Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-07

LONDON, England, Aug. 2S.-(Spe-
cial Correspondence of The Bee.)
FL London is rapidly changing.
The old city Is putting off its old
- clothes and buying new. Its
streets are being widened, many of the old
buildings have been torn down, and there
is a fair possibility that the day of the
American skyscraper may come, for fats
are going up in the fashionable section.
An army of workmen is now busy on the
Strand. AS l saw the street ten years ago
1t was so narrow that two omnibuses could
hardly pass. Today IL is being changed into
a wide avenue, which shall run from Ira
falgar Square to Holborn. not far from St.
Pauls. Where the two streets come to-
gether 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 have 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
theater 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 Improvement Is
completed 1t will. 1t is estimated, cost at
least s25. 900. 900.
American Invasion Above and Below.
have already written something about
the American invasion of underground Lon
don. / have told you of the Tuppenny Tube
line. which is now carrying millions from
one part Of the city to another at 4 cents
per trip. 1t is a mighty iron tube with
railroad tracks In Il, running far below the
city under the streets. 1t cost more than
$4,000, 900 a mile to construct, and the cleo
trlcal equipment was put in by the General
Electric company of New York. / have
spoken OF Mr.. Yerkes' great schemes which
are now fast approaching completion.
These will honeycomb the soil under the
city with similar tubes, and the Westing-
house company will build the machinery.
other schemes are now proposed for
American enterprise above ground. Amer
lean goods are already sold In all parts
OF the Strand. The American flag and tho
Union Jack are painted on many OF the
shop windows and American drugs, Amer
lean notions, American shoes and Ameri-
can tobacco are to be had everywhere. The
westinghouse building on the corner Of
Norfolk street and the Strand is one OF
the finest OF this part OF London, and there
is now talk OF an enormous American de-
partment store on the crescent-shaped
area which is to be vacated by the Joining
Of the Strand and Holborn.
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 99s years. and the
council is considering the advisability Of
giving them a lease for ni%nety-nine years.
II Il does so the Americans will have one
OF the most valuable locations In London
and will erect a store which will be a
surprise to the London shopkeepers.
At present there is no such thing as a
great department store in London There
is a man named Whiteley at Bayswater
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 smaller
establishment on Oxford street. but neither
OF these can compare with the mammoth
department stores OF New York and Chi
cago. So far London has had no good
rapid transit system. and II may be that
that has retarded the day OF such stores.
BY the new underground electric routes
one will be able to go to any part OF the