The age-herald., 1901-10-27
@Paul Pry Talks of Old London


 when a man is tired of London, he Is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford" said the metropolis loving Doctor Johnson. and believe that tourists even unto the present day, will agree with him.
 There is no city in Europe which pos sesses greater interest or a greater diver sity of interests for the traveller abroad than big. gloomy, old roaring London towne. For so great is the mass of hu- manity pent up within its confines and so enormous is it's traffic that one hears continually the dull roar of it's throbbing life.
 Of course Americans take special in- terest in London because so much of our own history is closely identified with the history of the mother country: and scarcely visitor there but traces his lineage to the English on one side or the other.
 London Is never disappointing. Paris may not be as gay or as brilliant or beautiful as the imagination of the tour ist had pictured it. or other European cities may fall short of the hopes enter tained of them; but some how the tour ist is always pleased-even agreeably surprised with London 1t is big and substantial and different in so many ways from any other city, and so full or the history of the past-political, relig- lous and literary, that 1t always inter ests the so-journer within it's walls Sightseeing in London, though, for the summer tourist is rather serious work There is so much to see within a given space and the places to be visited are or such genuine historic value that one finds it all a real tax mentally as well as physically.
 The sights of old London are so full Of vital interest that the tourist generally Ieels that he gets more out of the time spent here than any where else One has read so much of Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament the National Gallery, and the British Museum, etc., that upon visiting them for the first time they seem more like oid friends than new ones; and there is something very touch- ing in at last standing in the very pres ence of buildings and scenes that we have known for years In the thought world.
 While London is filled with interesting points, possibly there is no spot of great CT historic interest than the ancient fort ress and gloomy state prison-"The Tow ers." Here more fortunes and hopes were wrecked and lives blasted than at any other one portion, possibly, of old Eng land.
 As one visits the various towers Bloody Towers" where the sons of Ed- ward ". are said to have been murdered in the Brick Tower, where sweet Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned, and Bowyer Tower where the Duke of Clarence was supposed to have been drowned in a butt of Malmsey, and gruesome Beau champ Tower, one cannot help feeling some of the heartaches dread and awful fear of those who were led in captivity here ne'er to depart again. Fitting 1t is that the gloomy place should contain burial ground and as Macaulay says, 'In truth there Is no sadder spot on earth than this little cemetery. Death is there associated, not as in Westminster Abbey, and St. Paurs with genius and virtue, with public veneration and with imper- ishable renown, but with whatever Is darkest in human nature and in human destiny"
 The tower Is filled with memories of the most tragic and impressive events in the history of England and after a morning spent there the tourist turns with relief and pleasure to scenes of less gloomy nature. The many river excursions up and down the Thames offer the most ac- ceptable rest and diversion for tired and overwrought brain and body; so go with us, in fancy, one bright afternoon on an excursion up the Thames to Kew Gardens and thence by bus to Hampton Court" It is the largest royal palace in Great Britain, was originally foundered in 1515 by Cardinal Woolsey, the favorite of Henry VIII, end afterwards presented by him to the King. It was subsequently occupied by Cromwell the Stuarts and William III. and the first two monarchs of the house of Hanover. Since the time of George II. Hampton Court has ceased to be a royal residence, and over 800 of it's beautiful rooms are now occupied in suites by aristocratic pensioners of the crown. The other rooms are filled with beautiful pictures, containing the inter esting so-called Hampton Court Beau ties' and are open to the public. The gardens of the palace are of especial in- terest on account of their beauty.
 The ride by way of Richmond and Kew Gardens on the way back to London gives one a delightful view of the rural en- virons of the great metropolis Not until you visit London do you realize how splendidly you can sight-see without the