Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-21

be $50 Rhodes scholars altogether in resi-
dence in Oxford. not more than fifteen
being allocated to any single college. VI
this total eleven will be ex-scholars de-
voted to special studies.
The rebuilding Of London has gone
apace in the year that has just closed.
While some Of the great schemes have
been brought to the point Of completion,
the largest and most ambitious of all the
Strand improvements. IS in its earlier
stages, though decade has passed since
1t was begun. The gap that yawns from
the Strand to Holborn is being filled up
In the most leisurely manner. Some half
a-dOZe1 handsome new buildings that
year ago had not risen above the street
level have now had their roofs put on,
the most notable being the stately pile
built for the government of Victoria.
London's Reconstruction.
Cnfavorable comparison have been
made between London and some other
European capitals in developing their
out that the piercing of central Paris by
the Avenue de rOpera and outlying
thorouglIfares involving a much larger
scheme OF demolition and reconstruction
than that undertaken in the Strand. was
the work of only four years, whereas ten
years work in London has only seen the
beginning of work which. completed
will provide architectural prospect UNI
rivaled by any other city.
The hus;ling spirit and thorougnness
of Haussmann. with the pressure of
Napoleon III behind him. have not dis
ungulshed the efforts of the London
county council Though not as yet visible
from Trafalgar Square, as it will be when
some buildings have been demolished the
ornamental arched entrance to the pro-
cessional road to Buckingham Palace is
rapidly nearing completion. and the glori-
fed Mall will soon have all the dignity
of approach which it's designer has aimed
at. Whitehall has been wonderfully trans
formed since the completion of the new
local government offices. and the splendid
new building which the Wesleyans are
erecting on the site of the old Westmin-
ster Aquarium is above ground. just as
the new wing of the National Gallery is
also making an appearance.
The two immense white marble palaces
In Piccadilly, at the top of st. James
street. have aroused wonder at the wealth
ana enterprise of the insurance COM
panies who have built them. and many
other private firms in the leading thor
ouShfares have spent tens of thousands
housing themselves on the most palatial
scale Ten years work on the South
kensington Museum has brought that
colossal edifice into state Of prepara-
tion Tor us opening by the king early in
the summer.
Memorial to Victoria,
Good progress is being made with the
national memorial to Queen Victoria, in
front of Buckingham Palace. The first
stage is completed. Mr.. Brock the
sculptor. has just concluded clay model
of Queen Victoria, seated. and the mold
81 ard
the reproduction in white marble About
seventy tons of marble will be used in
carving the figure. In addition. Mr.
Brock has designed three groups of stat
uary which will surround the central
figure. and be symbolfcal of Justice. Truth
AMI Motherhood. On the TANKS Courage
and Courtesy will be represented, and
when the memorial is completed 800 tons
of the finest marble will have been used
The office of works have not completed
the improvements of the Mall. but it is
being evolved gradually. The last design
is the construction of a gateway opposite
Park to BirdcaSe walk. To make the
gateway it is necessary to cut away
slice of land in the park
During the present year certain atera-
lions at HEREFORD House. where the Wal
lace collection is stored, will be completed
Two of the large rooms on the first floor
which are hung with examples of the
Dutch schools of the seventeenth GEN.
tury. have been closed for several weeks
for cleaning, decoration and rearrange-
ment, and the work is now nearly fin
ishedt This partial closing has only oc-
CURED twice since Hartford House was
opened as a public gallery. in 1890. one
of the occasions being a few years ago,
when the fall of cornice threatened
pricele, !; examples of French decorative
art
l.. III. MOORE.