The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-05-19
LETTERS FROM A COUNTRY GIRL
IN LONDON.
No. 9.
LONDON, ENGLAND, May 4, 1897.

AL ba1S - &AA
ence between the French and the Eng
lish. The English are so serious and
business, the French 80 happy and care
less, Pm not sure that I do not prefer
gay Paris.
have come to London this time under
very fortunate circumstances; l am with
friends, Southerners like myself, who
know every inch Of the great city and
lust what ought to be seen. l must tell
YOU many interesting things Of what I
have seen and heard in the past week.
left Paris Thursday morning, a love-
" Spring day, and as I drove to the sta
ton I would say "Good-bye, Sister," to
the blue-clad Little Sisters of the Poor"
an order of Nuns, and "Good-bye, Faith
err" to the black-robed priests, Francis
cans, and the brown.mantled, barefoot
ed Capucines. I was sorry to see the last
of the old woman who knits at the door
of sour Lady Of the Fields" and the red
faced woman who drinks up her oWn re-
freshments on the bridge de la Concorde.
I passed right through the loVeIiest part
of Paris. From the Champs Elysees l
had seen the Mardi Gras and Mi-Careme;
I had gone there for the great Salon,
and T was very sad when I said goodbye
to Cleopatra's needle, which stands there
I was packed into a tiny little coach,
locked in, the machine whistled' and
we were off. The last I saw Of Paris was
the Eiffel Tower, standing up straigh:
and tall in the bright sunshine. Clouds
chased each other over the valley of the
Seine, and the Scenery was so beautiful"
Every spot of ground is beautifully cult
waited. They plough two oxen tandem
and their farm implements are curious
to behold. But you must admire their
thrift which makesthe most of every inch
OF ground.
When the Cathedral of Rouen came in
sight I began to look out for my friends
who were to join me there, and sure
enough they came on board. We found
a carriage and ate our lunch very com
train passed through the narrow, quaint
old streets of the city and right out into
sea, apparently, to the end of the pier.
The tide was low, so we had to climb
down a pretty steep gaugway into the
boat, and set out for "Merrie England"
under very favorable circumstances.
The Channel was as smooth as glass, and
contrary to our expectations, none OF us
were aick at all. On the train from New
Haven to London I noticed the marked
difference in climate from that Of sunny
France" 7 was extremely cold, and the
leaves were just beginning to pct out,
while in Paris the chestnut trees, which
shade the entire city, were covered with
their white and red blossoms.
Well, I went for a mornings walk in
London, and came upon what I have al
ways wanted to see, 1.-THE Old Curiosity
Shop" which stands near Lincoln InE's
Fields. Then we went into the Royal
Courts of Law, wentinto the gallery and
heard q very interesting suit flibel. The
parties were a "Mrs. Davidson" who was
in the witness box, and "Mr. Brumley,"
who was suing her for saying hat he
'used to go about with a pianette drawn
by a white donkey" A lawyeri in a black
robe and an immense white curled wig
with two curly pig tails hanging down
his back, cross questioned Mrs. David:
son, and dwelt upon the "pianette' and
the "white donkey" till everybody roar
ed. And all the other white wigs wrote
down what she said, and a Judge in the
biggest wig Of all tried to keep order.
Alter we came out the official offered US
q peep at the Lord High Chancellor Of
England, and we took the peep and paid
sixpence for it. And he vas q fat, little,
red.fsced man with a round black plaster
in the top of his wig; he wore a red scarf
over his black robe. The Court room he
occupied was labelled Queens Bench, and
we decided that the Queen had q very
shabby little Bench indeed.
Just off the busy, noisy Strand, IN q
quiet little court is the Temple Church,
one of the oldest in London. There we
saw the grave of Oliver Goldsmith, and
the tombs of the old Knights Templars,
with their effigies lying cross-legged to
signify that they had fought in the Cru
sades.
We walked past the house from which
Charles I wal executed. There is statue
to s'the Royal Martyr" as they call him,
in Trafalgar Square, which is Nelson's
memorial.
The first OF May, you know, opens the
season in London. All the royalty
and nobility contest TO town and the Queen
has her drawing Room" which is the
event of the year. On Msy-day the hor-
ses and cabbies are decked out in bright
ribbons and flags, and in the country
villages they have the May pole dance
and other May-dsy celebrations. In
France the Churches are all decorated
with flowers for the "Month of Mary" as
they call May. Every morning now the
Parks are full of carriages of the society
~people-that is their time of day for driv-
ing.
am going to tell you a fairy tale. One
afternoon, about two o'clock, + was walk
ing down crowded Piccadilly, when I saw
q Quiet green meadow, where q flock of
sheep was grazing and some shepherds
Law on the grass in thesunshine. 1 turned
into the meadow and followed q winding
white path which led me by the banks of
a little lake. 7 was looking at the ducks
standing on their heads in the water, and
wondering how they did it. when I heard
music. I lifted my eyes, and there, just
a little way off, I saw a beautiful palace,
and all around it as far as I could see was
q crowd of people. I hurried or and saw
q broad avenue leading up 70 the palace
gates, and lining the venue were the
splendid big soldiers of the Queens Body
Guard, every one of whom is six feet tall.
They all sat like statues, on fine black
horses. The soldiers uniform is white
leather breeches, red and gold jackets and
silver head pieces, and their saddles are
trimmed with white sheep-skin, and
they wear black boots. Just inside the
gates was the Royal Band, the members
all dressed in cloth of gold and their mu-
sic was splendid. Thousands of people
crowded the edges Of the two streets thai
led to the palace, and had to be Kept back
by mounted soldiers and g police guard.
I asked a policeman what it all meant
and he said, "It's the Queens Drawing
Room" Hundreds of elegant carriages
drove into the court, their coachmen in
livery and wearing immense punches of
roses, lilies and every flower you ever
saw. Inside the carriages were women
in gorgeous evening dresses, and there
was always one in white with ostrich
feathers in her hair. That is the regula-
ton costume Of those who are to be "pre-
sented" to the Queen. The train of her
dress must be of a certain length, and
there are other items which she must
religiously observe I was very glad to
be able to zee something Of this ceremo-
nv, for I had always heard that it was
very interesting. I found 1 was in st.
James Park, and that the palace was
Buckingham, the Queens town resi-
dence. The sovereigns used to live at
st. James Palace, and that is why the
court is called the SCOUT of st. James,"
But H M. Queen Victoria las always
lived at Buckingham. Another reaso
why London is gay, is the Queens jubi-
lee. Every window and every point of
vantage for seeing the grand procession
has been secured long ago. The hotels
have all puton fabulous prices, and Lon
don will be packed and damned.
This is q most beautifully governed
city. The driving is so careful that no.
body seems to get run over. Paris is SO
different in that respect, but both are
better than New York. Here everything
and everybody keeps to the left, SO you
know what to expect when you
cross q street. They seem awfully slow