the Western side of the country, should be asked to open one of the keys of a railway com- munication which had not been assisted, but very seriously obstructed, from the West, while it had been originated by the extreme East of England,—indeed, by' the directors of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway. "It was from Lincolnshire," said Mr. Gladstone, "that the light of our deliver- ance has shone." Indeed, without the liberal help from the East, the West of England might have vetoed the enterprise. Sir E. Watkin, the Chairman of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, had achieved it for them, and he had also just purchased the great Welsh mountain, Snowdon, which Mr. Gladstone entreated him not to carry away. Wales had nothing but its mineral wealth to boast of, and of that mineral wealth Mr. Gladstone said that the coal which existed under Havrarden Church, and down as far as Bagillt, would, if it could be piled up in Hawarden parish, be at least 100 ft. thick. This coal, and all the other mineral treasures of the district, would be brought to market by the new railway, and so prepare for Wales a new invasion,—beneficent both for the invaders and for the invaded.
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