THE GREAT METROPOLIS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 25 February 1907, Page 2

THE GREAT METROPOLIS

INTERVIEW WITH DU. LKATHAM. l)r. 11. IJ. Ltaiham, of New i'yinouiii, returned iiumu last week from a visit to England. He was j*ought out by a ".News" repmsentativo anxious to jjain for the benefit of our readers a jrecord of his impressions brought from I the .Mother Country. Dr. and .\lr.s Leat'iam and family I left here last February, and travelled I homeward hy the p. and 0. liner Moldavia, from Sydney. Colombo presented great scenic and other attraclions, and all the other tropical ports at which the vessel failed wwe (full of interest. Miasms through the Suez

Canal, J)r. Loatham noticed big gangs of men working at the "widening of tip fairway, and the protection of the hanks, itihl ho learned that the work i was inee-sant. lie had noticed an : Australian request i'or a reduction of 'canal dins, hut from an authoritative | source heard that there was little I chance of ;i reduction being made, tin? i fore'gu directors being of opinion that such an alteration would only re>ult in an increase of British trade. heaving the steamer at Plymouth, the party travelled In 'London overland by special boat train, covering the j.iurnoy in four horn'*. The lirst few weeks were devoted to seeing the sights ((f London, the children being faM'iiiated wTh the great, metropolis. .Ml the classic places of intere-t were! \isited in luni. the programme includ-: ing Ilic Tower, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, the Jtritish Museum, Zoological Hardens, and the great picture galleries. At the Xat'onat (fallen', tney saw the nuignilicent painting "The iMadunna and Child/' costing .C 70,000 and Velasquez's "Venus," rceently purchased lor iMo,OOO, splendid specimens of the art treasures in the London galleries. ''We did a good deal of travelling ori the tops of omnibuses/ said the doctor, "and that is the best way of seeing London. From there you get a fair idea of the bustle and rush of street trallic. London is ab-olutely marvellous. We were all struck with the stupendous size, and greatuess, tiie amount of life, the incessant turmoil of trallic,, and the marvellous manner in which it is conducted." The doctor smilingly remarked "that eveu in London they do not do as in Taranuki, i.e., have you up for going round a corner at other than a walking pace, you trot gaily round, and if there's a crush the policeman simply puts up his hand."' There was no necessity for the police to enforce the rule "Keep to the right' on the fool paths. The luckles;, pedestrian who tried to do otherwise would soon be elbowed into the road. Twenty-six years had elapsed since J)r. Leatham was la>t in London, and he wa*. greatly struck w.th the immense improvement in Ihe .streets, especially with the amount ol rebuilding that, had been done. As the old residential leases expired syndicates pulled down the old buildingand replaced them with hotels, large numbers of which were now in coursi: of erection, particularly in the lUyswatcr and Bloomsbury 'districts. The old familiar "Hejven Dials'' had Leer obliterated. Lven in some of the besl residential squares in London, man) houses we're vacant, partly they were out-of-date, and servant* could not be' obtained unless then were lifts and every other moden convenience, and partly to the .increased tramway and motor facilities making it possible to reside away from tlu roar of the city. The wonderfu. growth of street traUie, with its attcn . dant dust and turmoil, and the roai : of the electric %ramways i made citj ; ruside-mce (almost 'buses were! beiilg more and more r largely used, and the poor ones luu | been sent oil' the road by the Scot.anc lard authorities, the principal defect: being too much noise and ineJlicienl brake power. The drivers of motor 5 cabs, of which there was an evcr-in 1 creasing number, would invent all sort* : of excuses i.o dodge short fared, tin - longer journeys paying better. Tlu ! opposition on the roajl, however, hn< ? the effect of making the* ordinal'} ■ "cabby" more civil. The onmibui drivers in London he found to be hard j worked, geiiiai 2 and obliging fellows civil, and always ready to impart in formation, even though they very pro | bably had to answer the same <jues lions day alter day and week aitei week. Working J 4 hours a day, witl scarce sullicicnt time for meals aiu sleep, and none for recreation, his< lot was not an enviable one, "and he's tin only man in London who's not tippe.l/ .■(hied the doctor.

