LEEDS BUILDINGS AND SMOKE.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—The article, " Through the Smoke," by Mrs. Williams- Ellis, -was -remarkable for its restraint and sympathy in dealing with this matter. Mr. Bernard Shaw was more caustic in his -criticisms of Leeds. He saw only ,the grime on the buildings, and not the evident signs-of a city gradually realizing the need of visual beauty. It should be pointed out, however, that Leeds owes its black appearance, not so much to its smoky atmosphere, for this I do not think is worse than London, but to the thick sooty deposit with which most of its principal buildings are coated. The General Post Office in City Square, just outside the Midland Railway Station, is.a glaring example. This building, as well as nearly all the chief public edifices in Leeds, such as the Town Hall, Royal Exchange, Corn Exchange, &c., is built -of a local sandstone, pleasing in colour when new, but which sucks in grime as a sponge sucks in water. Had these buildings been constructed of Portland Stone, Leeds would have shown a very different aspect, for the few façades created out of this material present the same charming weathered appearance of light and shade which makes our London buildings so attractive.
Portland stone, however, is in most cases prohibitive in Northern areas, due to the high cost of transport, but -it is interesting to notice that some of-the more advanced architects. are now employing an imitation Portland stone, made trom white cement, which produces a result practically indis- tinguishable from the real Portland stone. What is more important still, it seems to weather like Portland stone, and eventually produces that delightful black-and-white effect which is such a joy to all lovers of the beautiful. This material has -been adopted on the Adam Street front of the new Tivoli Picture House in the Strand, and it will be inter- esting to observe how it ,stands the test of time. The finest building ever designed becomes a thing of horror when covered with sooty grime, and it is a matter for astonishment that architects do not pay more attention to the mediums in which their ideas are to :be perpetuated.
We, who spend most of our lives in Leeds, hope to see -our city eventually emerge from its sooty sandstone and terra- cotta ugliness, and I firmly believe that a strong desire for the visual arts is fast .making. itself manifest amongst a people whose love of -things beautiful has so far been -confined to music, literature, and the drama.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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