Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-12-05
FREE SHOWS IN LONDON.
The Thoroughfares Furnish Entertainment
From Early Morn Until Midnight.

The ThorOughfares Furnish Entertainment
From Early Morn Until Midnight
An idle man can find entertainment
from early morn until midnight, though
not later than that, at no greater cost
than the mere exercise of living and
standing IN one side to watch. He does
not necessarily have to hunt for the in
teresting things. They will come to
him en- route. There is nothing so pic
turesque in any other city of the world,
perhaps, or which gives you such start
of curious pleasure, as the bluecoat boy
swinging along the crowded street, as
unconscious of his yellow legs and flap
ping skirts and of the rain beating on
his bare head as is the letter carrier at
home of his mail bag.
Or the lord mayors carriage blocks
your way when yon go into the city tn
draw on your letter of credit; or n cou-
pie of young barristers in waving gowns
and with wigs askew dash in front of
your hanson; or yOu are stopped by
regiment of soldiers, or n group of ne
gro MINISTRIES dancing i'll the street with
as little concern as though they were
separated from yOu by row of foot
lights; or You meet the Dispatch
and the other coaches coming along
Piccadilly and going down the steep
hill from that street to st. James
palace on trot and at the risk
of every ones neck, apparently; or the
Life Guards go by with shining helmets
and with the lonely rearguard 200 yards
behind the rest to prevent an unexpected
attack fro:n that quarter, from whom
never could guess; or you come sudden
~ upon the proud and naughty Picca-
dilly goat in its rambles, or n line of
sandwich men dressed like sailors or
cooks; or you note the contrast between
the victoria. with the men ON the box in
pink silk stockings and powdered hair,
and the little cOster's cart piled high
with cabbages-as homogeneous sight
to any other city as would be n yoke of
oxen ON Fifth avenue.
But what make the streets of London
most interesting are not the badges of Of
fee and official uniforms, but the unof-
fetal garb and insignia which the masses
have adopted for themselves. The milk
mans white apron and wooden yoke,
the commissionnaire medals. which tell
of campaigns i'll Egypt and India, or the
bootblack's red coat. In America we
twisted into meaning badges of servi-
tude. Our housemaids will not wear
caps, nor will our coachmen shave their
mustacheS. This tends TO make every
class of citizen look more or less alike.
But in London one can always tell a bus
driver from the driver of Il four wheeler,
whether he is on his box OF not.
The EngGShman recognizes that if he
is in a certain social grade he is likely to
remain there. and so instead of trying to
dress like some one else in class to
which he will never reach he makes up
for the part in life he is meant to play,
and the bus driver buys a high white
hat, and the harmaid is content to wear
turned down collar and turned back
| cuffs, and the private coachman would
as soon think of wearing a false nose as
mustache. He accepts his position and
is proud of it, and the butchers boy sits
up i'll his cart just rs smartly, and
squares his elbows, and straightens his
legs, and balances his whip with as
much pride as any driver of mailcart
in the park All this helps to give every
man You meet an individuality.
The hanson cab driver is not ashamed
| of being 4 hanson cab driver, nor is he
thinking of the day when he will be boss
contractor and tear up the streets ovel
which be now crawIs looking for fare
and So he buys artificial flowers for him
self and his horse, and soaps his rubber
mat aud sits ~ s,rai ,.!t and businesslike
ana if Yea Ut him iato livery YOU would
not have - t.,su-l ~ :.9"- 10 look wei
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