New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-24

| the Old City with the most remarkable specua-
| tive bubble which has been blown since the days
Of Law.
| But here at last are the banners or the Alder
men and the officers OF the Corporation, with the
hand Of the Duke Of Yorks military school to an
| nounce with flourish OF trumpets the coming
Of the three heroes of the show First in order Is
the glittering State carriage OF Mr.. Sheriff Coop
or. drawn by four spirited horses, with footmen
| and coachmen in astonishing liveries OF bucksKn
breeches, purple velvet tunics. heavy gold lace
| and cooked hats. To moderate his pride in the
| grand equipage in which he Is seated and to
| teach him humility the Sheriff has with him his
worshipful chaplain. Behind him, in another
| splendid State coach drawn by four richly ca
parisoned horses and attended by coachmen and
| footmen in green and gold, Is Mr.. Sheriff Pound
| with his pious chaplain. The Aldermen, VINO
| have not passed the chair. are preceded by state
| trunnpeters of the Household Cavalry. and fol-
| lowed by the Recorder and the former Lord
| Mayors With one military band in front and
another behind him, the retiring Lord Mayor,
! Sir Joseph Renas. has his final hour OF triumph
| with his liveried men above and below. Then
| follow the city trumpeters. the mounted band
Of the ROYAL Horse Guards and the Lord Mayor
| himself preceded by the Marshal and the SER
wants with liveries Of crimson velvet richly en-
chariot which has been seen once a year for a
| century on Lord Mayors Day, has been oiled In
the axles and vanished and gilded without; but
II sways and rumbles as it is drawn along by
six horses and seems destined on some unlucky
ninth of November to meet the doom Of sudden
dissolution which finally overwhelmed DR..
Holiness we-known vehicle. The Lord Mayor
is inside with scarlet cloak and gold collar, and
the traditional attendants are all In their places
| the sword bearer, the mace-bearer and the
| chaplain Behind them is an escort Of the
Queens Hussars and the procession is at an end.
THE PAGEANT AND THE CROWDS
II is a mimic army with banners and trumpet
ers that takes its way with many halt and I'M
expected hitch, fom the Guildhall to the Mansion
House and the Royal Exchange. and thence 20
ST. Mary's Axe Hounsdtch and Aldgate. return
ing through I.eadenhall and Cornhill to Cheap
side and passing thence by st. Paurs ana
through Fleet-st. to the Courts Of Justice with a
final detour by the Strand, Trafalgar Square, the
Embankment and Queen Nictoria-st. to the
Guldha, where the Ministers Of the Crown, the
Foreign Ambassadors and thousand guests ara
to be entertained in the evening. AS a pageant
il Is interesting rather than brilliant. The four
symbolic cars or floats denote lack OF inventive
faculty and decorative skill; the contingents OF
foresters firemen and officials are not strong In
numbers. II Is IN the main fantastic variety
show with little of everything and with start
ling contrasts Of color In uniforms and liveries.
and with the exhilarating strains Of thirty or
more military bands the chief attractions. 1t
is tinsel show, with many tawdry effects, ana
With few artistic merits; but as reminiscence
Of ancient tradition and ceremonial and para
BILE Of the anomalous relations OF past and pres
ent in London which is now a nation rather than
a town. 1t is spectacle unique in interest.
For once there is clear sky. without rain,
drizzle or a breath Of yellow fog for the annual
parade. Business has been virtually suspended,
although there war rumors in the exchanges
and the long-deferred mining settlement has
brought the spectators to the verge Of panic.
Vehicles have been shut out of the route Of the
procession hours In advance of It's coming, and
the streets have been surrendered to million
spectators who are massed on the sidewalks
and are swarming at every window and cogn
OF vantage
Was there ever a more orderly or better
humored throng? The police have little to do.
| for the vast crowds regulate themselves. Even
in the most congested sections where the sight
seers have taken possession of the roadways
there is neither confusion nor uproar when the
advance guard Of the cavalcade appears. The
procession literally cuts its way through the
streets like ship in the sea, and there is a re-
ceding surge Of the throng on each side. Deco
rations are meagre, and are confined mainly to
the wards with which the Lord Mayor and his
Sheriffs are identified, although some attempt
has been made in every block to brighten with
gay colors the blackened fronts Of the sombre
street lines But music and the bare Of trum-
pets are in the air: the bells Of hundred
churches are ringing in honor Of the Prince of
Wales and the Lord Mayor jollity is Infectious
and the vast assemblage. which has filled central
London from Charing Cross to Aldgate, disports
itself in holiday mood, cheering Justify the pro-
cession when 1t appears, and bubbling over with
merriment at every turn.
Every year loud protests are heard against
the suspension Of traffic and the inconvenience
to business caused by this burlesque perform
ance in livery and tinsel; but London loves the
Lord Mayors Show even more than Christmas
pantomime and will not give IT up without an
angry protest. Refolmers will have to substitute
something for it. revvng the old-time water
pageant from the Tower to Westminster, or
adopting some other expedent, before they can
reconcile the people 10 the sacrifice OF their deep
~ cherished November town show A grotesque
spectacle 1t s-this cavalcade OF mediaeva Lon
don in masquerade, with million sober minded
Englishmen surveying II and It's gaudy trappngs
with childish delight; but 1t Is not more anoma-
lous than the whole order of government OF the
worlds metropolis, whose chief ruler is the can
didate and representative OF ancient trade guilds
and where the inner City, with an actual popu
lation of less than 10000 retains It's tme-honored
supremacy and sways the civic destinies OF the
Greater London, with It's nVe or SIX millions or
Her Maiesty's subjects i. y. +.