Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-14
LONDON PAYS HONOR
TO FAMOUS AMERICANS
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON, June 4. 1908.
London's literary associations-one of
the most attractive features of the me-
tropolis-have recently come under the
care of the county council. That body.
with an intelligence quite beyond that
which is usually found in offfcialdom. is
putting tablets on houses once occupied
by famous men and women of letters.
Even American celebrities who once lived
in London are being honored in this fash
ion. At No. I Craven street, just off the
Strand and close to Trafalgar Square,
tablet has been put up on the house
where Benjamin Franklin lived for many
years. The house is now sort of private
hotel. and American visitors to London
take pleasure in occupying the room once
graced by the immortal Benjamin.
1t was only in his prosperous days that
Franklin lived in Craven street. That
was when he represented the American
colonies. When he first came to London,
in 1924, he occupied an attic room in a
somewhat Slummy part of London now
known as Little Britain, close to the gen.
eral post office. He worked in Palmers
printing shop. paying % cents week for
his garnet domicile. He afterward moved
to Sardinia street in l.incolns Inn Fields.
working as a compositor for Watts, the
printer.
Memorial to William Penn.
Another American whose London life has
been commemorated by the l.. c. c. is
William Penn. A tablet has been put up
on the house in which he was born. 1t is
situated on Great Tower HILL close to the
Tower of London. There is very quaint
reference to Penn by Burdette. an old
historian. who naively calls attention TO
hat by the remark: He was not born
with his hat on. but that is the only time
he was ever seen bareheaded."
a very popular house is No. As Doughty
street. This was for many years the
home of Charles Dickens. 1t was here
that he wrote "Oliver Twist Nicholas
Nckleby and several other of his slo-
ries. Dickens when at Doughty street
kept a horse and daily after completing
four or five chapters of new novel would
relax" by a long horseback ride. He
moved from Doughty street to Tavistock
House, Tavistock Square. Both Of these
houses are practically in Bloomsbury,
which is the favOrite resort of Americans.
Thomas Hoods house. II Elm Tree
road, ST. Johns Wood, in the northwest
ern part of London. is another place that
appeals to American visitors. 1t was
here that the poet wrote THE Song OF
the Shirt" which, strangely enough. was
a contribution to the Christmas number
his palmy days, gave some famous din
ners to his friends-Charles Lamb. Cole
ridge, Leigh Hunt and others.
Tablets to Great Men.
In Gerard street, Soho. tablets have
been put up to the memory of Burke.
Sheridan and Dryden. Dryden's funeral
took place from large. dingy brownstone
mansion at the far end Of Gerard street.
ffair
poets body being carried out of the house
by couple of hired pallbearers.
Though he was inferred in Westminster
Abbey, no one of Importance went to the
funeral. In Soho. Thomas De Quincy,
author of the Confessions of an Opium
Eater also lived. Though De Quincy
lived in Greek street, Soho, his most ia
nous book was not written there, but in
back room at No. York street. Covent
Garden On the top floor of this building
the room where De Quincy produced his
great classic is still unchanged Inciden
tally it was from a druggist in Soho that
the author got his first dose of opium.
little west of Soho is the district made
famous by the residence of Byron, Bull
wer. Lytton, Scott, Hallam. Edmund
Keane, Thomas Young. Thackeray. Cole
ridge and others Byron lived at "a Holes
street. and also occupied for long time
a house which was removed to make room
for Piccadilly Circus. Byron was In the
habit of frequenting the taverns of the
day, and it was at Whites that he
fought one of his famous duels. The
reader may recall that the meeting be-
tween tom Moore and Byron came about
over a duel A challenge passed between
Moore and Byron. but the fight never took
place and the Irish poet afterward be-
came one of Byron's best friends and his
biographer.
Fleet street will always be interesting
to the literary ''browser." and many of
it's houses are tableted. OF course. every
one knows that Goldsmith. DR.. johnson.
Edmund Burke and all the pre-Nictorian
sages foregathered in the dingy courts
and byways off the narrow thoroughfare.