The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-09-20
Correspondence Of sas cburier,1ournal.

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saud's Wax-works-TheZ Zoo.
Correspondence Of tao Courier-Jou-nal.
LONDON, July 80, 1877.
As my stay in London is to be all too
brief, terminating tomorrow, this will
probably be my final communication
from the great wilderness. I shall leave
the city only because can't take it with
me, my negotiations for the purchase Of
it having signally failed. Our party has
just returned from visit to the British
Museum and the $780," The difference
between the two places, in one respect,
is that the former has stuffed its wild an
imals once for all, while the latter stuffs
theirs every day. Even Barnum could
see that the running expenses of the
former are the least. The chief attrac-
ton in the British Museum is its library.
1t probably contains every book worth
storage-room, and, in addition to these,
it serves as tomb for the literary rub
bish of the past in manuscripts which
sleep in dust and mold. The building is
of a gloomy architecture (if there is not
such an order there should be) and dingy,
as are all the public buildings in Lon
don. In the pediment of the center
building there is group of statuary, and
the emblems of the various crafts of this
party have been touched up with gold,
which only brings out the dirt in dis
graceful relief. 1t is the effect of gold
hat-bands on the battered head-pieces of
group of ragged beggars. In sculpture
there is a great deal Of and from the an;
tique,' and as "a matter of course we find
those ubiquitous busts of the Roman En-
perors. One large room is devoted to the
Elgin marbles, the windfalls: from the
Parthenon, carefully picked up by that
skin6int Scotsman, Lord Elgin, an act
which brought forth Byron's tremendous.
satire, ~The Curse of Minerva" 1t, is 8
much-battered and dilapidated, lot, both
men and horses mostly short of noses.
They are supposed to represent the
"palmy days" of Greek sculpture, but, if
the horses are faithful copies, the horse
of that day was totally different from
the modern horse, and went over the
ground with boneless legs and an abso-
lutte deficiency of muscle. Neither Dan
Swigert nor McGrath would have ven
tured ten cents In a pool On these quad
rupeds. The Egyptian room shows
collection of bestial horrors. The British
Museum, however, is grand institution,
and can supply any man, whatever may
be his intellectual cravings, with an ex-'
haustless supply of scientific and archeo-
logical crutches. 1t takes long time
even to skim this enormous institutions,
and the result begets, as everything else
does in London, an appetite for lunch or
dinner. We went to the Horse Shoe
Tavern, built on the site OF an old tavern
of that name, and there found something
American in the restaurant in the form
of gliding and fresco work, "a la Del
monico's," and with prices hopefully
growing towards those of the latter place.
Here / attempted joke upon the highly
respectable young clergyman who waited
upon me and signally failed. 1t was
something like this:
"Bring me slice of unicorn n
"Beg pardon, sir"
Rather underdone, cooked with a
dash of port wine, and a soupcon of red
pepper" ,.uaon :. a..,. .,;.,- -. ), :.
it."
every well; bring me some soup first
and bottle of Chablis."
Twenty times did that clerically-
dressed individual express his regrets
that the house was out of unicorn. He
seemed to think it was misfortune
almost amounting to q disgrace. This
animal, however, is abundant in London,
and can be found over great many shop
doors engaged in violent struggle with
the British lion for stake of five shil-
lings-one crown. If one figures up a
restaurant bill from the price list, he will
be agreeably surprised to find that math-
ematics is not an exact science under the
professorship of the waiter. It viii be
seen from the little mem. furnished that
you have forgotten to allow for the price
of bread, of butter, of mustard and salt,
if the waiter don't forget the last two
items, and that there is a little charge of
one shilling for attendance, which does
not relieve the guest from giving the wait
er sixpence, probably for non.attend-
ance just at the moment one wants one.
This charge of attendance" is the Con-
tinental Service" under new name,
and it has become so fashionable that
even the lodging-house keepers have
adopted it. 1t will probably get over
to America in another year.
Among the pictures to be seen in Lon
don those in the French exhibition are
remarkable for originality of treatment,
and for evidences of the continuous ad-
vancement of the art. i was shown q
picture four by six inches, containing six
or eight full length figures, the faces of
which were not larger than a pea. Seen
through large magnifying glass, they
come out with tremendous force, showing
touches broad, vigorous and mastery,
like those in the best life.size heads of
the late Charles Elliott. The proprietor
of the gallery showed this picture to me
as one of the coming exhibition and not
yet placed in view. He said he thought
he had risked nothing in paying five
hundred pounds for it.
The National gallery, a very large
exterior, of course, contains twenty-odd
rooms full of pictures, mostly of 'old
masters" upon which that conscientious
tar, Nelson, standing upon a column in
the square, consistently turned his back.
This gallery is one of the very few free
exhibitions in London. Even the at.
tendants who check umbrellas and canes
illustrate the beatitudes by expecting
nothing, and are probably the most op-
pressed men in England Through the
twenty and odd rooms the visitor wan
ders in continued astonishment and dis
gust. It is a collection of old, bony
saints, apostles and holy families, defying
art. but stubbornly upholding their
claims to worship, as if the imposition
had not long since been discovered. The
worst vagrants Of the lot wander about
with brass rings floating above their
heads in defiance of gravitation. Others
have brass dinner-plates fastened to the
back Of their skulls. Many of them,
however. never attained the rank of