The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-05-31
]. F. O'BRIEN BECOMES
LONDON RAH RAH BOY
Former Evening Banner Reporter Is
Taking Special Course at Kings
COLLEGE.

The Banner is in receipt of the
following interesting letter from ]. F.
O'Brien who some time before enter
ing the service was a member of the
staff:
London. May 2, 1919
Editor of the Banner:-I suppose that
most of your Old newsboys who have
been vacationing in sunny" France
have RECALLED you with accounts of
that charming patch of mud and slum-
gullion, but, thinking that not many
of them have seen much of England,
unless, perhaps, the sailors among
them, take my Conklin in hand to
send you the news from this land of
John Bull.
was among those fortunate men,
bers of the A. f. f. selected to take a
three months course in British univer.
sites, two thousand being the total
number Some Of my friends are at
French institutions; one is at the
Lorboune; he wrote that he is room
ing in the Latin Quarter, and, while
quite proficient in the language, is
finding it difficult to appreciate all the
fine points of his lectures. Besides,
he hints that Paris is a bad place to
study, especially as studying has to
be done at night, and II an American
soldier can imagine porting over books
in Paris at night, he has a wonderful
Imagination. | was there on Mordi
Gras.
oxford and Cambridge were the
first choices of us all, but when
learned that man had to have a
suite of rooms and valet, decided
that | could not stand the shock of
that combined with the absence of
bugle calls and mess-line. SO
have registered at Kings College,
University of London. have been
here now for FIVE weeks and feel like
a native, not getting lost more than
three times a day and being able to
cross Piccadilly Circus with no seri-
Gus injuries. | am even being quite
capable in manipulating the under
ground, which. If you can find the
train, is very convenient One does
not dare complain Of the maze; if a
Londoner hears us saying what we
think about 1t, he kindly informs us
that the system was installed by an
American.
The visitor to London naturally
uses all his spare time in sightseeing.
| have been to nearly all the we'll
known places in the city, such as st.
Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Bucking
ham Palace, Tower of London.
Houses of Parliament, ana other fam
GUS buildings. | plan now to make
some special trips 10 see things and
places not on the regular line of
march" OF the tourist. have been
interested in Looking up the sites Of
old theatres. and have been on a few
literary trips, as they are called; see
ing DR.. Johnsoh's old haunts, launching
at The Cheshire Cheese, visiting
Samuel Pepy's rooms, and similar
places Of which London Is full
Today spent at Canterbury, where
| went through the Cathedral and ST.
Martins church. and saw the house
where Agnes Copperfield lived, the
inn where Sir John Falstaff used TO
imbibe sack, the house where Uriah
Hep had his Office and numerous
other places which are in tumble in
my brain just now. for our guide liter
ally ran us around, there was so much
to see in a short time. We walked for
short distance over the old Roman
road which the Canterbury Pilgrims
once trod, assembled the stone steps
in the Cathedral, worn into holIows
by their knees, and saw the grooves
around st. Thomas a Beckets tomb
where they used to kneel and pray.
There are amusements galore here
all the way from grand opera at the
Drury Lane and season OF Shake
speare at the "Old Vic, to our own
Elsie Janis in "Hullo America and
Abe and Mawruss in Business before
Pleasure. and from the Russian
Ballet to Charlie Chaplin, II is fai
reach, but one can find whatever one
likes in the way of shows. There are
fine concerts, too, and museums an(
art galleries: sometimes do no
know where to go next, so hop on Z
bus and spend the evening reading Il
the hotel. The best part Of most o
the entertainments is, that, il one Il
wise, It is easy toget cheap seats.
saw Twelfth Night" yesterday for Is
3D., that is 80 cents In real money
and It was worth three dollars. !
cost me sixty cents to see "Chu Chill
Chou" OF course. was not next 4
the Royal Box. but not in "nigge
heaven either Once in a while W
are invited to tea by some of the nc
bility; my latest adventure was al
afternoon at General Sir Ian Hami
tons; we sort of casually drop in a
Windsor Castle on Tuesdays for te
with the King and Queen Princes
Mary was pouring last week and on
Of the boys almost tipped her sis
pense, she did 1t so we'll, and he ha
not yet recovered from the shoe
when he learned who she was.
There is to be parade tomorrow G
eleven thousand British coonii
tro,ne Tho crnwd that N,.{tnaeqp