MODERN LONDON.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 66, 11 December 1907, Page 4

MODERN LONDON.

t . People who revisit London nowadays, afta y absence of even a few years, are surprised , at the many and great changes apparent in t tho city. At one time; and not so very, ta.ig . ago, writes the "Sydney Morning Heri'd'.' s correspondent, the metropolis was ..not so 1 & s nowned as it might have been for. b'liMi-.igs r of the imposing design and appearance, mi;,sr 5 for the highways of the world s centre., Pos; sibly the enormous wealth pf her poss JSiions j of other kinds of attractiveness—of .traditi m, j. historic association and' tho like—left her ( somewhat careless, of competition with the. , vain things of modern- life. Howevir, the , passing of a few-years, lias changed all that, ,- and to-day the process of material trans! or- , mation is going on with remarkable vig&'rr: All over the western area of London, in' 1 the oiiormous business and pleasure centre, , stretching, say, from St. l'aul's to ilvde . : I'arkj great buildings have risen, or dire | ing. Bound tile fine new thoroughfares of Kingsway and Aldwych great piles of modern buildings loom-up feohd where once wore tho old slum centres and the narrow limes . that gave access ■to them. ' Only an v.ca- . sional historic survival peeps out wistfully from some still existent back-water. One such is Dickens's . Old Curiosity Shop, tha qiiaintness of which offers a strange' Miggc-s----tion of a remote past, as one. conies upon it in Clement's Inn, amongst a seven-storied mass of modern ; architecture, .and -just ,leliind the palatial magnificence of the Lavr Courts. Another Dickons relic lingers in the old George Hotel, across tho river, upon the railing in front of which Sain Weller was wont to lean while engaged in those sallies with the frequenters of-the place, from which lie so invariably emerged triumphant. In tho restaurant here, when you order your dish, the joint is still, as in the immemorial days, wheeled towards-you, so-that you.may yourself take your favourite cut.- -Inhere remain, however, but few of such picturesque' relics. In Aldwych, behind the Strand, portion of Druiy- Lane has had to limko way for a noble sweep of buildings, among which are tho Aldwych Theatre, the Waldorf The--atre, and the still unfinished Waldorf Hotel, which is now presenting an imposing-appear-anco.' As in tho ease of most of LondonY' new buildings, the new "white : building" - treatment of the stoiio.of this hotekfacade brings the elaborate carvings into brilliant relief, "and makes a dazzling •; effcct. genorally. These "white buildings,' 1 very MieaiK tiful how, will probably need constant renewal if they arc to overcome the begriming • influence of the atmospheric.' conditions here. • Another fine building in this group is 'tha new office of tho "Morning Post," an imposing addition which has just replaced tho. old and certainly anachronistic structure off tho Strand. Of other splendid adornments of the city, the Rita and Piccadilly hotels lend an additional grace to the already imposing thoroughfares of , Piccadilly anil.- Regent Street. The former is an enormous structure alongside Green Park. As an hotel, its prohibitive tariff largely precludes its use by other than members of the aristocracy and American millionaires., Tho Piccadilly Hotel, on the site of the old St. James's Hall, is another gigantic venture. It has: been in: process of building some ten years, and will lie finished in time for next year's season. -Tliero are many new theatrestho new St. iJames's Hall is almost ready. Tho new' Old Bailoy has been an - accomplished fact for some months. Extensive operations in. tile City proper, are threatening the existence nt Crosby Hull, an ancient landmark,;once Ilia • resilience of Richard TIT.; the new GeneralPost Ofiico is slowly rising frtm its. foundations,' and all over the city building opera- : tions, generally on a very large scale, - witness to the rapid removal from London of tiio ■ • old architectural reproach. In the case of • Crosby Hall,-howovor, it is-felt that- no mo-' , dern structure, whatever its magnificence, could atone for the loss of so picturesque t roninant of old London/and the £00,000 ho-" ccssary for its purchase and preservation ~tg now being subscribed by city companies, publio men and the citizens generally.