Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-19
OCEAN TRAVEL NOTES
Some Interesting Chance Ac-
quaintances
In BRITAIN'S CAPITAL
SADNESS AT DEATH OF SIR
HENRY IRVING.
A Luncheon With Consul General
Wynne in a Kings Throne
Room.
I'M BRITAIN'S CAPITAL
.lal From a stafr CORRESPONDENT.

Special From a STAFF CORRESPONDENT.
LONDON, November 8, 1DO5.
When man makes a flying trip to Eu-
rope he naturally tries to crowd as much
sightseeing into his time as possible. and
so when 1 boarded the u. s. 8. New York
on the 4th of October, L anticipated do
ing London and Paris fairly, at least.
We had moderately good voyage, with
only two days of rough weather. but during
these two days there were some notable
vacancies at the dining room table.
One makes chance acquaintances on
board a steamer which sometimes develops
into lasting friendships. and such acquaint-
ances 1 met on the trip OF which am
speaking. One was a young Swiss who
had been in America for eight years. dur
ing which period he had not only acquired
our language but had studied the pro-
fession of dentistry, and was going back
to his native Basel to practice. He didn't
want to leave America one bit, but mis-
father, who had furnished him the means
to study and live in the United States. de-
sired that he should return to the parental
roof. He was a splendid specimen of Wig
orous young manhood, six feet two inches
in height, with a promise of great develop
ment he shall mature. With him was
his sister, of queenly proportions, who
shared her brothers love for America and
its institutions.
Another fellow traveller was a Baltimor-
can of between thirty-five and forty, VINO
was going back to London, where he had
been for five years as the head of the
drafting department of a big contracting
firm. He had been in Washington during
the establishment of the electric railway
systems on the 9th and F street roads.
and after the destruction of the power
house of the Capital Traction Company by
fire, and for the past eighteen months had
been in Cincinnati looking after an electric
;Ir,rar hon. 10 lyf,nr IAN n rriG
and said that his highest ambition was 10
accumulate sufficient money to go to wash
ington and spend the rest of his days
there.
Sir Henry Irving's Death.
We reached Plymouth Saturday morning
and I took the train for London. En- route
We passed through a splendid agricultural
country, where the farms were well laid
out and the people seemed to be thrifty
and prosperous. 1t was an express train
and with few stops, so that we rolled into
Waterloo station about pm.
The first thing l heard as l stepped into
a hanson cab was the announcement or
the death of Sir Henry Irving. and it came
as a shock to me, for had anticipated see
Ing him play in London. The expressions
of regret at his sudden taking-off were
general and sincere, as he had great hold
on the affections of Londoners. Many the
a1erS closed thelr doors ana refldlUeu
closed until the arrangements for the fu-
neral were perfected. Not only was THIS
II Tue of English managers. but OF those rep
resenting American interests as well. 1t
was fitting that his body should rest IN
Westminster Abbey, for he will lie with
the most distinguished of England's sons.
Sunday ! went out to Hampton Court,
that palace that was built by Cardinal VOL
sey and given by him to King Henry VIII
when thar monarch expressed admiration
for 1t, with it's beautiful surroundings, and
expressed a desire for its possession. The
willy old cardinal knew that If he didn't
present 1t to the king that ruler would
take it from him, anyway, and SO he made
virtue of necessity and got credit for a
big display of generosity. The buildings
are in a good state of preservation, and in
cluded in them some beautiful paint
ings, tapestries and ornaments that are
well worth seeing The gardens, too, are
charming and are we'll kept by skilled horti-
culturists who exercise their ingenuity in
making fantastic shapes out of the hedges.
st. Paul's Cathedral is grand and majestic
In it's proportions and one can hardly real
lie its size unless one goes in during
service, where the choir and congregation
barely fill one side of the nave. l saw
guard mount of the Horse Guards at Buck
ingham Palace. The mounts were splen-
did specimens of horsef1esh and We're per-
feet in size and color. The uniforms of
cuirass and helmet Were fine to look at,
but must be heavy and uncomfortable for
the wearers. These troopers guard the
portals TO the palace anu SIT OH InelT nOTSeS
in the little sentry boxes like craven images
during their term of duty and until relieved
Consul General Wynne
I spent an evening with Consul General
and Mrs wynne at their apartments in
the Queen Anne Mansion, the SWEETEST
apartment house in London. Mr. Wynne is
becoming quite a popular official in London
and is in demand at dinners and other
functions He told me he had entertained
in one way or another over 700 Americans
in the eight months he had been in office,
which is enough to show how many of
Uncle Sans people and how much of Uncle
Sans money find their way to the capital
of Great Britain. The following day took
luncheon with him in what was once the
throne room of King Richard III. That
shows the changes made by time in the
heart of this city and the enterprise of the
caterer, for the idea of eating in a kings
palace is quite fetching, whether to Briton
or one from the land of the free, where
there are no kings and pomp and circum-
stance Of royalty. Just back of this build
ing Is the chapel where the bloody mon
arch used to retire and pray every time he
felt desire to commit murder, which, &C
cording to history, was quite frequent.
A little farther down the street was the
church in which Hendrick Hudson took
communion the day before he sailed for
the world to discover the beautiful
river which bears his name.
I went to the Tower Of London, which is
a series of buildings, some containing the
crown jewels, some containing the most
complete equipment of armor probably to
be found in the world. Those fellows who
wore the suits of armor must have been of
great physical strength for some of them
are mighty heavy. and an ordinary man
could hardly feel comfortable encased in
steel, to say nothing of being able to swing
a batte-axe or polse lance.
went down among the spots made ia
nous by England's great novelist Charles