Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-10-10
WHOLE NO. 1852.

LoudOu iofiuze, anu see the uneHu
ing stream OF human beings and ON
nibuses which flows by. On one side
of the exchange is the Bank of Eng
!, land and Oh the other the Mansior
House.
! The Bank of England covers eigh,
acres OF ground, has no onttide win
dows,.is fortress which has with.
stood several sleges, has a capital oil
70,000,o 900 and employs nearly 900
clerks. Obtaining permission to visi,
the vaults we see gold in heaps as
| plenty as iron in a blacksmith shop.
We look over q railing into a court
and see two men with pulley lifting
bags of gold into wagon, and IN one
of the many rooms wonderful little
machine which weighs $4,000 gold
peices day, and picks out every one
which does not come mp to the re
quired weight. In the Royal Ex-
chang are some of the oldest insur-
ance companies in the world and also
the offices of the celebrated "LlcYds,"
the ship insurers, whose "Ii;st" is au-
thority everywhere in ship matters.
Near the exchange is a fina statue of
George Peabody, the distinguished
American merchant. On the opposite
side Of the open space is the Mansion
House, the official residence of the
Lord Mayor of London, and where at
his princely entertainments the high
est mobiles in the land can be found.
Not far from mere is the Old Tow
er which in former times was prison
and fortress, but is now used as .
military curiosity shop and armory,
and contains also the royal Jewels,
valued at about SIS, 100000. It takes
the best part of day to go through
the tower with the gorgeonsly dressed
official guides. 1t is especially of in
terest as the prison and place of exc
cution Of hundreds of England's no.
blest men aud women. Lady Jane
Grey, Anne Bolyn, Raleigh, and
many q princess Of England's royal
family were put to death OH Tower
Hill The Horse Armory which is
one ofthe finest known collections OF
ancient armory, contains rich suits
displayed on equestrian statues, and
arranged in chronological order, many
| of them the very ones worn by the
kings whose rsigns they represent. In
the armory are also breech loading
| guns, revolvers, executioners axes and
beheading blocks all from early times
and curious ancient and modern wea-
pons from all parts of the world.
| Within the walls OF the old Tower
there has been enacted enough of ro-
nance and tragedy to furnish mater
ial for volumes.
Opposite the Tower is the entrance
to the tunnel under the Thames, a
dark, damp, circular iron hole, seven
feet IN diameter, always to be avoid
ed if possible. Walking along the
bank of the river we soon come to the
commodious Custom House buildings
and Just beyond the Bilingsgate fish,
market, so graphically and trnthfnlly
described by Dickens. 1t is well
worth ones time to visit it from 5 to
o'clock in the morning, and see and
hear the indiscriminate mixture Of
| fish, profanity, old women aud slang.
Fifteen minutes of it one summers
morning was. all we wanted. Just
across the street in one of the cheap
temperance restaurants, of which
there are many in London, we had a
great bowl Of coffee and sand wich
which would make meal for small
family for two pence. Not far from
here is the monument, 200 feet high,
built on the spot where the great fire
of 1866 commenced. Near Billings.
gate is the celebrated London Bridge
which cost 81 900, 900 and is probab
ly the most crowed bridge in the
world, as it is estimated that 5000
persons and 900 vehicles cross it per
hour during the middle of the day.
Taking one of the swift Thames
steamers at London Bridge, we 90
rapidly along the river under the
many fine bridges which span it, past
Cleopatra's needle, which is Just as
suming an upright position on the en-
bankment and land at Westminster
Bridge which is larger and finer than
London Bridge, and are only few
yards from Westminster Hall and the
Houses Of Parliament. The hall con-
tains one of the largest rooms in Eu-
rope under one roof, and several
apartments in which we found the
high courts in session, while il tha
| House of Lords we found COMMITTEES
of that body sitting as Supreme
Court. On former visit we had the
pleasure of attending a session of the
famous Tichborne trial, which was
held in one Of these courts. The Par
lament House joins Westminster
| Hall, and is beautiful and substan-
tial structure. The chambers Of the
Commons and the Lords are at op.
posite ends of a fine ball, and are SIM
liar with the exception that the
House of Lords is elegantly furnish
ed while the Commons has none of
the conveniences for the use of MEM
bers to which we are accustomed in
America, not even places for writing
at the long benches on which the
members SIT.
Near this is Westminster Abbey a
not very noticeable structure, but vet
one Of the most interesting buildings
in Europe, both on account of its an.
tiquity and the illustrious names asso
ciated with it. The Abbey was found
ed by King Sebert, she Saxon in GIG,
and has been used especially as bu-
rial place Of English Kings and dis
tinguished men and women. 1t would
take the entire limits Of this letter to
simply enumerate those who have
been honored with burial here, and
we can only say that within its walls
lie thirteen sovereigns and fourteen
queens, extending over period of
more than 1900 years. In the Poets
Corner are the greater part of Eng
lands well known literary names,
from Chaucer to Charles Dickens,
whose tablet is in the pavement. In
another part of the building, happen
| ing TO look on tie pavement by our
feet. we're cut in small letters, 40 Rare
u ~, Toroo., - s.