They weti'e in London during the great fall of snow at Chrisliuastide. when over '2."i,000 casual labourers were employed in ■• lofting snow; the unemployed had lieen anxiously awaiting the fall', as the only means of getting tin wherewithal to purchase a Christmas dinner. During his stay, Dr. Leathain saw inaugurated two new systems of tube railways for Loudon underground, and one new system of electric tramways, 'these trams now ran right along the embankment, over Westminster' Bridge, and extended into all the southern suburbs. In fact, it was now possible to travel from the north to the south of London by modern means of locomotion. Tlio old city of London, the pivot of the nuiive/se, remained asi :of old. Here one saw the business men, and business men only. The rctauran'U in this locality between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, contained over 00 per cent, of men. On the other hand, it was quite safe to say that a. any hour of the day 70 or 80 per cent of the people one met in the Oxford Circus and Westbourne drove localities would be ladies. In fact, the crowds of ladies at Oxford Circus iu the afternoon on shopping bent was a marvellous sight

Talking of amusements, Dr. Leathain said that theatre entertainments were very expensive, stalls and dress circle being charged 7s (id and 10s Od respectively. People ol small means gencr tally took seats in the pit, waiting at times in hundreds in (be "ojucue" for the r turn. At Elien 'Terry's benefit people camped in the "ipieiic" from six o'clock iu the morning, all night, up to 12 o'clock next day for seats, the performance commencing at one o'clock. Concerts, however, were more moderate, it being possible to bear some ol the best: music in Loudon at, the Sunday concerts siipervsed by the Sunday League, tor a shilling or eighl.cenpiiitv. 'This Sunday League existed for the purpose of elevating the people, giviuj; legitimate and wholesome recreation iind entertainment on Sundays, jiiud.' otherwise interesting itself in the welfare of the people. "ilaviilg a great many fridnds ini England, J saw a good many parts of the country. What strikes everybody —even Americans will admit it—is that rural beauties of old lOngliuid are unsurpassed in the world. There's nothing to approach them," said the doctor, and he went on to describe the huge ilowcr garden presented by the country-side in spring and summer. The beautiful gardens, trimmed hedges and trees, and enclosed parks are so wonderfully well kept. Kefereiice to the Americans bn ■',! him to the fact tiiat large ninnlii i nur cousins from over the water wiv alwav.s to be met in London, who. tlmueji dc dining to admit it, come to Enel'inil to enjoy tlie serene beauty of the country, the placid enjoyment of comforts and oi'"i-liness that i ' ~(, .:,, vividly with the; whirl of American bustle. The- civility and gentility of Lnglish folk was, of eour.se, a complete change from the brusi|iieness amountting almost to rudeness in the States amongst servants and attendants. ''Another thing that struck me," said Dr. ' Leathain, "was the enormous number of foreigners now resident iu the city. In fact, in the city around Soho. Illoomsbury, and Oxford street as far ( is Oxford Circus, one could easily be lieve that more than half of the people ierinan. They are too often uiiplea ( 'anlly in evidence, Iteslaiiranls in the

»ity. aro almost entirely in tho inimlol foreigners, and one often longs, when in this part of London, for a plain, decent colonial meal. Another striking thing in London was the profound ignorance of tho people with regard to the simplest laws of hygiene as regards ventilation. The great, object in lire of the Londoner seemed to be to keep air out of the rooms, and !to regard the out ranee of air as a potent cause of colds and influenza, lie (l)r Lcatham) supposed that !);> per cent of Londoners were absolutelv ignoran! of the fact that a good supply of oxygen, or fresh air. is the one means of preventing influenza and" allied diseases, and in expediting convalescence in those affected. Dwelling house; were notoriously over-hea'ted, shops and hotels ill-ventilated, the conscijuenco being that influenza spveßil like

wildfire, carrying off more people than all the other infectious disease's put together. He spent a good deal of time, of course, in visiting the lios- . pitals, nsd naturally saw things most interesting to him and instructive. The return journey was made by the P. and O. steamer Mamora from' Marseilles, to which port the party travelled overland through France. The trip was cool and "comfortable, the cold in the Suez Canal being feit quite as keenly as the winter in London.