| Show ECHOES FROM BABYLON london bondon nov 23 1897 november looms up dear to the average lon doners heart for does it not suggest numerous diversions including the glorious fifth with its bonfires and crackers galore a modified fourth of july so to speak and furthermore does not that great recognized institution that apat has been in vogue for years past viz the lord mayors how take place four days subsequent bent then there is to seen a cup tie te football foot bill match every saturday afternoon at which event from twenty to fifty thousand football cranks make the welkin ring with their slogans and satire aristocracy begins to get tired of slaughtering hundreds of brace of tame pheasants and partridges upon their r preserver preserve so it hoc flocks s back ac ta town wn again the theaters theater put on their tah winter uter attractions and the policemen who 0 regulate the mud spattering bespattering be traffic trac their oilskins oil skins fog slush um t brellis and cough mixture I 1 november Us struck the modern babylon on the fifth of november 1605 that guy fawkes as every school boy knows was discovered modestly retiring behind a stack of barrels of gunpowder ader in the vaults underneath the W bouses houses of parliament at westminster ax As he was furnished with a dark lantern and matches it was surmised 7 that he contemplated taking a rise se out ou i sot king I 1 jamee ames and land his parliament that S sarty would have assembled a few brief feet beet overhead after the custom of the ithe period mr fawkes had an extremely lively and harrowing time and I 1 was ultimately ushered into the great beyond assisted by a masked gentlemen gentleman in black tights armed with a keen axe bright and early on november 6 5 1897 the peaceful serenity I 1 of penton street was waa broken by what wat the average johnny bull would include the caption of a blooming racket it if it had been a little after when the pubs close the aforesaid racket would have passed without comment but such an unusual proceeding when revellers resellers rev ellers were sleeping Ble and bread winners at work betokened that something unusual was te in progress from the street below arose the strains accompanied by a tto taj can band please to remember the fifth of november the gunpowder treason and plot I 1 see no reason why the guapo gunpowder ade r treason should ever be forgot guy fawkes guy stick him in the V 4 eye tie him bim to a lamp post and there let him die f whoop the two last lines to be repeated ab until the chorus becomes depleted pi ted owing to failure in the lung department part ment nOt TO uri hurl slippers and portable toilet articles at the recumbent forms of severia several defenders of the faith who were wasting the precious hours of daylight ta in solid sordid sonorous sleep was but the work of an instant get up boys boy it is s the fifth of november A diplomatic investigation from ambush on an the part of those interested dis closed i that these inharmonious noises kroop proceeded eded from a band of armed as an surmised with tin the disturbers disturb ers not the cans ere attired mostly in fantastic garb and aad possessed faces that were literally tom smeared eared with soot this motley jwj gaag ever chanting their lugubrious refi were busily engaged in es cortlang a costers barrow drawn by a patient moke upon the barrow in state was seated and effigy possibly it w was intended to represent the famous guy fawkes at the same time mr fawkes in his day was a strict catholic it seemed slightly inconsistent that his noble chest should be encased in a faded red salvation army jersey this particular guy was further possessed with a decided hebraic cast of countenance coun together with an ancient clay pipe stuck between his lips As to his anatomy it was developed in most unlooked for places owing to an unequal distribution of taken all together it was a most straw binary looking guy all day long were these effigies effi gies drawn around the streets and on every corner the luckless pedestrian remorselessly held up for pennies for the guy it was in the evening when the fun became fast and furious especially upon what may be designated as aa lon dons playground viz hampstead heath or as it is better known appy ampe tid eath to see the heath at its best one would do well to visit it on a bank holiday during the summer time when the huge undulating park like lung of london is dotted with rows of tall swings that give the idea that one is amongst the derricks in an oil country booths shooting galleries three shies a penny at old aunt sally for cocoanuts cocoa nuts ring the cane and other delightful pastimes dear to the average londoners Lon doners heart not only do these small fairs line the roads and devose in the shade of the trees but they axe are repeated and re repeated all over the ileath heath in a most haphazard fashion out on the hot grass for all the world as aa though they had been shaken out of a bag the concourse of humanity description fails to particularize fun fun everywhere rea simon pure old fashioned tun fun hallmarked hall marked from the days of the morris dancers and guaranteed genuine a regular comic opera so to speak with a chorus some strong of fakirs fakiri gipsies flower eirls slightly the worse for wear let us ua be charitable