| Show LONDON BY GASLIGHT LONDON december yd ard 1896 to the unsophisticated american the modern cliff dweller whose habit is anione among anything from ten to twenty anything buil buildings ings i london from a cursory superficial introduction seems somewhat of t a dire and dismal especially ally at this time of the year when tog toe holds undisputed sway for abety days and old sol is as machof much of an curiosity as undiluted lacteal fluid or absolutely fresh hen fruit the obling boulevards and stately buildings of t our fondest imaginations resolve into tortuous comparatively harrow crowded streets while the buildings seldom attain a hight bight above six tories stories and although they are solid sub structures built to last they lack the architectural detail so prevalent in the modern american edifices everything is be grimed by soot smoke smoke everywhere it throws its pall over everything kleaving leaving a deposit behind that teat in the course of eighteen months compels a self respecting brand new freestone building or statue to assume the tee same game disreputable aspect as that worn rn by its older neighbors however london was london before america was as thought of and consequently from a modern improvement standpoint labors somewhat ome what cinder the disadvantage ol of having been laid out for eighnor eight or nine centuries on lines that positively prohibit such sacrilegious innovations as the ilay fay and festive reckless trolley car the sky ky scraping buildings the mammoth palatial stores of the siegel cooper order together with other up to date Amet american ican institutions but london grows on one and after it a weeks week Is acquaintance one gets impressed with its wealth solidity vastness an anity and wickedness the time to take ke in 10 london so to speak at this sea son on of the year is between the hours of 4 p 01 and the last bus under the gaslight it is truly a stirring sight sigbe the roar of the ever restless traffic the hurrying pedestrians and top all hurrying for nome or on pleasure bent the cries of the street naw hawkers kers bus conductors cabbies tabbies and touts together with the resplendent sho shop P windows colored illuminated revolving pictorial advertising signs and general pandemonium all have a tendency under the artificial glare of tho the gas and electric light to make the unsophisticated Utah nian pinch himself to seo see whether he be is awake or not the mormon elders first natural desire on arriving in london is to t get out and see somewhat of his surroundings and do london i eif e if london does not do him ere he gets through so he leaves historic 36 with its aesthetic ses and cultured surroundings and hies himself to the angel which is not such a devout proceeding as appears on the face of lit I 1 it as the aforesaid angel of Is lington is nothing more or less than what is vulgarly termed a pub saloon from whose precepts pre cents depart the busses for the city and elsewhere it the elder should be brand new he is very much conscious ot of wearing a brand new silk hat and imagines all the world has its eye on him which tancy fancy is 18 intensified fied by a street arab audibly informing his bosom friend that there goes baron as latest style silk hats on penton street are somewhat conspicuous whereupon he promptly takes the wrong side of the sidewalk and collides with all pedestrians with charming i ng impartiality meanwhile profusely apologizing the latter proceeding is absolutely annec cesary however as none thinks of apologizing over a trifle like that in lon lo 10 n don on arriving at the angel busses of every color of the rainbow greet his vision and his ears are saluted with ere ye are sir bank oxford street piccadilly circus kings cross etc penny all the way A ride on the top of a bus into the city proper is very interesting one gets up a at the back and takes a seat in one of the eight double seats on top buttons an oilskin lap robe around him and prepares to take in the sights lap robe assave save the mark is a very useful institution serving as it does the double duty of keeping out the wet and cold and further if perchance a wheel should come off saving one from injuring the london pavement with ones cranium the conductor appears upon the scene and ferociously presents what appears to bea be a nickel plated revolver vol verat at your head you are going to throw up your hands hand when it dawns on you that hat t the alleged firearm Js is simply a ticket punch with a bell attachment very sheepishly you hand over one of those passives mas pennies and receive a ticket in exchange one of the first points of interest passed en route is the old sadlers wells theater and already the crowd is forming outside to storm the pit and gallery from where a gory drama may be seen for the munificent sum of four cents what a change from the days when mrs siddons mccready booth and other old timers nightly held its boards the bus drivers are great characters and splendid dehus the way they thread their heavy vehicles through the traffic is only surpassed by the ous amount of artistic slang with which they salute any luckless or cabby who bars further immediate progress at the bank of england you clamber down and proceed to go it on foot and certainly it is a good point to start from as it is the biggest and most dangerous crossing in london here all the main mai n arteria arterio ut of the city converge at one corn ca mon am centre right opposite I 1 you is the mansion house the official rea residence idenie of the lord mayor to the left the royal exchange behind you the bank of 0 england to the right cheapside queen victoria street opposite which are king william street cogbill and lombard street all contributing their quota of traffic sad and p pedestrians estriana est rians to swell the confusion nd blockade cockade that would be but for fora a dozen policemen who regulate th the e traffic down cheapside you go with the surging throng through saint pauls Catbe Cathe deral churchyard with its pigeons and dry goods 1 apologize drapers shops hops down hodgate hill with its sta and clothing shops into feet street accompanied by the less procession of busses rubber byred hansom cabs by the hundreds and street peddlers who sell everything under the sun and yell in stentorian tones ere ye are a gold watch and chain only one penny t real ivory collar studs penny alf dozen Ex extra trapp winner oh those newspaper hawkers they are a tribe in thern themselves elves and their name is ae legion ton extra bloody editors murder Z and other unintelligible cries cis they utter the livelong day and night fleet street is newspaper