The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-27

the piano hand, the typewriter hand,
etc., but this barmaid hand is a dis
tinct type. 1t is big, and resembles
somewhat the graceful lines Of a
shoulder Of mutton. Then it is red,
and as rough as sandpaper. The fin
ger ends are stumpy and the nails are
the nails Of coal HEAVIER 1t seems
to hang on the woman wrong side
front, In any old way. The mere idea
Of asking for such hand in marriage
seems monstrous. Pretty barmaids are
largely myth in London, but the bar
lnald hand is practical entity. 1t
comes from working beer pumps,
Washing bottles, yanking corks and
scrubbing bars. There are from ten to
fifteen of these pump handles working
Forward and downward, like a railroad
switch; and then customer calls for
a "bittah" the barmaid grabs one of
these ornamental handles and throws
ner weight on it, She does this about
ten times minute from morning till
night and half Of the night. Hence
the barmaid hand. For when it comes
to sW1lling liquors of all sorts these
English beat the Dutch. We are not
in any sense Gin it, with them except
on election nights. Scotch whisky, gin
and brandy are consumed by wholesale
and retail by male and female An
English lady; that's what the maid
called her, emptied a great bottle Of
Scotch in our coffee room at one sitting
the other day. then called a cab and
went down town shopping I saw hun
dredS of women in the ST. James res
taurants last night. almost every one
drinking Scotch whisky or gin in some
form. From tuppence to six pence a
drink would be dog cheap" in the
states. Beer as we know it is compare
lively unknown here. They say it is
too light for the climate.
Those rantankerous citizens of the
great republic, who are compelled to
hang to strap while going from one
point to another ought to try London
suburban train on Sunday. There Is
nothing like it. You rush up and down
the platform like mad-along with a
few score of others-peeping into one
full compartment after another. Mean
while cries of Full up" come from
the guards. who slam doors right and
left along the train. You are met by
the same cries on entering any one of
these crowded places, those with seats
Directing to ISLANDERS. But you must
walt for another train or risk it, and
sperately hurl yourself into a crowd
Of human cattle whether they like it or
not, Just as the train starts. The sign
smoking and the presence Of ten
pipes and an odor of incomprehensible
magnitude are unconsidered trifles
There Is no strap and you cling to the
side door like a drowning man to q
broken oar. Fortunately, there is no
terrific jerking and swaying around
corners as you have had on the IL"
road or cables; but you are expecting
1t every minute and suffer in the an
ticipation Of disaster. I'm not alone
in the predicament, but I get my share
of the scowls, until I'm asked:
Does this go to Addison Road?"
I'm -- if 1 know" I reply. Il
took 1t at risk"
Then the young man smiles and the
children giggle, and everybody looks
pleasant and seems to be glad I'm
there.
This is such a big world. yet 1t is so
small that as 1 pass through the
square gentleman suddenly jumps up
from the table where he is getting an
after-the-theater repast and calls me
by my first name; and before l can
fairly recognize my questioner he be-
gins to ask me about New York, and
what is on now at Chicago and of the
latest gossip Of Pittsburg, while half a
hundred curious eyes are turned our
way for the moment. The London
journalist who is kindly showing me
the places smiles good humoredly and
chats with a Bohemian quartet near
by. And we pass out taking in an
Other-resort-the same thing occurring
twice more the same night One of
these acquaintance has just returned
from Paris and has not seen 1.-The
States" for years. Yet he is interested
in the late elections and talks of the
tariff and presses us,in for a fresh bot
tie, and becomes difficult to get away
from. We try the Criterion and Water
loo tavern, and take a shy at the Hay
market for the last act, doubling on
the Saturday night markets in the nor
row lanes of the foreign quarter near
midnight, winding up with supper at
the Liberal club on the Embankment.
Dear, dear when | think of the thou
sands thus eating and meeting and
parting and guzzling, and note the long
lines Of twinkling cabs and the miles
of brilliantly lighted windows. l sud
denly remember that the same thing
has just been in Berlin and Vienna and
Is in Paris ard is about to begin in New
York, to be followed by Chicago and
San Francisco; and l am fooled up
Picadilly toward home impressed with
the bigness and sameness of the world
and the futility of trying to do it" all
in one Saturday night!
Charles Theodore Murray.