The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-31
PICTURESQUE LONDON NOW A
CITY OF DREADFUL NIGHT
u, ELIZABETH ROBINS rE>>ELL.

I.oNnON. January ~
T CAN remember my first impressions
OF London at night a. city OF
;i:rkness, even though ! had CONS
fresh from Philadelphia. which
hen, in our Philadelphia way, phila-
delphians naturally looked upon as the
worst lit city In the world. But that
was many years ago and in the mean
Tine London. with incredible unwilling
ness. has discovered the use of cleo
tricity; 1t abo managed 10 Amerlcaniae
Itself in the process learning the adj
vantages. not only OF bathrooms aud
elevators hut OF advertising ny night
n advertising by day required no
lessons. 1t became positively brilliant
In the centre. though IL still chung to
darkness on the outskirts evidently de-
termined to live up tn its recent repu:l-
tion rs the new playground of Eu-
rope"
The lower end Of Shaftesbury avenue.
Plccadilly Circus. Leicester square and
Trafalgar Square gave something like
n faint reflection Of the Great White
WAY in New York the river was begin
ming to fashion itself after the same
model In certain streets chance ar
ranged the lamps with decorative
Splendor IL never could entts INTO the
mind OF a county or borough council
deliberately to design. have often
asked myself on my way home after
dark from Paddingtou or Baynratep
whether a carefully planned ilumina-
ton was over more effective than the
long curves and lines OF glowing orange
halls ~ their high posts that follow
the long curves and lines Of oxford and
Regent streets Chance was as kind
to London In it, lights as in It's atmos-
phere.
This brilliancy has made It's darkness
now, its new unbelievable plunge into
gloom. all the more visible, for it seems
as II one could positively see the dark
ness. cannot get accustomed To 10,
though Z is as far back as early Sep
TENDER that | began to notice the low
ering Of light here. the going out
of a light there. the great transforms %
ton led up to by such slight changes
that any body less familiar with London
might have missed them altogether.
Even the average Iondouer missed
nc preliminary steps before the orders
lights down" We're given. though
know a few who looked upon the prep
arations for the Zeppelin as an invita-
ton il could not refuse and never went
to sleep without warm dressing gowns
or Greatcnats and slippers by their bed
side moved their servants from the top
floor and decided upon the exact spot
when At the first alarm the assembled
family should take shelter.
watched the coming OF the dark
ross first on the river, for the simpl,
reason that our windows. where tn,
curtains are never drawn, overlook II
There the modern brilliancy Of Lon
don had grown to he almost an Of
fence The Thames more and NOR,
changed with the life Of the great town
was losing the mystery tina, Whistler
loved. yielding up its old reticences II
the glare of the big electric lamps OF
he embankment. where the huge doubl,
decked trains went by in an endless
blaze OF light on wet nights trailing
glory 81 reflections with Ihem. tn
stream OF taXis and rooters was like a
never ending torChlight procession
from across the river between dusk an,
midnight the excellence OF certain wine
and WHISTLES and teas was flashed int
our eyes with such a dissertation Of TN
river that | would rather have died a
thirst than have touched any one q
them.