New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-23
THE RECORD OF FIFTY YEARS
"REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNALIST.
BY CHARLES T. coNGDoN,
XIV
IN AND ABOUT THE STRAND.


IN AND ABOUT THE STRAND.
nHIpING CRoss-sT MARTINS IN THE FIELDs-
LODGINGS AND LODGERs IN CRAVEN sTREET-AN
AMERICAN MISUNDERSTANDING CROSS CON-
yENIENr POSITION FOR TRAvELLERs-THE
STRAND IN THE MORNING, AT NOON AND AT
NIGHT.
The first thing which one discovers in London
is the Strand. Ii an American could glance
at no more than Charing Cross ana IraIa,g ;al
would be worth seeing. Nothing OF Dr' J oilh-
sons has been Oftener quoted than MS saying
that q the full tide Of existence is at Charlng
Cross" To me that neighbOrhOOd, Gull1g my
brief stay in London, became s0metnlnS nv
home. i knew the shops and the shOe-Dlacks'
the post office station, the street StgIs Hot
stopped there, the fine statue OF Cnlrles ~ s9V
down in my historical memory as tne leasI az.
mirable of kings / could at any time see uhe
S1uare which perpetuates the fame OF Nelson,
and the heavy, and may say, mdeOus granite
fountains which tell of the greatest OF sea-
fights, not likely to be forgotten even II those
structures should disappear. There is statue OF
the hero which is as bad as anything OF the kln9
III the United States and that is SAVING eOCIu
deal The majestic lions of Sir EDWIN Lanu-
seer, at the foot Of the column, do much 10 re-
deem it and if the spectator cares 10 IeCait .t
elegant glOres of the Regency, he may ieast
his eyes upon CbantreY's image OF George me
Fourth upon horseback Fortunate WOu,d II
have been for England II he could only nave
again. There is SO much that is clumsy and
distasteful about Charing Cross, so much OF inc
poDdelOus architecture OF railway Stanons anu
hotels that the beautiful church OF ST. Martma
in the Fields strikes you as an lhteIp4stlOm Ht
Divine Providence. Upon the whole, thought
It the finest ediiicc of the kind III all LONDON
Its Grecian pOrticO is really Greclan; lis pro-
pOrtiOns are full OF grace. cOulu go over
there from my lodgings in Craven-st; TO say a my
PRAYERS, when had any to say, with per1ect
satisfaction and as breakfast Is always late III
London, and as there is regular morning ser
vice in st. Martins, l was frequently one OF INC
two or threen there gathered together. But
it was almost literally two or three" Inc
great musical bell swung out its summons 10
little purpose. There were two cleIgymen 10
read the prayers for five or six wOrshlppers-9
myself. really do not think that ever saw
SO many as ten at morning prayer. AS tney
came down the magnificent steps after service,
they looked indeed like "a spared remnant, I
moor Nell Gwynne, who was buried from TINS
Church. and had an Archbishop to preach her
fnneral sermon. "Don't let poor Nell starye,"
was the dying request of Charles the Sec4rd TO
that bigoted brother of his, the Duke of York
and it was surely something that the most sell
fish of Merry MOnarchs thought OF bis orange
girl at that supreme moment. Wnen tie peils
rang O merry peal, they recalled the lovely
saved was bequeathed to the bell ringers; and
I Thought, too, of Sir Peter Lely's delicious
portraits, and found it difficult, indeed, to get
these out of my head while was saying my
The little street called Craven, which runs
from Charing Cross to the Thames embank-
ment, full of stuffy hotels and highly. respect
able lodging houses, is dear TO Americans De
cause the sage and phIlOsOphic Franklin once
resided in it. An inscription upon the mouse
which he occupied commentaries the TACT and
as went by it every morning, patnOtlcally
took off my hat, and improved the opportunity Oh
akaf IN
thing was so little changed that could almost
see him coming out of the door in the base
ment, in his cooked hat and knee breeches, and
strolling down to the river to take wheTry fof OF
an entirely different kind lived for while in
CraVen-st., and in the very house IN winch
was lodged This was Mr.. Brown, otherwise
and widely known as ATtemus Ward. OF him
fine kind ladies who kept the house often spoke
with respectful regret, with many illusions to
his amiable character. / did not know until
heard the facts from them, how great bad been
his success as a comic lecturer in London; and
they spoke with pardOnable PRIDE OF the
equipages which stood before their door, while
the noble owners were paying their respects 70
the American humOrlst. They told me- 100 OF
the large audiences which were attracted by
MIR. Browns peculiar entertainment, and how
when they themselves attended it, they found
1t almost impossible TO get in. Yet there was q
touch of tragedy in the narrative. during all
this remarkable popularity, and while he was
thus feted and feasted, and enthusl astlcally APP
handed. moor Brown was dying, life being kept
in him only by the constant and liberal use OF
stimuIants 1t was the old story over again.
While his queer and quaint humOr was throw
ing his phlegmatic London audience into con-
WILSON'S of laughter, he was himself often IN
the last stage of physical exhaustion. II was
indeed dreaTy fate TO die thus far from home,
though stranger hands were kind and helpful
and all was done which could be done to smooth
the pathway of this man Of genius to the grave.
They spoke of another American, OF whom
80 enOIn nulI
nent forger, who with his family resided in the
house. and who was taken ont of it one night
by detectives, leaving that family in state Of
great want and wretchedneSs, with hardly
enough to eat, as i was informed. Nothing SO
scandalOus had ever befallen the lodgings of
the Misses - before, but | will do them the
justice to say that their sympathy was greater
than their indignation. Ihey dldn't much IKE
it that their most respectable house should have
been watched for several weeks by Mr.. Bucket
and his assistants, but that did not prevent
them from being heartily sorry for these, dis
tressed ladies III strange land. was little
American citizen; but picked up wonderfully
when found that the beef which VIC had for
dinner, and which everybody was praising, was
the Yankee Doodle meat, born II not fatted
under the star-spangled banner
If might advise American travellers intend
ing to stop q little while in London, Should re-
commend them to set up their pro tempOre
tent somewhere In the vicinity OF Charng
Cross They may go to Morley's Hotel if they
please, and If they are unrestricted by consider
atiOns of finance but nobody in London lives
long at hotel, partly because such life 10 re-
pugnant to English notions of domestic privacy,
and partly because, pinch as You may, 1t is ex
pensive. Charing' Cross will be found, if
rooms are taken there, specially central point
from which excursions may be taken In all di
rections with maximum of convenience. A
very comfortable room, according to English
notions of comfort, may be had for about half
sovereign week-we will say So il, Federal
currency. A trihe must be added for that most
mysterious thing called attendance, but in our
house there was gas In the apartments, and con-
seQuently no absurd charge for candles There
was breakfast, which we took as matter OF
course at home, and which costs about a quarter