Evening star., 1935-09-07

by Mr.. Faucet, ipritten in the
course OF a recent trip to Europe
and recordinf his impressions and
observations. Other articles In this
series will appear from time to
time in The Star.
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.
London, metropolis OF the world,
largest city of the earth, is bigger
than ever this Silver Jubilee year.
Since 1880 the capital Of the British
Empire seems to have expanded to
double its previous size.
The development is illustrated in
The experience of an American fam
lily travelling from Southampton to
Bloomsbury by automobile. They
moved north through Winchester
toward StaineS over perfect road,
mile after mile of concrete boulevard.
At sunset the junior member of the
party asked: Shall we be there soon,
Daddy?" And the child's parent
answered aflrmatively. Three hours
later a similar exchange occurred.
Meanwhile the car had left behind g
dozen different suburbs. Night had
fallen. and the goal still was distant.
Indeed, it was IL o'clock before the
weary pilgrims saw the towers of
Westminster. Then the youngster
said: Daddy, I'm almost afraid to
ask you again, but have we much
farther to go?"
London is like that-it covers nearly
700 square miles of territory, but its
ocean of houses sweeps out along all
the arteries of traffic which lead to
it, so that it appears to be even vaster
than it really is. Within the so-called
administrative county there are no
less than 90 municipal divisions. or
boroughs, each the equivalent of a
separate town yet all merging together
in an unbroken unity of civic life and
organization.
How Did London Happen?
Few strangers can fail to be curious
as to how such a prodigious commu-
nifty ever came into existence. The
question is universal among tourists:
How did London happen? What
forces created it? What explanation
is there for this unparalleled concen-
tration of people. institutions, ma
ehinery. ideas and ideals
But there is no easy answer for the
Inquiry. Obviously, the London OF to-
day is an effect of multitude CT
causes, Scme old and some new, SONS
remote and some near, but all intri-
cate and complex
For example, there is the geograph-
ical and geological factor. The city
stands about 40 miles from the mouth
OF the Thames. 1t is built over what
is known to scientists as the London
basin, a flood plain floored with heavy
clay and drained by lost" subter-
ranean streams which feed the
Thames current. Structures of ex-
ceptional height are infeasible on
foundations of that kind. Hence, the
average building does not exceed four
storiesa circumstances which die
tates consistent expansion outward
since it cannot, as in New York, be
upward.
The river historically has been both
. highway and protective bulwark
1t has furnished convenient path for
shipping and has accommodated de-
fensive fleets which no enemy, not
even the courageous Dutch In the sew
enteenth century, has cared to chal-
lenge at close quarters. Reasonably
near to the premier ports and water
ways of the continent, London was a
market for transported commodities
from the mainland before the dawn of
reliable history. 1t also was the export
center for the corn trade during CEN
turies Of which only scanty records
have been preserved-in 359 AID.
1t is said, there were 300 vessels en-
ployed in the conveyance of grain.
Sheltered from the storms Of the
channel, such craft could lie in un
disturbed safety in their home harbor
while the very heavens cracked with
the fury of gales which worked havoc
at Flushing and Dunkirk, Calais and
Oieppe.
London Guarded BY Romans.
Probably it was the protection which
London enjoyed from the beginning
which made the place so popular as a
residential center. The Romans guard
ed 1t in their time; Alfred the Great
repaired and strengthened its walls;
William I built its celebrated tower
and granted to its citizens their first
charter (still extant); King John
signed the great charter at neighbor-
ing Runnymede. There was a lord
mayor as early as 1889. though the
title was not formally recognized until
1854. Foreign merchants. especially
from the Hanseatic towns of Germany.
were accorded special privileges in
1899 and 1859, and the several livery
companies OF artisans and tradesmen
were incorporated in 1927. Pestilence
In l348 killed $4,000 persons. yet failed
to ruin the communitys prosperitv:
and the great plague of 14o6. with
10000 victims, had no more effective
power to stay the tide of progress. BY
1880 the crown believed it necessary
10 forbid the construction of new
buildings where no former hath been
known to have been"-it was argued
that London was impoverishinr other
cities for lack Of inhabitants"
Queen Elizabeth's favor did much
Tor the metropolis. During her reign.
II not before, it attained pre-eminence
over all Its rivals. Especially after
the defeat of the Armada, 1t was uni
versally recognized that Britain was
fated to grow in power with the pass
ing of time. Shakespeare and Bacon,
Raleigh and Drake and scores of other
gallant spirits contributed of their
genius to make the reign notable and
London rich and famous The great
"