Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-08

land Yard q most prosafc puiluinR, quite
what q largo collection Of police ofiices
should be. and Baker street is q most ordi-
nary. mildly busting thoroughfare. which
brings you not far from the ghastiy portals
OF Nine. Tussaud's waxworks.
The Londoner does not say hello to the
telephone GIRL but deferentfally fnterro-
gates. There, Miss?" His existence Is
formalized and he wears q high hat on the
slightest provocation: high hat with q
the theory being that high hat
indicates certain income and
social status. He calls his back yard
"a garden" and the front yard fore
his house. however humble, has baronical-
sounding name. The reignfng theatrical
sensation a short time since was team of
colored performers from America. and the
promenade for people who are In American
cities toutside of New York; not welcomed
at places OF public amusement under any
circumstances.
II you desire lemonade. you must
ask for lemon SQUASH. and the
barmaid, who looks irascible and overwork-
ed. will squeeze a lemon Into glass, while
you are left to help yourself to sugar and
Is inoessant and when you take your
money out of your pocket at night you feel
at once as IL you were half undressed.
But 1t Is a beautiful gray old city. To
attend services at st. Paufs Cathedral Is
an experience Of solemn majesty. The
mighty people and the great events assoc
ciated with this ediflce are forgotten in this
solemn hour when expressions OF simple
faith awaken the echoes among the muir
muring arches. Seekers for happiness
have often made grievous and bloody blum
ders, but the quest goes confidently on to-
day as then.
Saying goodbye to London does not
wrench the sentiments. Despite the great
literary sympathy between England and
America. the average London citizen, the
man with a high hat and short coat, re-
CARDS America as a sort of escaped colony,
which somehow manages to remain at
large. He distrusts emotionalism but
goes into ecStatic paroxySms when mem
Der of the royal family appears. He has
a tremendous sense of order. When a
cial demonstration occurs the procession
forms on the bank Of the Thames. carrying
banners. with inscriptions like work or
Riot, One the Other" and calmly waits
for the police to escort 1t to Hyde Park and
listen to the speeches. Such demonstra-
ton could not be a success without the po-
lice as an audience. The. man who drives
the bus saws there isn't British working
man in the lot. The workingmap with
work to do finds an abundance of joy in
the multitude of museums and pleasure
places. which are not for the hasty trav-
eler. and in HIS heart thanks heaven that
he is not American.
The channel is comparatively smooth
the condition is publicly reported in both
London and Paris. and the journey from
Dover to Calais Is comparatively short.
But weather changes, and a world of woe
may be crowded into a short space of
travel. The boat is an old-fashioned side
wheeler. and the waves splash over it in
derisive glee. Below everybody Is sick, and
on deck the water is running copious and
cold. With drenched feet and ankles. the
passenger who has chosen the open air
ascends a flight of oozy stairs at the dock,
and after a solemn assurance to the Gus
toms officer that he is bringing in no
whisky nor tobacco-the American cigars
are all snoked-worse luck-takes the train
for PariS-gay Paree-the town that Ster-
ling Heilig writes about so vivaciously. If
the worst comes friends VIII at least see
that good. comfortable hospital accommo-
dations found. And, anyhow, the Paris
morgue is universally accredited with being
the best on earth.
PHILANDER JOHNSON.