Evening star., 1902-08-02

agitation for clean streets, and with good
| reason. Travellers coming from clean. we'll
| kept cities. cannot fan TO- De struck with
the untidiness of London Streets. It is
something appalling, and is mainly caused
by what may we'll be called the waste
paper nuisance" Nothing is more disgust
ing than litter Of paper In the streets,
left to be blown about ana Whlr!ed into
corners and doorways. The worst offenders
in London are the newspaper boys and the
hawkers with street harrows. No sooner
is the useful paper bagsempted OF Its sue
culent contents. or the nendaeious poster
! replaced by later edition than it is
thrown into the street, to become a source
Of annoyance. The parks. the river, the
shady hedgerows. which AFFORD pleasant re-
sorts for picnic parties, are left in a condi-
tion Of litter that shows an utter want of
self-resuect On the part OF the people TAX
ing advantage of them
The reformers want a law passed making
it obligatory to place paper and other waste
in receptacIes to he provided This has
been done in some places. In some parks,
in Kensington and elsewhere baskets or
cages have been attached 10 lampposts or
trees labeled waste paper. The aim is
to extend this practice and have a waste
paper basket of wire netting fixed to lamp
posts at frequent intervals in every street,
/ especially near where 'busses stop, for bus
tickets are an annoyance. People would
soon get into the habit of using them and
the evil would be diminished. great deal
of good has been done by an American
adoption of putting up notices in the 'tup
penny tube and on buses, requesting
people mot to spit. and the same result
would follow on notices requesting people
to put their waste paper IN the receptacles
provided The remedy is at any rate
cheap and if the better feelings of people
were appealed to all who are sef-respect-
ing would adopt it.
Proposal for Town Hall.
The latest proposals with regard to build
ing a London town hall-in other words,
home for the London county council-are
sufficiently sweeping to satisfy the most
ambitious member of that body. They are
that pra actically the whole of the Adelphl
should be swept away, with Its nome OF
Garrick, the Savage Club and the mysterl-
Adelphi vaults and arches, winch nave
been the scene of many grueSome story OF
fiction and the melOdramatlc stage. Ever
since Lord Rosebery became chairman of
the council this question OF a suitable nome
has been under discussion. For some tune
the large building in Spring Gardens afford
ed sufficient accommodation for the coun-
cil but now its suboftices are scattered over
an area of some miles, and OF its 500 9TH
cias more than 800 work at outlying
Offices There is this to be said for the site
proposed. The building would have mag
nficent frontage to the embankment Where
there would be one entrance. Ihe other
side of the building would come up to John
street and so would not be Visible, except
through the widened Adam street from the
Strand. The immediate cost is estimated
at 100000, ard if the scheme should be
carried out practically the whole of the |
space between Waterloo and Charing Cross
bridges would be occupied by four large
buildings-the Medical Examination Hall,
the Savoy Hotel, the Cecil Hotel ana the
new County Hail.
For Latin-Americsn Chamber.
An interesting and important movement |
has been started with the object of estab- |
fishing Latin-Amercan chamber of COM
merce in London. The idea is that the new
chamber shall give special attention to the
promotion of trade relations between Great |
Britain and Central and South America and |
Mexico. 1 understand that Ypart of the |
scheme is to establish bfaneh of the
chamber at Manchester.
The promoters justify their. proposal on
the ground that no less than sG00.O03,030 of
British capital is invested in the two Amerl-d
cas- and Mexico, quite apart from the
amount involved in commercial undertake |
ings 1t is also pointed out that Paris |
chamber of commerce has been established
with the object of protecting French trade |
with the river Plate, and that no British |
chamber of commerce exists for the same
purpose -
Sir Henry Irving's Plans.
Sir Henry Irving finds the years creeping
upon him, but he has no intention of leav-
ing the stage just yet. The veteran actor
concluded his season at the Lyeeum yester-
day and not only played with all his char
acteristic art and subtlety in the Merchant
of Venice" but also announced his pro-
gram for twelve months to come. His pro-
vincial tour will open on September y ana
will extend to December Is. Next year he
will reappear in London in a new drama
just completed by NJ. Sardou. and having
Dante as the central figure. This is inter-
esting and so far as ii assures a continuance
of Sir Henry Irving's career on the stage,
more than interesting, but one may be per
mitted to express a little regret that Sir
Henry has once more gone to NJ. Sardou
for play.
Work written for the English stage by
that eminent craftsman has not hitherto
been of very high order-has indeed, be-
trayed a certain measure of contempt for
the English playgoer that was rather irri-
tating. OF late the English stage has pre-
sented English plays that were, to put it
mildly, of higher order both in literary
merit and technique than "Robespierre,' Tor
instance. But. doubtless, the leading En-
glish actor had his own reasons for going
to a French dramatist for his new play.
The structural condition of the Lyceum Is
no longer equal to the requirements of the
lord chamberlain and the London county
council. The theater will either have to be
rebuilt or greatly altered 1t would be
impossible to bring up the theater to mod
ern requirements by external alterations,
but it is doubtful whether it would be al
together satisfactory to rebuild it entirely.
The shareholders meet this week to consider
the point.
Edinburgh Reviews Centenary.
A literary centenary of no small interest
is recorded. The Edinburgh Review COM
pletes its first hundred years of publica-
tion and will tell its readers it's own history
in the forthcoming number. 1t is notable
one, and particularly in it's earlier stages,
when hooks and and far
between, when the press was very differ
ent engine from what it is now and the
literary giants of Jeffrey's days made or
marred regulations by stroke of their
powerful but caustic pens.a They, were not
1nfallibie by any means. as witness the
contemptuous treatment OF young as
plrant to Parnassus, which brought upon
them the retort of "Engiish bards and
Scotch reviewers" That Scotch reviewer,
however, did Byron a service by revealing
to him his own powers. He.was Of tougher
more than Chatterton. who vas said to
nave neen practically killed by a hostile
criticism in the Ouarferlv Rv he vyav a