Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1895-06-06

roadway ana from the vantage point CAN
study the life of this the greatest of cities
| satisfactorily. During pleasant weather
the seats are eagerly sought by tourists,
and, if Americans, ply with questions the
Londoner found sharing the elevation.
The busses oyertop everything on wheels,
are gaudily painted in yellow, blue and
red, and are despatched with advertise
ments. They give a color and impressive
ness to street life that has no counter
i.part in American cities. They are found
Yin great number on Fleet street and the
Strand, along which they form an un-
broken line from Ludgate Circus to Trlf-
algar square. Stations are located at
every four blocks and while the bus is
standing in front of them the conductor
Justify shouts the points where his chariot
runs in the endeavor to secure passen-
| gers. The fare is cheap-a penny for less
| than mile-and when the coin is passed
! to the conductor he hands back d punched
| ticket, which is cast away, as it is no
good to the recipient or giver. The Lon-
| doners are so attached to the bus that they
! will never part with it. The roadways
are SO narrow and so crowded that street
cars would add to the confusion rather
! than lessen it. Only few lines are in
| operation, and these are two-story affairs
on wide thoroughfares away from the
| rush and roar of the mighty city.
The Park System.
! The stretches devoted to parks are a
surprise to the American looking over the
| city for the first time. Hyde Park, set
| down in the heart of the town, covers 400
acres. If it were cut up into building lots
it would yield more than a thousand mill
| i II
! to add to it's natural beauties, and the
grass and the benches have neglected
! look. The serpentine lake in it's center
| contributes to it's picturesque beauty. Re
gents has so more acres than Hyde.
Richmond Park, the largest, has 2,470
acres-three times that of Central Park,
| New York. Victoria Park has pa acres,
| the Battersea 1913 and the Kew Gardens
! 40. None of them compares w5th Cen
trail Park in beauty, whether it be natural
or artificial, but they provide breathing
areas for the millions, and any encroach-
ment upon them would arouse a growl
| from the people that would deter the
staunchest from undertaking their
abridgement.
London is unique in insisting that driv-.s
ers shall keep to the left while travelling
| it's streets. And for fear that the needless
| might forget it standards are erected in
| the middle of the roadway from a project
| ing arm of which are displayed the words
| ''Keep to the left To go contrary to
this would block the highway and land
! the offender in prison. London is alone
| in the enforcement of the rule; even the
crowds on the sidewalk keep to the left
in forging ahead.
The Refugee.
The refugee is a sort of an island in the
middle of d street or square to enable
pedestrians by degrees to cross in safety,
There is so much driving that one has to
keep his eyes peeled to take advantage of
lul to gain the refugee. There he awaits;
a second chance to make the sidewalk he
is aiming for. Sometimes minutes go by
before the opportunity comes and on gala
occasions ten minutes are consumed be-
fore venture No. ? is undertaken. But a
minute or two ordinarily brings the re-
quired chance. On Trafalg ar square there
are two refugees intervening between side
| walks, as several streets unite here and
the crossing is most dangerous.
One of the sights Of the town is the di-
minutive chap employed to clean the
streets He is usually s years old and is
armed with Il bag and brush to gather up
the refuse that defaces the roadway.
| This chap will take his place in the mid
die of the street and will pursue his work
| unmindful of the dangers that surround
| him. The wheels are passing within an
| inch of his body, but so careful are the
drivers and so alert the brave little fellow
that he escapes injury. Sometimes you
would imagine he would be crushed as he
| disappears in the jam, but a moment later
he reappears doing his work the same as if
death did not hover about him.
In New York the open circles are called
squares; when you reach Italy they are
| denominated plazzas; in London they are
known as circuses. Strangers. for the
most part. are msed by this designation
when they first arrive in London. ASK
directions to a firm doing business in the
vicinity of these areas and you are told it
adioins Ludgate circus. or Oxford crcus.
or Picadilly circus. At once you head
for one of these, expecting to find the
party desired adjoining a tented eXhibs-
ton. But you look in vain for the circu-
lar canvas roof with supporting projecting
poles rising one above the other. After
inquiries that make you veXatious you find
that the circus that does business every
minute in the year in London is nothing
more than the dametrical space where
half a dozen streets intersect and has
neither clown nor ringTnaster unless the
policeman can be counted as such.
The uniformed guardians of the law in
England are known as hobbies and in
Ireland as peelers The nicknames come
from Sir Robert Peel, who acted respec-
lively as secretary of Ireland and home
secretary of England. Under his admin
strations he reorganized the police con-
tingent of these countries and made them
a formidable body of civilian soldiery.
Innocence Abroad.
An English newspaper is RESPONSE
BILE for the assertion that Mark Twain