Evening star., 1928-10-14
HOME Of BARRIE
|NLONDON DOOMED
Famous AdeIphi Terrace
Along Thames May Become
Hotel Site.
Special Dispatch 10 The Star.

LONDON, October 13-The famous
Thames-side Adephi Terrace, which
still houses Sir James Barrie and the
renowned Savage Club, and which was
until recently the home of George Ber-
nard Shaw. soon may be swept away.
It has been rumored from time to
fine than an American hotel may rise
Its head on the Adelphi's grave. The
Ereemasons. too. we're considering the
cite for great temple.
However. the new report of the So
ciety for the Protection Of Ancient
Buildings reveals that when this we'll
known London terrace was put up for
sale no bid reached sum the owners
could accept. so its fate is still in the
balance.
Behind the Strand and overlooking
che Thames Embankment, Peter Pans
creator lives in his shy seclusion in
these famous buildings. which Shaw left
for newer home in Whitehall Court
Barrie himself soon may be COM
PEELED to seek a new fiat. But the walls
of the Savage Club, one of the oldest
in London, are lined with spears and
weapons OF all kinds. and it Is said
every member will arm himself to the
teeth in common resistance against any
order to quit.
British Drama League.
On the terrace. also, is the British
Drama League (Which now has 5000
members) with its delightful yellow
Adam library. old marble mantelpiece.
lovely ceiling and all--cne of the few
Adam ceilings with a painting in the
center.
II Adelphi must pass. with it will pass
one of the finest relics Of an age of
elegance. of panels and me~allions deli
cstely painted by Angelica Kaufman.
Zuchi and Pergolesi: of graceful houses
designed in subdued coloringS by the
taste and genius of Robert Adam: Of
beautiful chairs. of Sstinwood and ma
hogany. Tt appears that nothing short
Of its purchase by the nation as a mon-
Ument can secure the preservation of
Adelphi.
Although the design and situation of
Adelphi Terrace make 1t a feature of
Iondar none can ignore, there are few
who realize the delicate beauty given
this row of houses by the Adam
brothers. Perhaps this is because the
river front was disfigured in the 70s
of the last century by the false cement
decorations beloved of that period.
Unique to London.
The Adelphi group of streets and
buildings is built upon arches and
bounded north by John street and
south by the famous Adelphi Terrace
front There is nothing quite like 1t
anywhere else in London, nor will there
be.
Its Greek name signifies brothers"
Four brothers. Robert, John, James and
william Adam, sons of a Scottish ar
chitect, bought the estate of Durham
Yard (once the garden of the Strand
palaces) in 1868, when nothing was
there but unprofltablC ruins. washed by
the mud of the Thames. There were
no Enbankment Gardens then and no
Embankment. Steps led down from
the Strand to the wharves. the ground
sloping steeply to the riverside.
The brothers planned series OF
well built streets on the Strand level,
with a high and noble terrace over
looking the river. The river then was
an important thoroughfare, and the
wharves had to be considered. To raise
their site the brothers built series OF
mighty brick arches and arranged for
q spacious archway to connect the
wharves with the Strand.
These arches have been compared
with the vaulted subterranean channels
beneath Rome, which have done duty
as sewers for $500 years. Their condi-
ton is probably as good as when they
were constructed. They we're under
pinned and strengthened in 1924.
Tides Flood Arches.
The high tides interfered with the
Adam brothers progress, flooding the
arches. but they obtained permission
to embank the river from the southwest
corner of the buildings, called the
Savoy, as far as the southeast corner
of York buildings. The citizens OF
London also interfered They resented
what they considered an encroachment
on their waterway and their feelings
were expressed in the following LAM
poon, which shows that the river was
still regarded as vital highway for
trade:
"Four Scotchmen by the name of
Adams,
Who keep their coaches and their
madams."
Quoth John in sulky mood to Thomas,
shave stole the very river from us!
O Scotland, long has it been said
Thy teeth are sharp for English bread:
What. seize our bread and water. too,
And use us worse than iailors do?"
But the brothers completed the work,
though they eventually had to sell their
landed property for funds.
In the 70s of last century the old
Fndeavour was running on the
Thames-"the ha'penny lone cent?
boat" from London Bridge to Adelphi
Arches One used to land on barges
and walk through the arches-very dark
they must have been, with their one
little gas jet inside-right up to the
Strand. Endeavour, Jupiter and Crick-
ct were the three boats on this service.
the tug Cricket finally being blown up
one night as she lay head on to London
stars where her master had gone
ashore for a drink.
Old Haunt ok Rogues.
One of the most curious streets in
London is that which slopes steeply
down from the Strand, beside the Tivoli
moving picture theateT land beside the
old Tivoli stage door and winds darkly
under John street into the wide arch
that leads to the Adam Embankment,
and which led in the old days to the
wharves. This dim, gas-lit, cobbled lane
is a place of ghosts. Before the arches
were closed many years ago. they were
the haunt of rogues and cut-throats and
the shelter of outcasts and vagrants.
Today wine merchants store their
precious wares under the arches. their
tuns. pipes and barrels now living where
the Huguenot jewels once we're stored
and the patents. title deeds and plate of
many of the nobility and gentry.
There is a restful earn about the old
Cloisterlike avenues. and 1t is sad TO
think of the Adalphi in the hands of
the housebreaker. But progress, alas,
x,tlI m