The herald., 1918-06-20

MANY of them are content 10
spend a considerable part Of their time
in London. They cannot help IT, Tor,
according to Emerson, the English
have made London "such city that
almost every active man, in any ma
ton, finds himself, at one time or an
other, forced to visit it." In normal
times a census of the strangers within
our gates would disclose large pro-
portion from the other side of the At
lantic, says Herbert w. Horw1ll In
Country Life. The West End shop
keeper knows this well, as scrutiny
of his windows will show. He has
even gone so far in catering to the
taste Of the American visitor as to es-
tablish In our midst that un-English
institution, the soda fountain. Tailors,
tobacconists, 'dry goods" merchants
all combine to confirm the verdict that
London Is "the best and cheapest
shopping place in the world"
No doubt, most Of the Americans
who find their way to this city are
"transients," but some who arrive with
the intention Of making only brief
sojourn remain here for the rest OF
their days. One remembers, for In
stance, the Chicago millionaire who
took up his permanent abode In a Lon
don club and whose decease gave Sir
William Harcourt's Death Duties so
magnificent send-of.
What do these Americans come out
for to see? The answer is obvious
what they have no chance of seeing at
home. To the citizens of q country
where every church over 100 years old
is regarded as an antiquity, and where
the Washington sightseer, on his trip
to George Washington's home, is told
that he Is "now approaching the an
cient city Of Alexandria" dating from
A. d. 174S), the treasury Of historic
material provided by London Is Of al
most inexhaustible interest. In the old
er parts of the city nearly every steI
brings them into touch with some build
ing whose associations recall perio(
anterior to the Declaration Of indie
pendence. To say nothing Of the re
mains of the Roman wall, there are thu
Tower of London-that "sweet boon,
as Artemus Ward described it-West
minister Abbey and Hall, the Temple
st. Paul's, and old churches and house
innumerable.
His Literary PiIgrimages.
A conspicuous characteristic of tn
American visitor Is his enthusiasm 70
literary pilgrimages. The averag
, Englishman, Londoner or provincial
exhibits nothing like the same zeal Il
tracking the footprints of our grea
! writer's. st. Giles, Cripplegate, tn
p burial place of John Milton, is prObabl.
visited by ten Americans for every on
! Englishman. How many Englishme
] could tell you where Oliver GOLDSMITH
was buried? Thousands of America
visitors have stood reverently besid
. the grave. Memories of Doctor JohI
q son are another powerful magnet.
In this connection a good story
\ told of how the American enthusia:
! is sometimes victimized by his fellow
countrymen. Mr.. George AIDE was or
day sitting in the Cheshire Cheese
: over beefsteak pudding and a mu
f Of ale, when there entered q Chicae
woman, Boswell in hand. She ha
been told that the great mans aut
. graph could still be seen penciled Q
/ one of the walls. The walters declare
; they had never seen 1t, but with h
', dauntless Chicago spirit she began
> long search upstairs and down. Viii
she was upstairs a warm glow of bel
/ evidence rose In AIDES heart, and, Ia
10 ing pencil from his pocket, he wro
:, with quaint eighteenth century fou
. ishes on the wall behind him "Sa
r, Johnson" On her return from u
\ stairs the visitor promptly spotted Il
g autograph and was overtoyed.
W els 1t not amazing" remarked M
= AIDE In telling the story, show mu'
" happiness we can give to others
r these little acts Of kindnessT To Il
T. tourist from overseas even the gre
b. figures of the Victorian era wear
: halo Of sancity. Carlyle's house is
at constant center Of. attraction. Son