The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-06-12
Tho London Fog.

Now let me speak of the London fog:
That is to be seen in London and nowhere
else. 1t is sui generis, believe they call it.
Dickens, in his description of London
fog has failed to convey any idea Of its
true and odious nature 1t gets into Jour
throat; it gets into your eyes; it is dowr
shut the door, it comes shivcring and coo
o.old through the window and, if you
shut the window, it comes yellow and Smo-
out. remember, when speaking, one day
in 1853, in Exeter hall, all Of sudden the
fog came in, and twenty minutes from the
people in the gallery and they said it was
queer sensation to hear somebody speak
ing somewhere but to see him nowhere. 7
have seen it standing, like a wall, in the
middle of the street, all brightness upon
one side and thick fog upon the other.
have known the gas to be lighted up in one
part Of the city, while in another the pco-
pie were consratulating themselves on tl;:
beautiful day
Upon a foggy morning you wake late;
and you think it is early. 1t is cold, dark
damp and dreary. The streets are very
quiet, for the fog is a poor conductor vi
sound. You get up and every thing goes
wrong You attempt to wash your han'ls
and away goes the soap under the table.
You undertake to shave, and you can't get
up lather, and when you try your raz,r
you feel as Sheridan dill when he said to
his son :---"Tom, if you open oysters any
more with my razor Ill kill your have
read Of n man who was taken up by al,
elephant ana chucked through barn door,
AMI, said hc-"I went all ends fustward'
The servants arc bchindhand; the eggs are
half boiled. You look out of the window,
and the fog seems to get thicker. The bcs.
thing you can do is to close the shutters
and light the gas.
Then, if your business calls you to town.
don't 81 in bus; go aioot. Evcrybody
has Il coll disagreeabe look-the cheeks
are lily, the eyes rosy, the nose ditto anu
running. You proceed and find every
thing in danger. CaDs run into each 9TH
er; omnibus drivers shout to one another
in langnage not the most polite, and chaos
seems to have come again. Your Office is
dingy and dark. You light your gas, and
are reminded Of Timothy Titcomb's de.
s,'ripton of gLsa and the sooner YOU
take yourself to the bosom Of your aft c.
tionatc family--if yol have got one-tae
better. But how will you get there? The
steamers have stopped running; there is
not cab to be found; it is like wadins
through Illuminated peasoup; and how will
you fad your way? | have gone out in a
fog for curiosity and fun, knowing every
street arounl, and in two or three squares
have lost myself. have seen the fog so
thick that had to scuff with my feet to
find the curbstone. Get under lamp post
and you can see no light-only glory"
As you go, how the mishaps Of the morn
ing are repeated IN an exaggerated scale.
Then come around you the boys with links
or torches, crying-''a penny light" and
if you won't give them penny they will
singc your trowsers for you. And whcu
at last you get home you have little desire
to venture out again in London fog.
1t is said that the London fog is caused
by the granite particles of dust arising from
the traffic on the streets and the million.
bituminous coal fires, the smoky matter OF
which mingles with the vapor from the
river, and when the barometer falls it comes
down upon the city When the barometer
rises, it will ascend, and perhaps wholly
disappear. But these Gogs never rise moro
than two or three hundred feet They come
principally in November, and are seldom
seen after February. b. Gough's
Lecture on London