A TRIP ABROAD

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 27, 29 May 1912, Page 8

A TRIP ABROAD

(By "Traveller."} What surprise(s visitors to London most, perhaps, is the enormous, neverceasing, street traffic, and the manner in which it is controlled by the police who, no doubt, are free from all political control. When a number of pedestrians have collected and wish to cross the street, the vehicular traffic is help up to allow them to get over safely, and this sort of thing goes on all day. When answering .in enquiry as to the where abouts of any place, a London policeman is always very concise and to the point. Something like this: 'Take a Royal blue 'bus, sir, to the hotel, and first turning to the right." The locality indicated might ho two mile? away, but he knows the ground thoroughly. If there is any body of mer who are the friends of the public it is the London police. St. Paul's Cathedral stands on tin site where once was a Temple of Diana, and is the third church erected to St. Paul and the third largest Christian church. It contains man;. fine monuments and memorials amongs which is one to the officers and mer of the 57th Regt., who died during the Crimean and New Zealand campaigns. The tablet represents tin Saviour consoling the sick and wound e>fl, and comforting the widows am' orphans of those who have fallen it their country's service. Above an two angels with outstretched wings and holding scrolls containing tin wards:

Grave, where is thy victory? Death, where is thy sting?

In the crift are the tombs of Nelsoj and Wellington, and the magnificent bronze car on which the remains o the Duke were conveyed to their last resting place. Near the north doo: ies the Cathedral's famous architect iix Christopher Wren, and a Latin in icription informs those who wisli U see his monument to look around. Th< Cathedral stands on the highest pari -if the city. One day when doing sonn 'rasiness at Messrs Nicholsons, nen Sy, the manager hearing wo were fron the Dominion, showed me a curiosit; ■in a lane just opposite. This narrov tne is called Panyer's Alley, fron the fact that it was once a standing dace for bakers with their pannier: vhen there was a corn market held a 1 Jheapside. The curiosity mentioned s a carved stone let into the wall md protected by glass. It represents i hoy seated on a pannier or baskel vith the following inscription :

"When ye have sought the ci-t round Yet still this is the higher grounc

Augt. 27, 1688." . St. Pancras Church, a well-know) uondon landmark, built in 1819 :. mitatfcn of the Erechtheum of Athens ias a tower 168 feet high. On Hob : >ital Sunday the officiating cleigymei a most eloquent and in .tractive sermon, taking his text iron ..ho fall of the tower of Siloam. Hi jointed out what would take plan .t the nearest hospital if such ai. iccidant should happen in .London. L'he services of the police, ambulance orps, doctors, and nurses would ah ie called into requisition, and the pa ients treated all alike, no difference >eing made on account of their fait:. r social standing. He quoted somi if the yearly amounts paid by tin eadiug hospitals for such articles a> otton, wool, chloroform, etc., wl.ic! one some idea of the enorrnou; .umber of cases treated by the.v ;reat institutions per annum. H< lulogised the doctors and nurses, am. ■aid the latter were second to nom a the world. The rev. gentleman die tot refer to the fussy, semi-trainee person, who expects more attentior ihan she bestows on her patient, bm to that r tay of sunshine, the thoroughly .rained, up-to-date British nurse. Westminster Abbey, "the burial place of Kings," so closely connects with the history of the Nation, if *aid to stand on the site of a Tempi* if Apollo. Henry VII. chapel, whicl is of beautiful design, is very interesting on account of its historical association. The famous Coronation 3bair has not escaped the knife of tin /andalistic whittler. A boy' who wa: locked in one night, did his quota to wards it, so the guide informed us. In front of the altar there is a splendid mosaic pavement dating from 1260. The great organ is divided.' icing built on each side of the ehoii screen. Perhaps the most ancient tomb is the shrine of St, Edward the Confessor (1068). Chancer lies in the Poets' Corner (1400), and nearly 500 .years afterwards Lord Tennyson was laid to rest at the foot of his tomb. Of the many inscriptions on the memorials of the mighty dead, that of John Gay, the poet (1732), written by himself, strikes one as flippant :

"Lil'e is a jest, and all tilings show

I thought so once, but now I know it." This is the inscription upon the floor over the grave of "Old Parr," in the south transept, and opposite the tomb of the Rev. Isaac Barrow. "Tims. Parr ol County of Sallop borne in a I IH3. He lived in y reignes of, Ten princes viz. K. Ktlwd. I, K. Ed. ">, K. Rich. 3, K. Hon 7, K. Hen. H, K. Kdw. 6, Q. Ma. Q. Rife., K. Ja. and K. Charles aged 152 yeares. and was bur.vod here novoiu. 1/5 1635." r rii" groat imj>:vssi,-eii(-ss and solemnity that pervades this famous old church appears to be more marked dur-

ing the evening service. At least that is how it impressed the writer. Tlio statues of warriors, statesmen, poets, painters, and other notahle persons, appearing in the subdued light as if they formed part of the congregation of worshippers. The offertory was in aid of the "Queen Victoria Clergy Fund," the officiating

