Los Angeles herald., 1890-11-17
SCENES IN LONDON.
PHASES OF LIFE IN THE ENGLISH
METROPOLIS IN 1890.

City Was Thickly Settled-Great Travel
Over Bridges and Ferries-Amusements
That Pleased the Populace.
Although containing within the bills
of mortality perhaps $4,000 inhabitants,
the English metropolis century ago was
ahuge community, and the city was busy
ut its center and in it's main thorough
fares. London in 1890 did not extend
more than a mile north and south Of st.
Pauls. The houses and gardens at
Hoxton pushed out little further to the
north, and to the south High street,
Southwark, continued through Black
man street to the village of Newington
Butts, with a line of houses reaching to
Remington Common. To the east,
saving fringe of houses on both sides
of the Thames, the town ended at Mile
end gate; to the west it was bounded by
the parks.
The southern portion of the metropo-
lis was even less overbuilt, and more
space was filed with gardens. Besides
the bridges, the river was crossed by
numerous ferries, and there were no
docks but the Commercial; the pool was
crowded with shipping, and its wharves
were busy enough. London bridge, it
was calculated, was daily crossed by
some 10000 persons, and the stream of
life flowed east and west We remem-
Der the saying of DR.. johnson, "Why,
sir, Fleet street has very animated ap-
pearance, but the tide of existence is at
Charing Cross"
The west end of London was well
built, but the old parts of the city were
dingy, close and decaying. The general
condition of London, indeed, was i'm
proving, since the excess of deaths over
births, which had been 1O,995 in 1850,
and 5,519 in ITO, fell in 179O to 1908
That was still bad, but as set off Lon
doners in 1870 had ready access to the
country by every road through the rural
lenvirons East-enders fiocked to Cam
bridge Heath or Bow Common, West
enders to Hyde park or along the river
at Millbank, while to the south lay Ken
nington and Camberwell, and to the
north Islington-long the most noted
popular resort of holiday pleasure.
FEATURES OF THE OLD CITY
In 1890 Islington was full of tea gar
dens, bowling alleys and suburban tav-
erns; the mere list of their names sug-
gests a perpetual fair, more or less noisy,
according to the character of the COM
pany, and especially crowded on Sunday
afternoons, when there was great con-
sumption of buns and beer. On Sunday
mornings the favorite promenade was in
Hyde park, where the fashions in vogue
might be seen; but the place for show
of London society was the Mall in St.
James park. The costumes of gentle
men were often brilliant, and on fine
day the coats of gay colors, the scarlet
waistcoats and the bright attire of the
ladies. all standing out against leafy
background, with a peep of "Queen's
house" in the distance, might have de-
lighted lover of picturesque grouping.
J. Only a few months had passed away
since King George III had recovered
from his sad malady, and the cloud still
hung over a court which at its best was
never very lively. However, in January,
1890, there was an effort to restore the
aspect of magnifcence. The royal dukes
and the aristocracy arrived in coaches
''surpassing," so said the newspapers,
,"anything of the kind ever SEEM" while
those exalted personages were clad in
rich velvet, embroidered with gold, sill
yer and spangles. The public went to
gaze on their glory; but either the peo-
pie looked somewhat unsympathetic or
the officer was peculiarly suspicious, for
the soldiers who surrounded the palace
suddenly backed their horses among the
lcrowd, so as to cause crush and panic.
The season advanced, summer came, and
on June II grand patriotic military
spectacle was got up at the Royal circus.
The death of Gen. Wolfe at Quebec was
represented, with the scenery of the
falls of Niagara and the falls of Mont
morenci, tableaux of the French army
and the Indian warriors, concluding
with Gen. Wolfe expiring in the arms
of Victory.
SPECTACULAR ENTERTAINMENTS.
On July II new piece was brought
out, called "The Triumph of Liberty; or
The Destruction of the Bastille," which
apparently proved more successful, foi
on Aug. s Astley's came out with "The
Confederation at the Champ de Mars,
In which an attempt was made to repro
duce the pomps of the recent grand polit-
ical ceremony in Paris. At the other end
of'the town the much frequented theatre
at Sadler's Wells produced spectacle Of
the same subject, calling it ''The Champ
de Mars; or, Loyal Federation" in which
tire whole affair was set forth in series
of tableaux, beginning with the activity
lof the citizens in preparing the ground
their joyous loyalty shown at the visit O.
the king, and ''the striking and orderl,
manner in which the great business o
1.-THE day was conducted" Finally th'
Royal circus, having led the way, wa
not to be outdone, but again entered th'
lists with this popular subject, emitting
lit ssThe French Jubilee" and made 1
few striking points omitted by the othel
theatres.
A feature characteristic Of 1890 wa
the performance of these spectacles of thu
contemporary revolutionary incidents
put on the stage to crafty public feeling
which had more serious exponents. Their
j,roo cocio+v in London deriving if