and say suffering from the effects of the sun resplendent red coated soldiers with their absurd saucer like caps uproariously drunken jolly jack tars and costers costers the costers are distinctly a london institution kind of a cross between a bowery tough and a state street bounder they have a regulation dress too thel the men short stunted beetle individuals who affect a curl plastered down on the center 0 of f their forehead surmounted by a cap with a velvet peak also a s suit it of clothes literally ahe frescoed from the velvet collar down to the lowest extremity bt bf their bell buttoned velvet striped pants with rows of pearl buttons each as big as half a dollar which the aforesaid individuals affectionately designate as their pearliee pe arlies 11 the women and girls are fearfully and wonderfully made and affect umbrella sized matinee hats loaded with multicolored multi colored feathers rs further they are adorned with numer oue rat tall curls and frizzes friezes in front with a bob at the back of the head as big as a football enclosed in a net they manifest a passion for red and claret colored plush skirts and bead trimmed velvet capes here their effort as regards dress terminates for their shoes axe are decidedly hors du combat the heels in most cases run up the sides of their feet and their toes spread out like pads oh how they do gather around a hand organ or a band engaged in a free for all dance and they dance very gracefully too with just a suggestion of high kicking it was just such an aggregation of londoners Lon doners that gathered on hampstead heath on the night of the fifth to witness the annual parade bonfire ant and fireworks that are held there them whoop there they go in squads twenty coster girls with their arms lovingly intertwined around their immediate neighbors necks stretched in a row completely across the road yelling the chorus of the latest popular ditty nothing nothing nothing to spend but auids if you want to be t a family man theres nothing to have h ve but kids whoop down go their heads simultaneously apparently aimed for the fourth button of ones vest just when you deem annihilation inevitable up comes a phantom of millinery and twenty shattered wrecks of erst wise four and eleven penny shoes are shaken definitely at the horizon dancing in its barbaric fashion seems to be strictly confined to the girls or arriens Arri ets as they are designated by the theAr abrys rys content themselves with making night hideous with catcalls cat calls concer tanas and harmonicas harmo nicas to such an extent do the arriens Arri ets throw themselves into the mazy measure that one trembles for some of the poorer girls are so held together with pins end and so generally ventilated between the pins that one might truthfully bay that their costumes gape and yawn at every point suddenly a arriet apparently patently ly breaks in two at the waist she severely pulls herself together and complacently remarks blow it give us a pin liza and continues in her mad career yet max orell says the english take their pleasure sadly taken as a class the coster girls are a hardworking set and although their vocabulary is anything but refined they are possessed of a moral code of virtue one parade is much like another there are the same blatant brassy bands with plenty of drum floats rank and file etc one bonfire greatly resembles another and as the sky rockets ascend skywards as in america so in england a long drawn prolonged 0 0 oh goes up from the upturned faces As the parade started on its tour of the heath a 4 general bombardment on the part of the crowd ensued in the form of squibs squibb and crackers hurled with telling effect at the occupants of the coal wagons designed as floats britannia who happened on this occasion to be of the sterner sex manfully rose to the occasion upon receiving an explosive firework upon the apex of the helmet delivered a ath of november oration with great the reproduction of which in cold type would seriously jeopardize the successful running of the linotype confetti scattered to the four winds and settling over everything and everybody down ones neck and in ones hair whilst arry armed with squibs squibb and lady tormentors squirts made life a dreary blank to any who had the hardihood to wear a silk hat lord mayors day was but a repetition of four days previous although from the fact that the route of the procession was in the heart of the staid old city possibly things did not assume such a boisterous turn in the streets set apart for the parade traffic was entirely suspended at an early hour the thoroughfares being given over to the throngs of sightseers who patiently waited for hours to see the time honored pageant of course the aforesaid crowd had to be amused so battalions of young medical students with charming graciousness con descended to furnish gratis entertainment by way of humorously smashing hats bats def in the ever patient police and maki making life ife a burden to those in the immediate imin a e vicinity the occupants of the windows overlooking the streets burthe furthers indulged in the time honored custom custo 0 M vt fkeating pennies up on a shovel over a fire until red hot and then hurling them promiscuously amongst the crowd below As they were too hot to handle the street urchins