Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-07
MAGIC OF OLD HOUSES.
Some Reflections on the Demolition of
the London Streets.

From The London Chronicle.
There is some mysterious quality of fairy
land about London. Odd as the saying may
seem, 1t is not easy to account in any other
way for the wondrous air of youth she as
sumes when the spring suns begin to shine
upon her. AS If by magic all her grimy
antiquity and careworn history fall from
her under the light of a clear May morning,
and she appears to be but city Of yester-
day, with all her future before her. From
long observation I am driven to believe
that London reckons her New Year as our
forefathers did. from the 18th of March.
With these thoughts In my mind the other
morning. was pulled up short by the sight
Of the great gap made In Southampton row
by the county council, In the making or
their new thOrOughfare from the Euston
road to the Strand. On the western side
have been demolished long row of what
were quite comedy houses They were early
Victorian, 1t Is true, and they were stucco
fronted. and had to be painted periodically.
tanned a number of interesting shops. Now
they are utterly wiped out and the yards
or gardens stand bare and open to the I'M
wonted air and light. as If startled and
ashamed.
OF course, that Is mere fancy on my
part; but am one Of those contemplative
persons who cannot regard the passing
away of houses without Dang l believe
J.
tain they have an individuality. for never
went into an empty house yet but immedi-
ately I could feel conveyed to my mind
consciousness that 1t was speaking to me In
a special manner. How can 1t be otherwise
considering all that the house has wit
messed A house that has been a home to
human beings for. say, fifty years. cannot
remain a dead thing Of bricks and boards
1t would be as credible to assert that home
is nothing to human beings. In fifty years
at least ten complete tales of love. anger.
pity. remorse. success and despair have
been enacted within its walls. Every room.
perhaps, has witnessed deaths and births,
and in the kinematograph Of imagination
may be described such stories of human
fortune as novelists. through the laborious
processes OF books. can only family por-
tray. And your county council comes along
with It's army OF housebreakers- and in a
day or two carts away these shrines and
affairs. tombs and temples. without cere-
mony, as mere bricks and rubbish.
More calOus even than the county coun-
ell, London. this beautiful May morning.
smiles as II nothing had happened and
looks upon the prospect OF fresh buildings
that viii shortly take their places with the
frock The more fool I. maybe. to take the
thing to heart and grow sentimental. But
as l gaze upon those brown. back yards
opened out to the public eye. my attention
Is arrested by the half-dozen trees spread
about the grounds. 1t becomes apparent at
once that those spaces were once gardens
only London gardens. perhaps. but still
gardens-places of greenery. dials of the
seasons. monitors OF the years: and, al
though the ground plants have vanished
and green mould spreads where once pinks
and waliflowers threw scents to the sun.
still the trees remain and are showing signs
Of budding for q new spring.
Now, IL there "a any kinder mother OF
thought than housez. II u trees trees that
continue budding and ieafing and fading
and resting In their annual round. year in
4 nd Yaar orft In the hustle Of n great city
where once was fairly open space. Fer
suppose that when these trees In South
ampton row and Hart street were first
stuck In the 6arth to root - youngstsrss