The morning call., 1893-05-28
THE STRAND, LONDON.

who his not heard of the Strand, the great
main thorouglfare OF London?
From early morning till past midnight it Is
more frequented than any other street in the
great METROPOLIS.
You would almost imagine the London
Strand to be he main artery of the world. 1t
is duub ful If there is another thotoughfare on
the face of the earth where tn stream OF
human life runs with ;ide so overwhelming.
In any other street In the world you a. able
to catch he eye ot the passer-bY. In the
Strand, no man see another except as a solid
body. whose contact is TO be avoided.
You are safe nowhere on the pavement with
out all the Wig gilance of your senses. OmniDuses
and cabs, drays, carriages wheelbArrows and
porters beset the street.
Newspaper bawkers, pickpockets, shopboys,
coalheayers and perpetual and selfish crowd
dispute the sidewalk.
II you venture 10 look at anything In a shop
window you arrest the tide of pede -trians, who
fmm diately walk over you and If you stop 10
speaK TO friend. who by chance has run his
nose against yours rather Than another mans,
YOU impede the way and are made to under
stand it by he force of jostling.
Looking at 1t in the early morning, when there
is no great traffic, even now the great street Is
lar from unpcturesque Its houses, protecting
receding. still oInamented here and there with
bow w-windOws, sometime with "A little sculp-
ture, present very broken outline 10 the sky
and at the end In tn blue haze, which is SO
beautiful on fine day in London rises The
Flemish-loOking steepe of ST. Mary lie Grand,
with the light streaming through its open
pillars.
In the Strand is Exeter Han the headquar-
IerS OF the Young Mems Christian A,socia ION.
Near IL is Courts bank, where the royal family
have banked since the reign OF Queen Ann.
Fulthei along is Somerset House, built in
1776, ID which are the audit oflce register
general OF biJthS. deaths ana marriages, in
land revenue office and wills and probates.
The courtyard has well-propOrtiont d ana
stately glo0mness. In tile center is the gr at
alegor ical figure OF the Thames by John Bacon.
Taine says: If .yon would SEE something
quite dreadful go 10 the enormous palace in the
Strand called Somerset House. Massive, heavy
architecture, OF which the recesses seem dipped
IN ink. the porticos smeared with SCOT. There
is ghost of a waterless fountain in 4 hole in
the midst OF an empty quadI angle, pools of
water on til flags, long tiers OF closed windows.
WHAT can men do in such a catacomb?''
Next TO Somer-et House are the Kings Col
lege and ,choois founded In 1928. Near here
slood The Turks Head coffee house, ireQuente ed
byDr. j Johnson. The Church of ST. Mary le Grand
is o. osie the entrance to Kings College. and
fuither on is the Church of ST. Clement Danes
with is famons chimes.
Among the places OF amusement In the Strand
are Terry's Theater, Lpceum, Gaiety. Vaude-
vile, the Adelphl. The Strand, the Savoy and
Opera Comique.
he aspect of East Strand has been entirely
changed In recent years by The erection of the
Royal Courts of Justice, noble pile of build
ineS. opened by Queen Victoria in 1892. In
Guiding siaircaSeS, corridors, halls and rooms
there are 800 apartments III the main eultice
and 800 IN the eastern building. The contract
price for erecting them was e7000 900, and The
land on which they are built cost 81 .453, 600.
The site was formerly occupied by some of Tile
most wretched tenements of London.
Among the more important news paper Offices
IN The Strand are the Graphic and Illustrated
London News. The office of the Morning
Chronielr used 20 be there also.
Northumberland Hou-e. one of the noblest
Jacobean houses in England and one of the
most pctuie-que features in London. was de-.
mollshed in 1876. and magnificent hotel aud
other stately business buildings now occupy its
Site
Temple Bar ends the Strand and marks the
division between the city of London and the
liberty OF Westminster.