The Bourbon news., 1900-08-28
Editorial Correspondence.
LONDON, ENGLAND. July %. 1900

aONDONS GNGLAND, July 20, lJUU.
In quiet, winding street in Door
quarter of London is a quaint little shop
which has a sentimental interest for
most American tourists. 1t is the orig
inal "Old Curiosity Shop made famous
/ by Charles Dickens, the novelist, in his
/ beautiful story ''The Old Curiosity
Shop" The place has two small rooms
-one eight by ten feet. and the other
six by eight-and it is kept, as In Dick
ems time, by an old man and his daugh-
ter, who sell medallions of Dickens.
1 prints of his famous characters, besides
many curios The shop is about three
/ hundred years old and bids fair to stand
another century. The place is visited
/ by an average of one hundred visitors
every day IN the year, and almost every
one buys some kind of a souvenir. The
/ old shOp-keeper always has inst one left.
/ but I saw him find half a dozen more
after he had let me have the last one.
/ "The Golden Cross Inn, - another place
made noted by Dickens, is also pointed
out TO the sightseers. a gilt cross is
CONSPICUOUS in the wall over the door.
England has honOred the famous nov
elist by burying him with her illustri-
Gus dead in Westminster Abbey, and
erecting a bust to his memory. His
tomb in the nave of the Abbey is marked
with a tablet in the floor. I saw the
original manuscript of Dickens novels
on exhibition at the ngtOnMuseum.
! The last word he wrote was appetite. .
*#*
! The Tower of London, being the
scene of so many historical and tragic
events, is probably the most interesting
place in England to sightseers. The
] ground for the Tower was selected by
! William the COnquerer, and the build
ings were commenced as early as 1918.
The buildings have been added to by
almost every succeeding ruler, and
| Queen Victoria is now having a new
/ building erected within the walls. The
/ Tower of London was erected for the
double purpose Of protecting the port of
London and Oyerawing the citizens. The
Tower and connecting buildings cover
more than tWenty-six acres, and were
used as fortress, a prison and a palace.
| The inner wall is guarded by thirteen
! towers and the outer wall by eight
/ The entire fortress comprises nearly
fifty buildings, being village in itself.
In early days the Tower was used as a
State prison and many titled persons
entered its walls never to leave them
alive. It was within the Tower walls
that Queen Annie Boelyn, Lady Jane
/ Grey, Queen Katharine Howard, and
two score Of earls, dukes and countesses
were beheaded, giving one of the
principal buildings the name Of
Bloody Tower. It was here also
that Edward V and his brother, Rich-
ard. Duke of York, Were murdered at
the instigatiOn of Richard III. The
Tower has several chapels within its
walls where religious services were held
! Part of the Tower is now used for bar
racks for recruits to the army and other
parts are used as a museum for armOr
and arms used by Kings and noblemen
in centuries gone by, and as a museum
for arms captured by the English in
battle. Many columns might be written
about this famous place, but the lack Of
space will not permit more extended
account.
4#
While in the Tower of London saw
! the Regalia of England, or the crown
! jewels-kept in a double iron cage
/ in the Tower. Nearly all Of the histori-
cal objects in this case date from the
restoration Of Charles III. Queen Vic
toria's crown occupies the highest place
in the case, it being used at her corona
ton in 1888. 1t is a superb crown,
weighing nearly forty ounces, and is
gorgeous, but very tasty in design.
The circlet is of silver, surrounding a
crimson velvet cap, bordered with
with ermine. From the circlet rise four
silver branches which support arches
made from precious stones. In the
crown are 2,783 diamonds, 277 pearls,
five rubies, seventeen sapphires and
eleven emeralds. The magnificent
sapphire in the center was worn by
Edward the Confessor. Other crowns
in the case were made for Queen Mary
of Modena and Queen Mary II and
Charles the II. Among the other
crown jewels in the case are the Prince
of Wales Coronet. the Royal Sceptre, of
gold, nearly three feet long, ornamented
with diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
The Sceptre, made in 1861, is of gold,
three feet seven inches long, st. Ed
wards Staff, a gold sceptre, nearly five
feet long, three other royal sceptres,
gold spurs, bracelets, golden salt-cellars,
golden tankards, silver-gilt baptismal