| Show city of london financial hub of british empire great commercial center selected as target by bombers released by western wester newspaper union washington the compact downtown financial district of london known as t the he C city ity which is the special target for german raiders incendiary bombs and the scene of eng lands greatest fire in three centuries has been acclaimed one of the most important commercial areas of its size in the world the irregular semicircle of ancient streets beside the thames known as the city is only one square mile in area but for centuries it has set the financial pace of the world according to the national geographic society the bank of england known as the exclusive old lady of thread needle street sits in the midst of it a private institution which since 1694 has had the exclusive right to issue En glands paper money and to hold the reserve funds of all other banks in the country A coins throw to the east on street stands the stock exchange which deals in the government bonds of its own and foreign countries and in in the stocks of most important corporations of the world londona Lon dons wall street street becomes the 44 curb market for trading in american securities during the daily interval between the closing of the london exchange and the closing five hours later of new yorks stock market lombard street noted for its banks adjoins Thread needle and streets to form the wall street district of london lloyds of london a short walk east of leadenham Leaden hall haU street in years has grown to be the worlds largest insurance institution it is an n association of underwriters with in in the area also are the famous old financial house of rothschild and the even older childs bank which dickens described in his tale of two cities as Tell sons bank within vast metropolitan london whose people have spread their buildings over square miles the city is a tight little center packed inside ancient boundaries like an english walnut in its shell it reaches from the inns of court and fleet street in the west to the tower of london in the east from london bridge north to clerk enwell road this is the oldest part of london through 20 centuries it has preserved its identity and practically its original h mits limits thanks to the thick wall 35 feet high built around it by roman conquerors remnants of this frequently rebuilt wall and its nine gates are responsible for the names of such streets as london wall newgate New gate aldgate Ald gate and Cripp legate as well as billingsgate market the wall enabled city dwellers to hold off william the conqueror who prudently built his tower of london just outside the city since then no sovereign has lived within the city the king today first receives permission fro frore m the lord mayor of london before passing the spots such as the temple bar where modern streets cross the cites antique boundaries city deserted at night historic and literary landmarks some dating from roman times fill the city barely a yard apart by night the district is usually deserted since almost the only permanent residents are the custodians or watchmen of buildings which are treasured by the empire for their past or present significance by day however a million people daily crowd in and out of this small area on business the volume of news dispatched from the newspaper offices of Fleet street in normal times makes this a world center for journalism as well as finance this same square mile of lon dons inner core was the birthplace of john milton sir thomas more charles lamb and william penn it was the residence of chaucer and was visited by countless notables who were involved in the literary activities tivi ties of grub street or paternoster row there at 17 gough square dr johnson wrote his epochal dictionary of the english language A few blocks south within the high paneled walls of middle temple hall on february 2 1602 a troupe of actors presented a comedy by one of their company a newcomer named shakespeare it was a S twelfth night destined for broadway in 1941 famous men alen lived in area mews hospital which had been founded by a kings jester discovered the circulation of the blood william harvey meanwhile in the fifteenth century guildhall successive lord mayors were elected and banqueted under the traditional but mysterious figures of gog and magog another landmark of the region was the cheshire cheese the inn made famous by dr johnson and boswell the old bailey site of londona Lon dons modern criminal courts has associations association sA with the old debtors prison and the execution place where malefactors were hanged or burned at the stake the last burning took place in 1789 john bunyan william blake and daniel defoe wandered through the city to a common burial place on its northern fringes other tombs in the district include those of john wesley the methodist founding father and george fox first quaker both traffic and tradition center of the city is st pauls cathedral the empires parish church names of the knotted streets of the city are almost unbelievably quaint stew lane friday street budge row Knigh street red lion court and fetter lane |
