than a great deal, and that this little should be appropriate and in keeping with the general character of the structure. A prodigal use of cheap cast-iron trimmings at a portal of a steel bridge is not in good taste; but it is perfectly proper to decorate the intersections of the members of the portal bracing by plates or rosettes, to surmount the upper horizontal portal strut by an aesthetically designed parapet, to use ornamental corner brackets beneath the lower portal strut, to employ fancy name-plates symmetrically arranged, and to place ornamental figures of proper size and design at the hips, pedestals, or middle of inclined end-posts. It is also permissible to ornament the intermediate transverse vertical bracing to a slight degree by rosettes and knee-braces, but such decoration should be applied sparingly. Again, in large bridges it is proper to be somewhat extravagant in the use of metal at the portal for the sake of appearance, especially as such metal, if it does not add to the strength of the bridge, certainly increases its rigidity.

The ornamentation of viaducts and elevated railways is something which has never received in America any attention worth mentioning, as is proved by the inherent ugliness of nearly all the elevated roads of our great cities, and the painful plainness of our railway trestles throughout the country. It is principally this neglect of aesthetics in design which has created such bitter opposition on the part of the property owners to the building of elevated roads in the heart of the city of Chicago.

Electric lights and gas-fixtures of artistic pattern can be made great aids in securing a pleasing effect in designs for bridges and viaducts; and at night a well-studied distribution of incandescent lights can be made to produce a brilliant appearance at the portals of any large and important city bridge.

Ornamental handrails are also of great service in decorating trestles and bridges, especially in deck structures, where these rails can be built in the form of a highly ornamental parapet.

Architectural effect in bridge-building seldom derives much aid from  paint,  for the reason  that  it is generally best, on ac-