Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-11-11
-By the Editor of the Herald

capital, is not properly tower but
collection of towers with a high and
thick wall connecting. 1t was at
once a fortress and a prison Instead
of being, as l imagined, a single towe
containing historical relics, it is
series of towers with an enclosure
which covers several acres. AS a
monument to medieval building it is
highly impressive.
A Typical London Day
It was typical London day when l
visited the tower. Rain the night be-
fore but bright sunshine in the morn
ing. Then rain again reducing to
drizzle. Finally gray skies and mild
air such as we usually have here in
late September. 1t was August in
London.
I took a motor bus from High Hol-
born at Kings Way, busy corner of
the east side of London's West End.
Our bus swung down one of London's
curving streets past one of the city's
oldest houses, put up in the Eliza
bethan period, over 800 years ago. 1t
is a couple of hundred feet long and
four or five stories high with each of
the successive floors built out beyond
the one below, if you know what l
mean A peculiar type of architecture
probably fashioned to give street room
for pedestrians in those days of mar
row thoroughfares. The street is wide
now with comparatively modern
buildings except for the one mention
ed.
Down Through London City
Down through London city we go.
There are 81 or so boroughs in Great
er London and three big corporations
London City, Westminster and
Marylebone This is London City, the
old town, covering what was all of
London in the times of the Stuarts and
back of that. It has an antique at
mosphere but it is busy nevertheless.
Much of the business of the world is
transacted in the City's narrow con-
fines, mile or so across. Many of
the streets are narrow but the build
ings are substantial and good looking.
We pass the Bank of England,
known as '"The Old Lady of Thread
needle Street" A large building this,
covering probably a block though it
is not tall. No London buildings are.
There are no windows on the sides.
The embrasures are all filled in with
stone A protection against looting.
The only way you could break into the
Bank of England would be to blast
your way in-and by the time you got
| started you would have an army to
fight The building light comes from
glass set in the roof they tell me.
A World Famous Street
The route passes along Cheapside,
where at one time, as the name indi-
Gates, things were sold very cheap.
The modern place for cheap buying is
Petticoat Lane, further down. There
on Sundays huge market is cOnduc-
ted and everything imaginable is cried
and sold. "But watch out" LOndOners
say, "your pockets will be picked and
your purchases stolen from you before
you leave if you are not careful" One
thinks parts of London are not so
law-abiding as tradition has it.
Not far away to the right are the
| districts OF Whitechapel, Stepney,
the Limehouse and the famous London
docks. An interesting place to spend
an afternoon But that must wait for
another telling.
So we pass through old London,
grimy, gray, narrow streets and an
tique but not mean-looking. In fact
/
And finally our bus driver politely
tells us to alight "The Tower is just
off the close of the street, about three
! never directs you like we direct. He
never tells how many blocks to go or
just which way. 1t is either "the head
of the street." or "the foot of the
street." which means, you finally ga
| Io4 cf1. nfe and of in
tervals, breaking into other streets.
An opening" is the cross street and
would properly mean what we term
"a block" So we go to the lend of
| the street." but to our dismay, find no
Tower Ask again and are directed
! further down. Cross under a viaduct
and after several minutes walk the
Tower looms in sight, along the
| Thames.
Nothing is free to see at the Tower
except the outside. To go in you buy
tickets, expressing a choice for GER
tain places or for the whole trip.
Three tickets cost about soc in our
money Then we pass over long
bridge, once draw bridge, which
crosses deep moat. Both were part
of the Tower defense in years gone
by.
The Tower "Beef Eaters"
At the gate you get your first
glimpse of the famous tower "Beef
Casters stalwart guards dressed in
red uniforms, cloaks of darker color
and the round hats of the time of old
King Henry VIII. This dress, except
for the trousers, has not changed in
three centuries. Sometimes, | feel
sure, they wear the old knee breeches.
Once inside the Tower grounds you
buy guide book for two pennies, "a
| tuppence," or four cents in our money.
The rest is easy-just turn the pages
of the book and follow your nose.
In general, you would say, there is
nothing much to see. Stone construc-
ton everywhere. Large buildings on
medieval lines. Narrow passages. A
| large greensward. Bastions and
keeps. Cobblestone pavements Yet
| even these stones cry history. 1t
takes a proper historical background,