Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-02-29
V|NYARD'S
RAMBL|NGS


several Of the principal cities OF the
world. They presented 90 my mind
many striking contrasts and points of
interest. Doubtless to an old resident
er OF any OF them my ideas Of any par
| iicular city will seem crude and super
fetal, and so indeed they are will
| make no pretense of cosmopolitanism
and on the contrary. have concluded
that do not and would not eujoy city
| liie. 1t Is hard to teach an old dog
now tricks, and after a trial Of the city.
my heart turns back again to the
country town, where one both knows
and is known. My impressions there
fore are confessedly superficial.
crossed the ATLANTIC in company
with two other expedition members.
and our Instructions were to 20 to the
Hotel Cecil and await the arrival of
Mr. Baldwin who sailed from New
York the same day on another liner
Arrived in London therefore. we took
cab 10 the Cecil
| When we neared the hotel. an en-
| ormous structure fronting on the
| Strand, with an inner court surround
ed on three sides by wings from the
| main building. our cab Joined the long
| line of other cabs and we waited our
turn at the main entrance. When we
finally got there the major Gomo, In
brass buttons and a gram az stopped
cabby from dumping our luggage un-
| I'll We had arranged with the clerk for
| rooms, Dr. De Bruler went into the
office and tried to secure rooms but
found that every apartment was en-
gagged. the occasion being the great
midsummer race meeting known as
| the Derby. The doctor explained To
| the clerk the circuinstances and the
| c.erk finally offered us sleeping ac-
| commodations, three co.'s in bath
room. for the small sum of pound
| apiece day or in plain United States
$500 for the three OF us. This was
merely Tor the privilege OF sleeping
under the same roof with English roy
atty and had nothing To do with the
price of meals. We dill not stop at
| the Cecil
Our cabby drove US a square down
| the Strand to the Golden Cross, but
found 1t full also, and then into side
street where We succeeded in getting
| a lodging. The cabby charged shll-
ling apiece for each portion of our lit
tie trip. making s2.25 in all for about
half an hours drive But he brought
| our baggage with us, so the charge
| did not seem so large. 1t is not Gus
| tomary there to check your baggage.
| . fu nIA Ia,
with you and dumped out in heap
on the platform and you Identify and
claim II and have II carted away with
You How in the world they guard
against theft do not see. but the sys-
tenn is simple and you always have
your goods with You. A cabman only
charges for fare and you are not linn
tied as to the number of packages you
| may include with your luggage
London to me was disappointing.
There are many interesting things to
see; the British museum alone would
take months to appreciate. and Lon
don bridge. the embankment, the
Home Of Parliament, Westminster Alb.
Ley and the Tower are all objects of
interest; but the city Itself seems so
tlrefnlly slow to an American No
street cars. no sky scrapers. no wide
streets and none of the hustle and
hustle OF New York or Boston.
The policemen. called Boobies"
are not the physical equals of our cor
ner bosses from the Emerald Isle. but
what they lack In stature they make
up In politeness A Bobby" will go
three blocks out of his way to put you
on your right track. and prldes him
self on his knowledge OF the labyrinth
Of intricate streets and narrow ways
That's his business. to accommodate
the public. and he strives to I'll the
bill
The dialect Of the newsboys was i'm
| possible for me TO understand They
| sound long II" for. "a" and say piper"
for paper and "ife" for half. but that
| is only the simplest OF their contor.
tions. gave 1t up.
While was there the standard Joke
in the papers and magazines about
Americans was on our pronunciation
of the word American. According TO
them the usual thing for citizen OF
| The States to do. was to walk up to
some Engllshmen. ask some trivial
question and end his query with the
volunteered information that I'm an
an Amurcan." spelling the word with
n "u." you can shiver my timbers'
If ! ever heard an American say he
was an "Amurican." but nevertheless
the joke Is as current there as our
English Don't cher know" is on this
side OF the water.
| Londoners. one and all. seem I'm
bued with pride in their city, which.
II 1t was not the rankest kind OF met.
tropolitanism, would be termed over
here as provinciallsm. have noticed
no such pride any place in America
save perhaps in Boston and Salt Lake.
| Though they laugh at what they
term our crudlty. they are very glad
to see Americans and cordially friend.
ly.
| Strawberries are sold by the pound,
not quart. and as we had an entire
week to wait before Mr.. Baldwin ar.
! rived. we dropped into the habit OF