Middletown transcript., 1869-02-06
0otes of Trarrt.
WriaenJor the Mdaieto,rn Transcript
fsecolIections OF the Mother Country.
No. 3.

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fsecoiIections OF the Mother Country.
'. No. 3.
The country lying between Manchester
and London, appears to the traveller,
while whirling along at the rate of 40 or
40 miles per hour, to be dotted here and
there with cities and villages, and that
part devoted to agriculture is under a
high state of cultivation. Roots are more
extensively raised there than in America.
in fact they compose large portion of
the crops An absence of all kinds of
fruits is noticed. We found afterwards,
that the South of England produces most
of the fruits found in the markets of the
cities of the United Kingdom. The " De-
vonshire cider" is as familiar to all as
household words.
The Midland and the Great North Wcs-
tern Railroads, arc the principal lines
from Manchester to London; both are
desirable, but the former is to be preferred,
as it passes through Sheffield, the seat of
the well known cutlery manufactures, and
other noted cities and towns.
On Saturday night, in the month of
June, we arrived at the Cheriag Cross
Hotel, finished in 1865, an immense struc-
turc situated on the busy thoroughfare
called the " Strand" in the open space
called Charing Cross, which takes its
name from the old village of Charing,
where stood cross erected by Edward |.
y statue of Charles l. now stands on this
spot, and being central point for the
west end of town, is a desirable place to
stop.
The Golden Cross Hotcl-formcrly the
old rendezvous for travellers enroutc for
different localities in England and the
Continent by stage, is still standing in
good preservation this stage hotel many
will rccollcct is mentioned by Dickens in
"David Copporfeld." Until the great
London Exposition, in 1852, the hotels OF
this metropolis were surpassed by New
York and Paris, both in size and elegance.
But since that date some elegant and man.
moth hotels have been built adjoining the
railway termini, SO that the tourist only
has to pass from the lower saloon of the
hotel to the car in an adjoining apartment.
The following railway first class hotels
are jotted down for the benefit of those
who are projecting tour abroad: The
EMSton and Victoria Hotels, near Euston
terminus the Great Northern Hotel, ad-
joining the Kings Cross terminus the
Great HcStern Hotel, at the Paddington
terminus; the Grosrcnor Hotcl; the Lon
dom Bridge Terminus Intel; and the
Westminster Palace Hotel, Victoria street,
near the renowned Westminster Abby.
These belong to the railway companies.
Almost all of the new and desirable
hotels, unconnected with the railway ter
mini, are erected by joint-stock compa-
nics. The same system has been adop-
ted in Paris and other Continental cities.
1t is well known that the largest hotels
in America, especially in New York city,
are owencd by single individuals. To di-
grcss moment, the following hotels of
this city are given with their owners !:
The Astor House, owned by VIM. B. As
tor; the st. Nicholas Hotel, owned by
z. X. Knight, of 9th Av. and A. P.
Stewart, ." the owner of the dry goods
Palaces" and the Fifth Avenue Hotel,
also owned by the latter gentleman.
To return to the subject of London ho-
tells, built by joint-stock companies, we
will mention that the Langham Hotel, in
Portland Place, is quite rendezvous for
Americans, from the fact that this cara
vanserie was opened on the American
system, with an American manager. Those
who have stopped here will ever recollect
with pleasure, the popular manager, Mr..
j. NJ. Sanderson, formerly the proprietor
of the College Place Hotel, the Brevoort
House, and New York Hotel, in this
country. He is brother of Harry San
dercrson, "thc eminent pianist" Fe-
male clerks. in hotel offices, arc in vogue
abroad, which VIC may suppose accounts
for the air of quictness which pervades
these institutions,
We arrived at our hotel in the evening,
and after satisfying the inner man, con-
cludcd to take walk up the Strand,
through Temple Bar, now being demol-
ishcd, into old London proper, to get a
view of the famous st. Paurs Cathedral,
by star and gas lights. Its immensity
surprised us, but were disappointed in its
surroundings, as we had imagined and
inferred from numerous plates, that this
Cathedral stood in large open space
But instead, 1t seems cramped by the mar
row streets on all sides, and filed with
high buildings, so that the visitor only gets
view until within few hundred feet or
so from the immense pile. On our ap-
proach, the deep tones of the enormous
bell announced the hour of 8 o'clock,
p NJ. and indicated by the hands of the
town clock, which with the mammoth pro-
portions of the dome piercing tho air to
the height of 1916 feet, and looking down
upon the city, inspired US with awe. This
old and dingy building is the noblest in
the Kingdom, and stands isolated at the
top of Ludgate Hill; its extreme length
is 504 feet, and 296 feet in width. 1t
was opened in 1897, and finished in ITO
and cost $780, 900, the whole work 35
years in construction--being done under
the supervision of one architect, the great
Sir Christopher Wren, and one MASTER