Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-01-07
LONDON STREET LIFE.
Some Aspects and Features Peculiar to
the English Metropolis.

Some Aspects and Features Peculiar to
the English Metropolis.
London has, in addition to its police
and fire brigade, a third force of officials
controlled by the city. This is the
'.shoeblack brigade" 1t is set of
boys almost grown to manhood, who
are regularly licensed by the city to
black boots on the public streets, and I
believe they have monopoly of this
business. They are all uniformed in
bright scarlet jackets, and are a very
respectable brigade. 1t is pity this
English feature was not sent across to
America years ago in place of the Eng
lish sparrow brigade, which has be-
come such a pest all over the north of
the United States. Strange as it seems
to an American, the pestiferous English
sparrow is still beloved in his ma
tive home, and right in the heart
of London are thousands of the
little birds. Common pigeons
abound in London also. There is res
idence in Ely Place, half mile from ST.
Paul's Cathedral, where the pigeons
flock daily for food, which is given them
by bird-loving lady. The pigeons are
public property, but they know their
friend, and it is interesting to watch
them while feeding from her hands. 1t
seems as though there must be Emil
lions" of them (according to Colonel
Sellers), and they fly around the lady,
upon her shoulders and head, until they
almost hide her from view. 1t is i'm
possible for her to keep them out of the
sack containg the grain which she feeds
them; and often she has to lift them
out by the armload. The feeding of the
pigeons at Ely Place has become so well
known to Londoners that scores and
sometimes hundreds of people assemble
to witness it.
The streets of London Except in the
suburbs) are not cut up with car tracks,
but in place of street cars they have a
kind of two-story omnibus-larger than
the American omnibus, and not quite so
wide us street car. 1t will hold at least
twenty inside. At the rear winding
stairway leads up to the roof, where
there are seats to accommodate about
fifteen or sixteen people. These are oc-
eupied by ladies as well as gentlemen.
Two strong horses have no difficulty in
pulling this great load over the smoothly
cemented thoroughfares. l find the
same thing in Paris also, but here it is
even larger than in London. The Ameri-
can rule of the highway: keep to the
right" is sometimes reversed, and in
England the song is then: Ever to the
left, boys; ever to the left"
Hacks waiting for customers do not
stand by the curb, but are drawn up in
line in the middle of the widest streets,
such as Holborn or High Holborn
streets pronounced ''Ob'n' and.
''lob'n' by the Londoner), the Strand
or Regent Street. In the center of the
carriageway also are large ornamental
gas-posts, protected from vehicles by
posts set in at radius of about four
feet. These form sort of oasis in the
midst of the street, and make con-
venient retreats for persons hemmed in
by vehicles while attempting to cross
the streets. In each of these midway
GASES is policeman, whose duty it is to
see that all vehicles going south keep on
one side and all going north on the
other side of this dividing line.-Lon-
don Cor. Charleston NesUs.