s, the
finest in the world, are now, through the engineering skill of Messrs.
Easton & Anderson, like the tunnel, accomplished facts; and their
construction and working were tested and reported on in high terms of
favor by the Government Inspector, General Hutchinson, a few weeks ago.
At the Liverpool end the direct descent to the underground platform of
the Mersey Railway is about 90 feet; at the Birkenhead end the depth is
something more.

The description of the Liverpool lifts will well suffice also for the
Birkenhead lifts. The former are under James Street, where above ground,
rising in lofty stateliness, is a fine tower for the hydraulic power, the
water being intended to be stored in a circular tank near its summit, the
dimensions of which will be 15 feet in diameter and its internal depth 9
feet. From the level of the rails of the Mersey Railway to the bottom of
this water-tank the vertical distance is 198 feet. At the western side of
the subterranean railway there is, above the arrival platform, a "lower
booking-hall," or, more properly, a large waiting room, 32 feet square
and 29 feet high, the access to which on this side is by a broad flight
of steps rising 12 feet, and to and from which all passengers on the
departure platform have communication by a lattice bridge 16 feet above
the line of rails. From the western side of this hall the passengers will
have access to the three lifts, and will thence ascend in large ascending
rooms or cages, capable of containing one hundred persons each, to the
upper booking-hall on the ground level of James Street. Intermediate in
height between the lower and upper halls the engine-room for the pumps is
located. From the lower hall also there is provided, independent of the
lifts, an inclined subway, leading up toward the Exchange. In this lower
subterranean chamber there are four doorways, 5 feet wide, three of them
being fitted with ticket gateways, and leading to the three lift-shafts,
excavated in the rock, and lined, where needed, with brick. In each of
these shafts, which are 21 feet by 19 feet in sectional area, a handsome
ascending wood-paneled room, or cage, formed of teak and American oak, is
fitted, its dimensions in plan being 20 feet by 17 feet, and its general
internal height 8 feet; but in the central portion the roof rises into a
flat lantern 10 feet high, the sides of which are lined with mirrors that
reflect into the ascending-room the rays of a powerful ga