The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-11

IL looked as III SatIIaSSo nv 80. :, IL, a,,d
,t"and tho poijshed grani.e columns OF
- ~, ,an,n,errfni nalace were visible In the
onnrt within. Over The gateway was 2 |
small s,rn, which read g George iard.
oa,, oniv he necessary TO remind the reauss
os Charles Dickens that In George iaru,
Jorni,ard street, stood the George ana sus
tnra Tavern. where Dir. Plckwick anu Saui
~ eI,or fo,,ati during the greater part Oh Ins
t;ma covered by the published narra.ive VI
tha;r !, adventures EVERY good, old.tashioheo,
oa,,,,ort ,a,le qua rters" ] did not expectto
coo = tr.re OF the old tavern, but went III.
The cosarh-yard has been turned INTO e4ean'
narrow. payed court. The new stoue puilu-
ires which Lift their tall fronts arousa II re.
mind YOU OF a row OF expensive oMees ~
Wa1 street. Hpstler, and BOOTS, ara 1rim
chsmbermaid have given Place 10 prokers
a.' - tho, rard. so crowded md elbowed
hu snowy Offices that only a fragment OF 1t
Tho breadth of one window-peens around
The corner of an alley, Is a house, of: more
modest. asxect, upon which read the DALI
effacedi sign of !" The George and Fhihire
Tavern The part that ia visible from the
court scans to have been renewed, or stuc-
cord 3syt passing around Ito the othcS sldc
7 fou,l,a blackened brick walls and o}S-fash-
ioned Eindows, wslich the historian OF the
PickysiSk Club may well have had IN his
mind when he sSetchea the tavern. Inc
oro,.nd floor has been much changed.
The cof1ee-roow, enlarged by the out
growth OF an eXcresccnce Hkc fu'ton-
3!aSSet coffee-stall, is now choi,-house OF
the slam-bang variety, with fresh OAK
w;anscoting and a general fasor OF new
ness. On one side rs a huge broillng-ranse,
wstb cook in white cap and apron; oppo-
size the. door, in little enclosed bar, STANDS
= ib,,xom landlady attended By an imp OF
rot-boy. In a corner is an open window
with "a wooden barrier in front OF it, and
1ere. into seine Kind OF invisible bin. the,
irantic walters toss the unconsGmed frag-
ments before they "chuck" the dirty plates
to the scullion. I sat opposite commercial
gent who was shovellng peas, ana ate ID!
chop from q platter Of timed iron. ms
was the city eatlpg-house of one OF the
later novels rather than the quiet tavern OF
en- earlier time; yet found no great din
cuIty in restoring to my own satisfaction
the features Of the original inn, and imasin-
ing that it was up the staircase which no"
leads right into the eating-room that the
Sheriff's officer forced his way past sam
Weller on the morning when Mr.. Pickwick
VAS taken from the George and Nuturc to
the Fleet. Probably WAS quite wrong in
all my funcies but l came out with such
a lively sense OF the reality Of the noVellst5
character that I was not Ill the least sur
prsed when saw painted in large letters
over the door OF mercantile establishment
of decorous' appearance, at NO. Fen
church street, the sign Dombev ~ Son."
The monument rearing its ridiculous nead
a few blocks away reminded nc that LOO
gers'S commercial clearinghouse ought 10
be near at hand. have seen, up bcSncarcu
lanes in the city, great many commercial
boarding-houses which answer To inc de-
scription Of that famous abode. They lurk
in blind. and forgotten alleys, aud the pro-
prietors have singular habit Of putting up
little illegible signs in places where nobody
can discover thcm except after perseyering
search. [ came upon one OF these secret
sienboards over the inner side OF an
archway, where it could only be seen
bv person coming away from the
house. II had failed to single out from
among numerous dingy places OF the sort
the particular one which was graced by Tie
services OF young Bailey and honored ny
the patronage OF Mr.. Pecksniff, | consolcd
myself BY recalling the remark OF the nov
cllst that nobody ever found Todgers's W
verbal direction. :. You couldn't walk
about iu Todgers's neighborhood as you
could in any other ncighborhood-you
CROPPED your way for an hour through lanes,
and by,ways, and court-yards, and pas
sages, and you never once emerged upon
anything that might reasonably be called
street. 4 kind OF resigned distraction
came over the stranger rs he trod those
devious mazes, and, giving himself up 1oT
lost, went in and out and round about ana
quietly turned back again when he came
to dead wall or was stopped by an
iron railing, aud felt that the means OF e.
cape might possibly present. themselves IN
ther" own good time, but that to anticipate
them was hopeless" The same flavor OF
bruised and musty oranges which the his
torian of "Martin Chnzzlewit" noticed
still hangs about this mysterious region;
great stores OF damp fruit must he rottlng
in the silent warehouses; I wandered up
and down the steep lanes and never lost tue
sense Of mildewcd oranges until 1 came TO
the river, and BiIlingsgate overpoWereu all
other smells with the fragrance Of fish.
Then I gave up Todgcrs's, and, climbing
flight of stone stairs, crossed London
Bridge, in search OF Sam Weller and the
White-Heart Iun. j. r. G. Il.