clergyman being the Yen. William Sinclair, Archdeacon of London, who preached a very forcible and explanatory sermon. In St. Margaret's Church, which adjoins the Abbey, there is a splendid stained-glass window, the subject being the crucification. The old Treasury Chamber and Chap-j ter house of the Abbey are very interesting. The Army Pageant held at Fulham Palace in aid of the Incorporated soldiers and sailors Help Society was under royal patronage and was a splendid spectacular performance, showing the evolution of arms and

growth of military service. It commenced with King Arthur at the battle of Badon near. Aconbury in Herefordshire A.I). 520, followed by battles of Hastings, Crecy, Agincourt, Malplaquot, and Badajois, concluding with a grand finale of Great Britain, Ireland and the Colonies. At the Ly-

ceum Theatre, Richard 111. was on the bills, with Mr Martin Harvey in the title role. The piece was well staged, and the scenery very fine, but having seen the piece played several times in the Dominion and with th recollections of those iine old actors, W. Hoskins, Herr. Bandmann, J. Rayner, J. B. Steele, J. Cathcart and Charles Burford, I must confess to Ik ing disappointed at the performance at the Lyceum. Perhaps having expected too much. One is often reminded here that "Londoners don't know London," which, appears to be quite true, though it seems strange. One afternoon, when listening to the band of the Grenadier Guards in Hyde Park, an employee came up to collect pennies for the chairs people were occupying. He was asked what, a certain bronze statue was, the inscription being hidden by intervening foliage. His reply came as a surprise. "Well, sir, although I have been here some time and pass it twenty times a day, I really couldn't tell you!" The statue was that of Achilles cast from Cannon captured in the Peninsular war and Waterloo, and presented by the women of England to the Duke of Wellington. On mentioning this m,"tter to a city man, he remarked that many employees get into a groove and become to he more machines, and in tin's instance, if the Iron Duke had been standing there himself, the penny collector would not have seen him, unless his Grace happened to bo occupying a chair, and a copper had to be collected. Apropos to this subject, is the following clipping from the Dungog, X.S.W. Eastern Telegraph :

"He hurries every morning to catch a certain car; He goes to* work where hundreds of ,other toilers are; His cour,se is never" varied; he has no time to stray: The route that is the shortest he takes day after day; He works upon a schedule that changes not at all, In winter or in summer, in spring time or in fall.

He starts in every morning just as he did Jieforo, To do,a certain duty and never any

i more; He has his sixty minutes at noon to

rest and eat, And when the day is ended he hurries to the street To start his journey homeward, night after night the same, Jammed in with other people who do not know his name.

He does not know his neighbours, to

them he is unknown; Beyond his little orbit his face is never shown;

Ho hurries every morning to catch

a certain car; At night lie clings where, other sad faced strap-hangers are.

And wonders how the people exist out

on the farms, Deprived of social pleasures and all the city's charms."

Ly the kindness of the manager cf Messrs T. Cook and Son, in placing «eats at our disposal in their premises, Ludgate Circus, we had a splendid view of the Lord Mayor's Show, which was a very brilliant afiair. The procession left the Guildhall at 11.45 a.m., and returned at ■I p.m. The Shakesperian Pageant was,.a feature in the show, the banners, and those of the different guilds .being splendidly painted. Interspread in the procession were fifteen excellent hands. Tlie Hoy Scouts were well represented, L'-'i!) boys takicg part in the following. liugle hand, offioer.s in full dress, Silver "Wolves, King's Scouts, blacksmiths, carpenters, printers, plumbers, engineers, animal ambulance, cyclists, seamen, ambulance and stretchers, Scoutmasters, etc., all carrying appropriate banners. The Silver Wolves are Scouts who have won the highest order possible, and the King's Scouts como next in rank. The Lord Mayor, Sir T. Vezey Strong-, was in his State chariot, drawn by six horses, attended by his chaplain, the Sword Bearer, and the .Mace Bearer. .1 have collected some in formation about this splendid carriage that will perhaps interest some of your renders. The panels are beautifully painted, said to be by Cipriani, and the heraldic devices are attributed to Catton, one of the founders of the Royal Academy. In LBl2 it cost £690 for repairs and refitting. The harness was made in IS.T'J, and weighs IGOlb. for each horse. The coach itself weighs three ions sixteen ewt. Some items about the banquet, etc.—they are not all dry. This function is held in the Guildhall on the evening of tk.e Lord Mayor's Show. There were !)()() no-table guests, and 200 waiters to attend upon them. Although the Lord Mayor and his lady arc teetotalers, their guests, who were not, were thought of, as the wine cost £4OO. The total cost of the banquet was £2500.' All good for trade, and the circulation of money. It is at this great civic event that the Prime

I Minister generally explains the policy of his Government and the Empire's relations with foreign powers. The cost of maintaining the pomp; etc., ol' the Corporation is CIS,OOO a, year. 01' this, the Lord Mayor receives £lO,000, on which the income tax is paid for him. The position is no sinecure for the London newspapers reported in November that the occupier of the Civic Chair had no evening free to spend with his family, except Sundays, till the following April!