The Savannah morning news., 1901-08-18
LIFE IN LONDON TOWN.
AS SEEN FROM THE AMERICAN
STANDPOINT.

The Tramc of the City Causes Even
the Yankee to wonder-POlitene ness
Found on All sides-How Ameri-
cans Resemble and Differ From
Their English Cousins.
Allen Sangree, in the London Express.
These are the four things about Lon
don that makes the deepest impression
upon the newly arrived American:
First, the prodigious traffic; second.
the Metropolitan police; third, the
public houses; and, fourth, the custom
of saying, Thank you" whether one
gives or takes. BY the first he is over
whelmed, the second calls for admira-
ton, the third is shocking. and the
fourth amuses.
In the course of day the Ameri-
cans sensitised brain film has recorded
many another novel impression, such
as the street entertainers, distinctions
of class, aged bootblacks instead Of
boys, cessation of bus and under
ground transit after midnight, early
closing of restaurants, the skilfun
driving of cabmen, and lastly, the
great number of nodescript old wo-
men that haunt the public houses and
wander aimlessly about the streets.
These, 1 have no doubt, constitute
some lodge" or society" as they are
identical in garb, all wearing a black
shawl or coat, and a rakish black hat,
that tipped on one side, usually exposes
a faded red rose. Each, moreover, car
ries a Notwithstanding black bag,
through the crevice of which one is,
at times, able to discern scraps of meat
and bread, or half emptied gin bot
tie.
But of all London features that touch
the feelings or Imagination, the ones
/ first mentioned are paramount, be
cause II is of them that nearly every
American talks when he returns to his
native land.
The traffic of London stuns an
American the moment he energies from
the vaulted gloom of Euston Station,
and, involuntarily, he shrinks like one
that has heard an appalling explosion
and awaits with dread for some fatal
result. Schooled as he may be to the
noise of an American city, the mos.
intrepid Yankee Is Immediately con-
scious of something more vast-an
Empires trade pouring through myriad
streets-that he can only peep timidly
into the highway and cape for very
wonderment.
He comes here expecting and hoping
that he may remark: "Oh, yes. London
is a great place, but you ought to see
New York or Chicago" and in twenty
four hours he is compelled to admit,
however bitterly, that as a world me-
tropolis London has New York fairly
beaten.
Unlike New York, where trade and
travel are confined to a small portion
of the city, traffic of all kinds in Lon
don is ubiquitous. You cannot get away
from it. The rumble of the bus, creak
of van, the hoof- thud and tinkle of
bells echo in the remotest precincts.
Oxford street astonishes one, the
Strand Is amazing. Picadilly alarming
and trip through city streets is one
constant Irritation with eternity. To
embark in this seething stream of We
hicles fills one with exhilarating uncer-
tainty, but, personally, / would rather
chance ACKNOWLEDGMENT in front of a
New York trolley car than totter to the
summit of a London bus while it is
in motion.
But if London traffic dazes the
! American he is none the less appre-
! ciative of the superb system that con-
: trolls 1t. In America there is an I'M
written law that vehicles and pedes-
| TRANS keep to the right and the lat
ter, in passing, always observe it, A
beer wagon or a Victoria, however. is
] just as likely to come down Broadway
, on the left side as the right, and there
is no objection unless a collision takes
place.
Here. it is exasperating at first, when
In hurry, to find oneself clogged in
a procession of vehicles and a clear
space for passing near by. But the
wisdom of it all is soon apparent, and
| the respect shown for a solitary police
! man as he checks the advance of rest
| less traffic, coolly turning his back
upon imminent danger, is admira BILE
| and thrilling to observe.
The police here are in many ways an
| interesting study when contrasted with
| the American speciman, and after YOU
| have watched him for a week If oc-
| ours to you that the index finger of a
| London "bobbys' right hand stands
| for law and order more effectively than
a platoon of New York "coppers'' arm
ed with clubs and revolvers.
A guardian of the peace in America
is usually of Irish parentage and has
| an acute sense of his Importance, In
New York he has been known to help
| a pretty woman across the street and
| tip his hat to a Tammany Hall poll
tician. but further than that the ameni-
ties of his occupation do not extend
He lis large of stature, short of breath
free with his club, eager to make an
arrest and the helpless drunkard is a
joy to his soul.
The London policeman is not so big
| but he is more athletic, more intelli-
gent younger looking, carries himself
more erect, and is the most tolerant
officer on the face of the earth. de-
duce that from the fact that in two