town there are published all those magazines papers serio sedo comic and daily that are household words the world over alter printers square new york with its fifteen story world journal sun and all offices the less said the better punchs alleged jokes I 1 can forgive after seeing how heavily it Js is handicapped A man who would perpetrate a pun in his bis ancestral sepulcher would stand aghast at the prospect of sacrilegious jocundity in the sc precincts of punchs dismal corner comer abode daily news graphic illustrated news review of reviews all are there old friends that one would imagine occupied palatial abodes but then that is one little peculiarity of england there are less frills and gilt paint over here than uncle sam indulges in the bon tons upper tent ten or whatever they may call them when they want a bonnet or a suit of clothes do not goto the big west end plate glass establishments lish ments so I 1 am informed but ju t goto a seemingly obscure little establishment in some by street around bond street piccadilly Pica dilly et cand there get what they want and pay a bit big price price too and wonder of wonders these ta tailors lors milliners etc never advertise and dont cater to the common herd in fact it almost appears that they have a prohibited tax on their goods so that there is not much chance ot of tommy the clerk patronizing the same tailor as the duke of marlborough or his grace the etc it is striking seven as you pass the law courts and the site where temple bar stood fifteen years ago and enter the strand here is the same endless line of brilliantly lighted jewelers shops restaurants picture and print shops ana and the same crowded sidewalks after you have passed a double file ot of well dressed people standing motionless upon the sidewalk and kept in line by a couple of policemen for one hundred yards or more you wonder why thus birds but ut you soon get used to this it is the people waiting in turn for the theater doors to open and you can come any night except sunds sunday ky of course and it i is always the thea ame charleys aunt has been running four years now and still stil the ae rush about the most popular and elevating production in london at the present time is wilson barretts Bai sign of the cross which is doing a grand word for the cause of christianity at the savory the mikado has been revived with all the old enthusiasm but the style of entertainment dear to the average londoners Lon doners heart is the music hall where he can go and have his cigar and champagne or pipe and beer according to his status abe empire re music hall on leicester square probably bably furnishes the finest entertainment in the world of its class while not bel being i ng quite so elaborately upholstered as koster and bials new york it is a very fine place outside here oi of a night before the doors open one sees more of human lite than can be imagined the double throng extends around the corner corder for yards up a back street every one is in good spirits chaffing peddlers peddlers rush up and down the line with their wares street musicians and broken down comic singers amuse the crowd with their efforts and incidentally pass the hat bat in a seductive manner that makes a man feel he is a stony hearted fraud if he refuses them ere long the line moves and you follow the throng for a shilling 24 cents one gets a comfortable upholstered seat in the pit which occupies about the same place as the dress circle in the salt lake theatre everybody smokes until the atmosphere gets hazy and the performance proceeds amidst a fusillade of popping corks the bill is of the usual vaudeville style of an extra excellent order entirely free from veiled obscurity so prevalent in the larger cities of the states A bullet is seen sandwich edin the one at present on the bill being monte christo abristo Cb risto the story being acted in pantomime pan tomine throughout four acts some of the scenes be being ing highly gorgeous in which some girls electricity beautiful tinting and blending of costumes play an important part london like new york is undergoing a severe of the or animated photographs thrown upon a sheet every subject under the sun being reproduced including horse races cavalry charges etc etc not only do the music halls include them in their programs but the leading dry goods firms like swan and edgars regent street amuse their customers with them As the theaters disgorge their audiences the seamy side of life becomes tore more apparent and truly london is rightly called the modern modem babylon for thirty minutes the streets are impassible and from cabbies tabbies darting to and fro in search of fares should you attempt to cross and get over alive every cabbie who misses you and has to pull up curses you with a deep comprehensive curse that extends back to your ancestors then as if by magic the cabs seem to thin out and vanish leaving a few still patrolling the streets but it is time to be getting home for if you miss the last bus 12 you have to walk to your lodgings an hours tramp that is not the most delightful experience for the pubs and dram shops close their doors and turn out the drunken hordes of both sexes into the streets street who fight swear and yell and ultima ultimately Ms stagger off to their wretched garrets or sneak jinto into some doorway homeless to escape the ever vigilant eye of the bobby A sight strange to western eyes is chapel street Is lington within a stones throw from penton street the london conference hous eThere until the wee isma sma hours especially saturday night is held a market the street being lined with a double row of barrows and stalls each with its swinging flaring naptha lamp there everything under the sun is displayed that a poor person would buy vegetables a slice of five or six kinds raw in ball halfpenny penny one cent lots quack doctors lecturing on no strums auctioneers selling villi anous looking aged clothing fruit of all description cat cats catis Is meat ancient eggs ole margerine cough mixtures lamp cleaners etc etc the entire street being filled with a surging dazzling mass of women perspiring yelling touts loquacious auctioneers and vendors who seize you by the arm and try and seduce one into buying a pair of pants that have all run to seat and knees or an umbrella with symptoms of premature curvature of the sheril truly the poor we have with us always and as long as there are dram shops and pawnshops pawn shops will they be in the overwhelming majority the little bare footed unkempt vicious and unnaturally quick witted children will continue to be old men in vice ere they have reached their teens E CARPENTER |
