Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-02-10
OUR LONDON LETTER.
The Weather, Smoke Abatement,
Exhibition, Tramways. 0m-
nibuSes. and their Driy-
PrS.
Described by our Foreign Correspond
ent.
LONDON, Jan. 18th, 1882.

LONDON, Jan. 18th, 1882.
A year ago tc-1ay London lay
paralyzed under what the newspa-
pers were pleased to call an ''artiC
winter" Snow had fallen to the
depth of about twelve inches, and
the wind blowing a regular gale
from the southwest had piled it III
drifts all along the streets and
against the fronts of the houses. It
was an experience London was I'M
used to. Business was for the time
blocked, all conveyances stopped
running and hundreds of thousands
of people, myself amongst the num-
Der had to walk four or five miles
home. Londoners now speak OF
that time almost with awe, and any
one daring to speak lightly of the
storm, as having been not such a
bad one" is looked upon with dis
trust. did not a man walk home
to Wandsworth that terrible night
and find the front of his house
blockaded, and did not his wife
throw the fire shovel out of the Sec
ond story window in order that he
might dig his way into his front
door," When that blood curdling
question is thrown at ones head,
there is nothing to do but subside,
and stop that Yankee habit Of
Boosting"
| started out however, to draw a
comparison between this, and last
January. This year there has been
neither snow nor frost. Flowers
even, are still in bloom in the open
air, and from the south coast and
the Isle of Wight come most won
derful stories of strawberries and
early vegetables. To-day however,
there has been a dense, raw fog,
probably a preliminary to the Sc
we're snow storm, which the New
York Herald promises for to-mor-
row. Great faith is placed in the
Heralds forecasts and, in fact, they
seem generally to be very nearly
right. 1t is very notifying to thus
depend on the Yankees for the
weather, as well as for meat and
-four.
The weather is always good sub.
ject for the beginning OF letter
when there is nothing else to write
about, and there seems to be very
little else just at present, with the
exception Of the mysterious muir.
ders" shocking accidents" and sin
gular poisoning cases" which are
now 50 plentiful. Everyone is look
ing forward to the opening Of Parli-
ament with great interest. 1t was
first limited that the Queen in person
would open it, but she is not going tc
do so, evidently thinking that as she
appeared on like occasion two
years ago, there is no need of hel
showing herself again SO soon. The
Prince of Wales and the other mem
bers of the royal family are not sc
chary of showing themselves to the
people, and can often be seen at the
theaters, or driving in the Wes
End.
There is rather an interesting
exhibition now on at South Ken
sington-the smoke abatement ex
hibition. It's object is to improve
the manner of heating Englisl
houses, and at the same time to dc
away with a part of the smoke
which at this time of the year un
der the name of fog beats dowr
upon London and renders life ;
burden to those not blessed will
strong lungs. There are many kind.
of improved CRATES shown, i'll which
economy and warmth as well a
beauty seem to have been aimed at
As it is now, the ordinary Englisl
CRATE is said to waste something owe
IS per cent, which waste of course
goes up the chimney, besides doing
very little towards the heating o
the room. 1t looks very pretty, anc
gives the head of the family unlim
tied chances FOR poking the fire, bu
does little else. Many Of the stoves
shown are very pretty especially
those made by Doulton & Co They
are made of tiles and look very
much like some of the "crockery
stoves seen on the continent. Ca
and anthracite coal are the only kinds
of fuel used at the exhibition, If ga.
can be called fuel. The authraclt,
comes from Wales, and with sam
pie from one of the mines is sta
toned Welsh woman in genuin,
Welsh peasant costume, which
not very attractive in itself still
draws peoples attention, and has tn,
desired eff,ct of making them lool
at the coal. The Welsh high beav
er hat or bonnet looks very ode
perched on the top of the womani
white cap. But to continue, ther,
are a number of American stove
shown but they are not creditabl,
specimens, and are not liked. The,
are acknowledged to be good 10
heating purposes but their appear
ance is against them. People VIII,
have been used to pretty, open CRATE
will always object to n closed stove
and especially to its ugly stovepipe
{ 1t will always be a difficult matte
to be seeker after the beautiful
and believer in comfort as well.
l fancy some people would OBJ
ject very much if it were found pos
, sible to rid London of its fogs
They say the place never looks s.
well as when seen through a veil @
tan-colored atmosphere. All tn
most common place streets ant
houses take on a weird look that j
so fascinating, 50 suggestive of pref
ty symphonies in brown of Whist
Ter etchings on a mammoth scale
SO far II is all very well, but let tn
tan-colored veil become the smut,
! dark brown one, which gets up one
nose and down ones throat, and ha
such decided smell and TASTE anG
power of coloring ones face up Il
Its own standard; then the most ar
dent admirer will soon find that h
could do without it altogether, IS
pecially if he has been nearly over
turned by some profane ''cabby" o
q