The first stone of an obelisk, erected to the memory
of Alderman Waithman, was laid on Monday, by Alderman Harmer, and his two deputies, Blarkett and Tickner. The material is Haytor granite ; it is thirty feet high, and consists of five blocks. The whole structure was completed, and the machinery by which it was raised was removed by eight o'clock on Tuesday morning. The following inscription is cut in Roman letters on the pedestal—" Erected to the memory of Robert Waithman, by his friends and fellow citizens, 1833."
The Gravesend boatmen, instigated by revenge for the loss of their craft of ferrying passengers to and from the steam-boats, on Saturday night nearly demolished the lauding-pier recently erected there, by cut- ting away the piles and breaking the stone-work. The Mayor was obliged to summon a party of military, before he could succeed in dispersing them. About twenty of the ringleaders are said to have been recognized.
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