The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-07

Copyright. 1902. by Frank c. Carpentero
 London, England
 London is rapidly changing. The old city is putting off its old clothes and buying new. It's streets are being widened, many of the old buildings have been torn down. and there Is a fair pos sibility that the American sky scraper may come, for flats are going up in the fashionable section.
 An army of workmen Is now busy on the Strand As.I saw the street ten years ago it was so narrow that two omni- buses could hardly pass. Today 1t IS be- ing changed into a wide avenue which shall run from Trafalgar Square to Hol- born, not far from St. Paufs. Where the two streets come together about three acres of buildings are to be torn away. and this space will be leased out by the city for new business houses.
 In tearing down the Strand the owners of the various properties had to be bought out. In many places the buildings have been replaced. The Gaiety Theater, for instance, had a new structure erected for it below and back of where the old the ater stood. and the same is true of other institutions. This work is going on in the very heart of London on some of the most costly, ground of the world. The city fathers have had to plate the soil with gold to get it, and when the inn provement is completed 1t will. 1t is esti- mated, cost at least 5.000, 900.
 The American Invasion Above and
 Below Ground.
 have already written something about the American. invasion of underground London. I have told you of the Tupenny Tube Line, which is now carrying millions from one part of the city to another at cents per trip. It is a mighty iron tube with railroad tracks in it, running far below the city under the streets. It cost more than $3000,000 a mile to construct. and the electrical equipment was put in by the General Electric Company of New York. I have spoken of MT Yerkes' great schemes which are now fast approaching completion. These will honeycomb' the soil under the city with similar tubes and the Westinghouse Company will build the machinery.
 Other schemes are now proposed for American enterprise above ground. American goods are already sold in all parts of the Strand. The American flag and the Union Jack are painted on many of the shop windows and American drugs. American notions. American shoes and American tobacco are to be had every where. The Westinghouse building on the corner of Norfolk Street and the Strand is one of the finest of this part of Lon- don, and there Is now talk of an enorm- ous American department store on the crescent shaped area which is to be va- cated by the joining of the Strand and Holborn. h A Big American Department Store. I understand that an application has al ready been made to the London County Council for this space. The parties have asked to lease 1t for nine hundred and ninety-nine years, and the Council is con sidering the advisability of giving them lease for ninety-nine years. If it does so the Americans will have one of the | most valuable locations in London and will erect store that will be a surprise to the London shopkeepers.
 At present there is no such thing as great department store in London. There who calls himself "A Universal Provider. "' He started business in a small way and added to his establishment until he has what the London people consider some thing great Peter Robinson has a small CT establishment on Oxford Street, but neither of these can compare with the mammoth department stores of New York and Chicago. So far London has had no good rapid transit system. and it may
 
 stores. By the new underground electric routes one will be able to go to any part of the city within a few moments at cents per trip, and the shopping possibil- ities will be greatly increased. I under stand tht both John Wanamaker and | Siegel, Cooper & Go, have been consider ing such an enterprise, but as yet noth- ing has come to material head. How London is Governed. From what I have said about Londons city improvements you will see that the government here is something of an in stitution. This is. you know, the capital | of the United Kingdom, the seat of Par | liament' and the residence of the King and royal family It has all the chief off, cials of the Government but it's own administration is separate and apart from | these. It Is difficult to understand 1t, for the town has now a dozen or so mayors and maze of other authorities. Not | long ago it had 800 separate authorities most of these were swallowed up in the London County Council. At present there | is a county government. city govern | ment and a borough government. The borough government might he called a ward government. for the city is divided | into twenty-seven 'boroughs. or wards. each of which has it's own mayor it's own council and a certain class of off, ciais.
 The general government however is the London County Council, comprising l37 members of whom nineteen are alder | men. This Council practically governs London. It fixes the taxes and spends the money, and that right royalty, too