Evening star., 1936-11-10
Travelling Around in Europe
Londons oldest "ClubWhy Left-Hand Traffic? The Happ
of Polly the Fleet Street Newsgirl
mo. II OF a Series.)
BY I. WILLIAM HILL,
etaff Correspondent of The Star


less clubs. Loneliness is specter tina
likes gray buildings and many pave
ments, and people must band to-
eether against it.
Besides the usual social clubs fol
each business, profession or nation.
Atty, there are Crockford's for lonely
bridge players, the Alpine for those
aff1icted with a nostalgia for snowy
slopes, and Boobies, open only te
Country gentlemen"
The oldest of them all, perhaps
stands in Piccadilly, just outside
Green Park. 1t has no name. In
fact, hundreds pass it by and never
see 1t. In appearance it resembles
the wheelleSs caboose of freight
train. except that it is green. BY
day it is deserted, for it is at night
that its habitues foregather. They
consist of the men who drive taxicabS
by night and also the driver OF the
one horse drawn hanson that may
be seen any night on Piccadilly as
1t cruises about in search of some one
who wants a leisurely and picturesque
ride about the city.
London Contrast.
Outside the Club which actually
stands in the middle of the street
is a makeshift counter on which rest
wash basin and cake of soap. In
side benches are lined up at long
table at which midnight lunches are
served while the cabmen discuss their
work, their friends and conditions OF
the empire.
At the same time. a stones throw
away, men in white ties and tails
discuss their work. their friends and
conditions of the empire at the dam
esk-covered tables of the Ritz.
We wandered into the cabmens
"club' one night just to sit around
and talk. They were discussing how
plentiful jobs had become, how almost
every department store posted help
wanted" notices outside employe en-
frances each morning.
Then we injected discordant note
into the lull of the conversation.
How" We inquired, did the Eng
lish custom of keeping to the left in
traffic originate?"
A Cabby's Explanation.
That started something. When the
smoke of verbal battle died away 1t
was the driver of the horSe-drawn
hanson who had voiced the most
plausible explanation. Perhaps that
was because driving horse gives you
more time to mediate such things.
This was his theory:
Armor-clad knights bearing lances
and swords were the first revelers
OF the highways. Since the lance OF
sword was guided by the right hand
and ones left side was comparatively
defenseless despite ones shield, the
knight always rode to the left of the
road, thus keeping whatever adversary
might come along to his right. When
the first carriage took to the highway
1t was preceded by an armed knight
and naturally followed along behind
him. keeping to the left of the road
Time went by. and weapons were
discarded. but vehicles of every sort
kept to the worn tracks on the left
just the same.
All of which makes us wonder how
our traffic, and that of most of the
world, began keeping to the right.
Washington's Picture in London.
The original OF one OF Americas
tdvorite paintings, Gilbert Studrt's
head OF George Washington. is er-
hibited in the National Gallery OF
Art 1t ,Dds presented to the Lon
don gallery by Ed,pard Hardness of
South Carolina.
Remark of an American tourist,
overheard in the National Gal
iery:
Can you imagine an English
man presenting famous paint
ing OF King George III to an Amer
tcan gallery"
X
In London darkness is the signal
to climb into ones dress clothes. In
no other city are there so many men
seeking after nightfall to achieve the
sartorial elegance of Lucius Beebe.
You see them walking along the
streets and pushing their way into
pubs as well as into the American
bar at the Savoy.
Our bus halted at Piccadilly Circus
the other evening and an elderly cou-
pie in full evening dress climbed on
and scrunched themselves down on a
side seat between what we're obviously
laboring men.
When the conductor came around
(you pay after you sit in London and
only for as far as you are going) the
elderly gentleman dug into hidden
pocket Of his dress clothes for his
money.
ITO the Ritz" he said, and the
bus started of.
r X
Find the Fat People.
In a strange city, we are told, there
Is one sure way of picking a good
place to eat. Simply select one that
is patroni1ed by people who are fat. j.,
Such a place is the Old Cheshire
Cheese, in Wine Office court, just off
Fleet street. Once the center of Lon
don's coffee shop culture, the COM
bination pub and restaurant still pre-
serves the culinary traditions that
caused Samuel johnson and Oliver
Goldsmith to spend long hours at its
tables.
OF course, the Old Cheshire Cheese
one visits today is not the original
1t was rebuilt in 1867, 1t seems. But
even so, many feet have worn deep
trough In the stone doorstep, and in
side Is presered the old tavern at
mosphere of sanded floor, wooden
benches and steak pudding on We'd
nesdays.
A boy about IA, dressed in walters
white, showed us the antiques of the
place. He displayed Samuel john
sons favorite table, Samuel Johnson's
favorite chair and everything else
that was a favorite with Samuel
johnson. But the rack of pipes,