promptly threw themselves upon the coins whilst more of that ilk piled on top like a football scrimmage when sufficient clent time elapsed for the cooling process the boy at the bottom if still alive secured the prize if hors du combat was rolled over and the penny secured by other adventurous spirits in either case there was a desperate scramble much hilarity on the part dart of lookers on and much profanity on the part of participants finally to the victor belonged the spoils above tte the din to is heard the intermittent strains of bands of music and four mounted policemen appear at the end of the street instantly a scene of contusion confusion occurs there is a mad rush for the centt center r of the street and the horse toen men approach in the form of a wedge wid and literally force the crowd ba back ck thus those in the center of the crowd who escape being thrown down are ultimately happy in being in the front rank ank a and having an uninterrupted view of the parade military bands troops and volunteers pass in proud review floats representing various trades des ades a and epochs in history the old rocket coach of 1837 is followed by the up date motor car of 1897 a large model of a frigate is in vogue sixty years ago by a big modern battleship complete on wheels and drawn by six horses the lord mayor of london puts on more style than royalty certainly his carriage age was not drawn by eight cream stallions lau ions be decked with red morocco and gold mounted harness but the carge ariage itself from gilt and resplendent point of view far surpassed the equip age ee used by the queen at jubilee time the mayor attended by his mace bearer was gorgeous in cocked hat and ermine one of the most popular features of the show was a lifeboat as brought up from hastings manned by its stalwart crew of cork belted gallant lifesavers life savers the same saine being mounted upon the original trucks tha that are used when launching the boat into the boiling surf but it was emphatically the companies of firemen all wearing their shining brass roman helmets and a great many carrying upon pen their breasts medals that be poke deeds of bravery and courage that w aroused the enthusiasm of the populace dulace PU lace As in any city the world over ST the reman fireman was the hero idol laed ati 11 by the populace the star of a theatrical cical ri cal company the hero of a novel so with steady th to speak tramp they hon passed bearing their heads and heavy proudly ten short later saw the anti ort days ma jorty 7 of 1 th these ese men fighting the big tw gest ho fire re that has been witnessed in the metropolis tro polls since 1666 that memorable great fire of london fifty seven steamers could not subdue the flames last friday until had i gone 6 UP 11 in smoke and offices and warehouses waxe auses houses ou ses had been reduced to ashes sixty wy alve thousand tons of water were I 1 IT poured ared upon the flames so rapidly did h latter er spread that a publican in the 1163 next street bewailing that he ur i would not have enough beer to quench the ne amens thirst rushed frantically out of his burning premises twenty minutes 1 a later ter As soon as the firemen realized that the grape vine was burning rumor says they worked like trojans to save that ancient pub it w was all of no avail street after street reet went down before thle holocaust ere the primitive nozzles got the upper hand it was waa no fault of the firemen for they i are f a splendid body of men underpaid and overworked as they are HOW are they to fight fire successfully arld mla speedily with the weapons at their dispo disposal dis poal eal one might as well arm trained soldiers with bows and arrows and expect them to stem an overwhelming wh elming cavalry charge with such weapons without any braggadocio salt lake city can shake hands with herself and say that she has a better equipped fire department than the best fire station in the largest city of the world fancy with but three exceptions in every station in london there is no rod for the men to slide down to the floor below to answer a call they tumble downstairs when they get read ready yIn in the majority of cases the horses hordes are kept at the rear of the station house and are led up an alley previous to hitching true they are always harnessed but in any case two men in variably invariably hitch the tugs on to the engine in the city of london there is not a single chemical engine and in conversing with a london fireman the other day he displayed utter ignorance as to what a ball nozzle resembled london has not a single water tower or a single hook and ladder truck that can be reared independent of the support of buildings to see a run to a fire as I 1 witness several times a week is truly ludicrous the horses go along at a trot with an aggregation of rag tag and boutall keeping up with the engine alongside truly the traffic is dense but why not educate the same to get out of the way or climb a lamp post at the sound of the gong however lo 10 london V don affre engines are not furnished with gongs the horses are decked with sleigh bells instead london has at last awakened and this state of affairs is being freely ventilated in the press colonel a most suggestive name chairman of the fire committees committe ee of the london county |
