The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-12-25


old gateways, and we enjoyed wandering
through the apartments, looking at all
the old pictures, among them the line
but fraii beauties of the court of Charles
III. William III added much to the
palace, and laid out the lovely grounds
after the French fashion. Under glass
is kept an immense grape vine lOO years
old, the stem is nearly as large as a tree.
The famous maze is not very large, the
paths are divided by thin growths of
evergreen, but it is very difficult mat
ter to find ones way in, and when in to
get out again.
! The Thames, here a stream little larger
than the Walloomsac, is very pretty,
while numerous boating parties tioated
over the quiet water Most of the Eng
/ lish streams are of this placid pastoral
character, very pretty with their grassy
banks and overbanging trees, and it is
wonderful what an amount of boating
the English get out of the insignificant
little streams, at which Americans turn
up their noses.
From Hampton Court we drove |
through Bushy Park, great grassy ex-
panse full of enormous chestnut trees |
planted by William III; the driveway
across was lined with grand specimens,
We visited the well known "Star and |
Garter" hotel at Richmond, famous for |
dinners, finding great modern looking |
hotel on the top of steep bank above
the Thames, with wonderfully beauti- |
full outlook over the loveliest wooded |
country imaginable. A mile from Rich
mond is Kew Gardens, a very large and |
level tract of land covered with trees of
almost all known varieties that will |
stand the climate, and a large number of |
greenhouses filled with all sorts of |
plants, The great palm house" is full |
of tropical grOwths, among them the |
giant ferns like those that formed our
coal deposits. What | was most desir-
GUS to see was the gigantic water lily the
Victoria Regia from South America; the |
great leaves four feet in diameter with
edges upturned over an inch, were won /
derful, although the plant was not in
blossom.
The ride in from Kew on top of tram
car and omnibus is extremely pleasant. |
A railway ride of 25 miles through one
of the lOveliest of English landscapes
brought us to Windsor, and to Windsor
Castle, incomparably the finest castle
or royal residence we saw. 1t
stands on hill above the town, an i'm
mense series of buildings, surrounding |
several courts, and the succession of |
walls, towers, and battlements is very
pleasing to the eye. The place is open
to the public only when the Queen is
away, and as she was then at Balmoral
Castle in Northern Scotland, we availed
ourselves of the fact. The Queen lives
in apartments about the inner guadran
gle, to this part of the building no stran-
| nH Hu1it nt 10 vic
from this side of the Castle overlooks
the Queens private driveway, the small
park, and the great Windsor Park on the
hills beyond. st. Georges chapel is the
place where all the ceremonies connected
with that order take place; unfortunate
ly it was undergoing repairs, so we only
had glimpse of the interior. The
Memorial chapel to Prince Albert is one
of the most magniticen tombs | ever be-
held, all lined with the richest marbles,
that lining the sides has been engraved
by foreign artist and a young lady
pupil, sort of work | have seen no
where else; it is exceedingly beautiful
and very delicate; all the subjects are
from the Bible. The vaulted roof is
richly decorated with Mosaics. From
the top of the great tower, 200 feet above
the Thames, where is the staff from
which floats the great standard when the
Queen is at Windsor, is obtained the
most charming of views over the castle
and town, the lovely wooded landscape,
the winding river, the beautiful park be-
yond, and Just across the river the build
, ings of the famous English school, EtOn.
1t is really astonishing how ignorant the
English people are of the various objects
of interest in their own country.
| Z
half dozen men about different
things in sight, but not one of them could
/, give the desired information, they were
! totally ignorant: | finally found out by
! asking the soldier on guard.
{ A large white house standing in the
D midst of fine old trees, about two miles
9 away, proved to have been the residence
{ of William Penn before he came to
y America. Across the Atlantic almost
i everything has some historical assOcia-
| ton. The State apartments are very
: handsome, but not particularly wonder
v full. but the outlook from the windows,
g over river and lovely country,is especially
, beautiful.
h Queen Vics chair of state was an OBJ
: ject of awe to her subjects, but as we
D owed Mrs. Victim no allegiance, we left
the castle are manv apartments like
5 small houses, which the queen lends to
/ those of her friends whom she desires
: O honor The royal news or stables are
!. very fine, hundreds of splendid horses
y stand in the various apartments, at this
y time many of them were with the queen
S in Scotland. A groom i'll livery con
g Quoted us through the various buildings
s which we found exceedingly neat, and
all the animals were in such splendid
g condition.
u We dined at one Of the old inns, Gu
= riosity in itself, so queerly arranged and
y y everything so quaint. Attached to the
" general station on the Great Western
y railway is a small station for the sole ust
- of the royal family, they use this railway
v as rule, although there is another line
y TO London.
70 We left London with regret, for it is
h most fascinating city, smoky anC
:. gloomy as it is If they would only pain
n the houses the SCOT would not stick SO t
. them; did not see a single house II
Il that great city that was painted. Th'
" mansions of the nobility, of which 81
N frequent mention is made, are all exceed
% ingly plain and dingy, in fact all th
~ houses seem to have been built on th
"a same pattern. They are just beginning
II to put up buildings with some attemp
at architecture, neither business nor resi-
10 dence buildings can begin to compar
m with those of American cities. Bosto
ps is very like London in some ways, tn
~ crooked narrow streets, and the curiou
ye little by ways, streets by courtesy, are
n the same style; it is wonderful what nal
H. row alleys are great th0roughfares, an
- =, of hueinaGG ig done /
ID many of them. | fornd large numbe
es of the principal banks in buildings SUI
go rounding an interior court, which wa
al like going into some ones yard, it woul
n be hard to get American banks to occup
IN such quarters.
m The beaver hat is very noticeable o
he the London streets, but not as much S
IT. as formerly; il looked very funny to Sc
al boys OF 10 going to school wearing sue
af hats. | did not see single man smol
on ing cigar on the streets while was i
hit London, and rarely even a cigarette, br
as briar-wood pipes were almost as numei
ne GUS as cigars are here; the Londo
lie cigars are very poor and the tobacco
of particularly good
M think London can discount even Ne
tn York in the matter of saloons and drinl
It's ing; the women 60 TO the bars thel
,at almost as much as the men, n division
all made of the bar so as to have q specii
we place for the gentlSr sex, very sligl
nv division though, and they can be plainl
ID seen from the street in almost any of IL
te- saloons, as they stand there drinking.
an We had glimpse Of Whitechapel, bl
ly. it is far from being such tough lookin
mn locality as | expected TO find; the place
is where all the deviltry goes ON are most