New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-10
IOKDON'S NEW BAILEY
s5ssociqtions of a World Famous
Prison Site.
London. March 1.

-. new architecture Of london does not
- = ,-arjete- and that is perhaps the best
.tf,g that can be said of l.. The Strand and
,,-bitollaU are now fantastic medley Of styles
md rueriods, witi- Gothic Renaissance. sham
ioesf. and modernized French and Italian
.,stIpg one another out Of dignity. In the
Cd the Law. courts designed by Mr. Street
relnain uurivalled by scores Of recent structures
=. magnificent example Of new Gothic; and
tre the new War Office in Whitehall and the
,,,,isterfal Offices for the Board Of Trade and
,be Local Government Board, opposite West
Minister Abbey, are costly and pretentious
,,fdings each with four towers, neither has
a. distraction and simplicity of the Scottish
,,.-onlal nile designed by Norman Shaw for
,bo aefropolitan police; and each shrinks into
.siopi6csnce when compared with the late
,,o,bic Houses OF Parliament. with the rich
,,sttern Of the Henry VII Chapel carried out in
detail Oh a large scale. The New Bailey is Mr..
Nountford's contribution TO the latter-day
elories OF the metropolis It has a tower and a
dome: perhaps these were indispensable when
ST. Pauls was so clase; and Justice. with sword
and scales, has a lofty perch 200 feet above the
pavement With Si.;00O00 invested in this
snowy structure the exterior ought 10 be more
Impressive than it is; and the interior Of the
criminal Courts, on the site of Newgate Prison
tects seem to exhaust their resources in de-
signing highly decorative exteriors and splendid
central halls. The New Admiralty is perhaps
the only one Of the public offices in which the
rooms are well lighted and work can be done
comfortably. The Law Courts. Somerset House,
the Treasury and the Public Offices in White
hall beyond il. have probably the darkest
rooms and the most inconvenient arrangements
for working forces Of public servants to be
found in any great capital The New Bailey,
with the main criminal court for a metropolis
Of eight millions of the just and the unjust,
has seats for five pressmen!.
The Old Bailey was a corner Of London of
which Dickens knew every stone He described
the quarter in detail in three Of his books. Il
was the scene. in 1775. of Charles Danay's
trial in The Tale Of TWO Cities" when the
pillory and whipping post were ornaments Of
n kind az deadly innyard. from which pale
travellers set out continually in carts and
coaches on a violent passage TO the other
world" That was five years before the burn
ing Of Neweate and the liberation OF the pris-
oners by Lord George Gordon's followers
events which were described in ''Barneby
Ridge Newgate was then a new prison. for
George Dance had built It in 100: but from
the twelfth century there had been cells, a
Eallows-tree and all the rough implements Of
3ustice on the famous site. When Pip came
ND 10 London the prison was a grim stone
building, with the black dome of st. Paul's
towering above il, as he strolled around the
corner from SlnithAeld; and with Mr. Wemmick
as his guide he passed through the lodge into
the interior Of the jail, saw the letters hanging
the walls. and watched the prisoners behind
bars their friends chatted with them. or the
potnan served them with boer Newgate has
been transformed since the DAYS OF Great Fx-
pectations." In the big central hall under the
dome Pip would now see marble pillars stained
glass, painted panels and q series OF portraits
of famous men; and the stately marble lined
corridors leading out OF 4 into oak paneiled
oourtrooms and Offices would be a paiatieI en-
viroament in comparison with the slualor ard
neglect OF the celon yard which came under lis
eyes. = would aow be as difficuit Cor him %
sua the ONCE ~ aIr. yaggers. the Old Bailey
lawyer. nearby n Bartholomew Close. as It
would be FOR honest. obstinate Gabriel Tardzn
- identity t,e spot gl.ero - Tss 3oztied and
roughly handled IN the riots.
Everything around thu reconstructed court
house has changed except the church opposite
Fl sepulehre. where ;he bell used 70 be tolled
when murderer was hanged and where
during an earlier period ncsegay was pre-
scented 70 every condemned criminal when ne
set out IA a cart on his last Journey up Hol-
burn 10 TybuIn tree. The Blue Coat school
with its picturesque facade and grounds has
gone, and the quest FOR the little room whore
ColeTidge. southey and Lamb were wont 10
recite verses I'm their youth would be as idle
as the hunt for THE SaUtation and the Cat
where Sir Christopher Wren used TO smoke his
pipe when 81. Paul's was under construction
Old Norman St Bartholomew is close at hand,
having survived the vicissitudes of unrestrained
restoration; and the Charter House is beyond
f. and swarms OF American tourists fit from
one 10 another after Iayday. Dickens pilgrims
have ceased 10 hunt for the old Saracen's Head
near s.. Sepulchres, whence Mr.. Squeers set
out with fresh recruits for his Yorkshire
school: and while there Is still an open square
81 Clerkenwell 81 is not easy task 20 follow
Charley Bates and the Artful Dodger. nor to
run down Ar. Fang and ind local color for the
Scenes OF oliver Twist" The New Bailey
.iselC with its lavish ornan;entation and new
tsngled architecture seems to frown upon all
fhe associations which have made the site OF
Newgate historic. There are a few cells for
the temporary confinement az evildoers. but the
glamour Of the prison site. with memories Of
Jack Sheppard and Titus Oates. Daniel Defoe
and William Penn. has passed away. Justice
soaring aoft with pOise IS blind to all the
Traditions If a famous environment.