The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-04-29
sTOURNAL.
LONDON STREET CHARACTERS.
by GEORGE NJ. TowLE.


exclusively with the material works o
man, instead Of observing man him
self la gazing at cathedrals, castles
and palaces, they are prone to forge
that right about them is the most Gu
rious sight ofall-a community whose
manners and customs, In little things
ire new to them and should be mos
Interesting. To my mind, it is far
more interesting 20 vide on the top oil
ln omnibus. in London, from Kent
ID town to Charing Cross, than TO
Wander through Westminster Palace,
Or TO climb to the cross OF st. Paul g.
Tor from that eyrie, as it were, you
nay gaze down upon an ever varying
md shifting panorama, which shows
e0u in turn the many-sided phases OF
tho London character. Here IS the
eOckney, the shopkeeper-what the
French call u peHplc-en masse. You
zee a thousand faces-all unmistaka.
bly, English. rudy, hardy, straight
forward aud practical-yet faces which
toll tales Of widely divergent traits
and for each Of whom you may com.
pose a separate history. How differ.
emit are they from our own Yankee
physiogH omy-and how different from
iho sallop .sprightly Frenchmen and
women The shops, too, have great
interest, with their inexhRustible va
riety Of wares, many of them quite I'M
familiar 10 the Yankee eye. And
here let me note that of lato you see
many more Yankee nieknacks and In e
vontions in the London shops than
you used to. 1.-THE last American
wonder" stares me everywhere in the
face as / pass the great advertisement
boards on the Holborn Viaduot and
harrington street; here and there my
eyes fall upon THE great Yankee in
y8ntion- the patent gridiron !"
American bar-room- all the last
Now York mixed drinksl" Real
American negro troupe--consistiDg Of
former slaves in the Southern States"
and so on ad ininitum. You have
NO idea Of the interest which the Lon
doners OF late-sinoe the war-take in
W meriean affairs. American books
are sold everywhere; you find Amer
lean papers in every newsroOm and
hotel; Members Of Parliament are
constantly quoting America as an IL
iu3tration of this or that policy; and
American Jokes form the staples Of
three quarters Of tho fun" columns
90 the weekly journals
EARLY MORNING CALLERS.
To return to the London streets,
for / have wandered q little from
them every city has its peculiar
sounds and sights; but in order to
hear and see them, you must not 60
10 a sluRgard. You must take Poor
Richard s advice, and be up betimes.
7 is in the early morning that many
0l che London institutions" which
have been instituted these many CEN
turtles, arc to be studied. The poor
folks who administer so many Of the
little comforts to the Londoner-the
early morning callers" as they are
named hy the Londoners themselves
must turn out Of bed in the small
hours Of the morning, while their pat
rons are lazily ensconsed among their
feathers and pillows. Among the I'M
fashionable morning calls, 60 which
Che London households are liable, il is
hard to say which has the precedence
perhaps it is the sweep, or the wash
orwoman, or the ch0ri0oman, who has
come by the earliest dawn Of n mid
summer morning to begin turning the
AUA1H UuN " MAnAVMdt nAAARAAh &hh
rubbing and moving furniture from
collar to garrett. The sweep, If he is
The Grst on the spot, begins his hoarse
morning song by starlight, to the ac'
companiment-nOt so very grateful TO
tho inmates--of the street door-bell
aud knOcker. He rings and rings.
iugiug all the while, snow or no snow
until the bolts are drawn, the door.
chain falls and he is heard stamping
his way down stairs. Soon there is a
portentious rumbling heard near your
head, through the wall, as If bricks
and mortar were parting company; 1t
IN tho sweeps many jointed broom
clearing the chimuey's throat; itrakes
and gcrapes aud rakes from fireplace
% roof without cessation, and you
must bid good by to your second
sweet nap" for that morning at least
Ills work over, the sooty operator
u0o kets his pay, shoulders his bag
aud you may hear his shrill, hoarse
cry, as he recedos from the house. On
Monday mornings you have no peace
for here is the washerwoman. The
London washerwoman has not, to put
inc point on it. the patience of Job,
NOR even of the chimney sweeps. She
has no notion Of standing out there in
Tho mist aud fog, while the servant
lazily puts on her dress. She rings q
stout, sharp loud peal, and before that
has quite died out, she pulls at il
again; aud, that still changing, she
rrasps the knoeker and drives her as.
eau.t home by thud which startles
every soul from his bed. The good
lady docs nothing by halves, and i
hSing Just now her object to get into
tba house, she loses no energy il
aohieving her purpose. Besides, af
ter her long walk through the mingled
for aud darkness. she wants that genia
Gun oftea--tea that universal resort o
the British matron, from Duchess L
bcggar-which is 20 preface her Ions
days work, and the making of which
w be the first thing that she will at
Send to after lighting the kitchen firt
Ia duty Of which she always relieve.
Bddy on washing days. If the wor
thv woman, after penetrating the
house, finds things to her mind, yoU
hear nothing more Of her; but If any
ching perohaBce goes wTong-lf tn,
cup of tea proves failure, or the wa
tcr butt is frozen, or tho fue is smok.
then she takes strong measure will
her tongue, which is, you may be sure
capable organ.
CHARwOMAN AND MILKMAN.
The oharwomau is a far humble
Individual. She has been knocked
about the world too much to hav
auch boldness or self-assertion. Hel
wandering life. shifts, and privation
have taken a fne British quality o
assertion quite out of her. Sh,
- generally the widow Of some work
iae man, who has left her with
small family, in whose support an,