Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-05-05


impressions. We arrived one night
after an interesting ten hour jour-
ney from Aberdeen, Scotland, on
one of the funny little British
trains with their cozy compart-
ments, each compartment seating
approximately eight people. We
were greeted at the station by the
enveloping folds of one of London's
proverbial fogs, the absence Of
which l am certain would have caus-
ed us disappointment, and by the
insistent calls of the cab-drivers
which seemed like music to our
ears on such murky night. We
were driven to the Grosvenor hotel
which we made our headquarters
during our stay in London. This
lovely hotel with it's splendid ac-
commodations is located on Buck
ingham road, few minutes walk
from Buckingham palace, to which
order to see the changing Of the
guards, most impressive cere-
mony of which one never tires. The
palace is a large three story build
ing with long wings on each side,
forming an extensive quadrangle,
the front of which faces st. James
park. Immediately in front of the
palace is Queen Victoria's monu.
ment. the figure of the queen being
cut from a solid piece of marble.
London, with all it's immensity Of
fers one strong advantage to the
| sight-seer. The principal sight
seeing and pleasure area is confin-
ed to one large center Inside this
bn 81 1,n nItS
| including the most beautiful ana
ancient buildings, the better hotels,
including the Grosvenor and places
of amusement.
| | must tell you the unusual cir
cumstances in which we acquired a
guide who contributed much to-
ward making our London visit A
memorable one. We (Mr. Christie
son Bob and u were strolling along
Parliament square one evening,
stopping at times to admire the
! fine architecture of the Parliament
buildings and Westminster Abbey,
staring, pointing like true Morgan
countians, when we observed that
we were attracting undue attention
from the natives, some exchanging
indulgent and amused glances, 9th
ers turning to take another look,
all realizing of course that we were
tourists, presumably Americans.
noticed one man in particular who
seemed interested in us and whc
Eesitated when passing and finally
approached us and addressing us in
a most dignified manner, apologized
for presuming to speak and intro
duced himself as a former Cook
guide, having been in Cooks SER
vice for 25 years and having re
Gently retired. He offered to act
as our guide, having first shown his
credentials and informing us that
he knew every nook and Granny OF
London. He was well-preserved and
distinguished looking man of 70
years We were naturally a little
reticent about striking up an ae-
quaintance with perfect stranger
but after conversing with him We
accepted him for what he really
was. In order to give you some
idea of how his long years of ming.
ling with people had sharpened his
judgment of human nature, | shall
give you one instance. We had con-
yersed with him for a few minutes
when he said to Mr.. Christie. you
my lad are former Aberdaniar
Scotchman but have lived in the
United States for some time and are
married to the Yankee lass and She
is from either Indiana or Ohio state
He explained that he knew these
things from our accents. He con
tinued that he, as young Scotch
man from Glasgow had lived in Co
lumbus, Ohio, and had Travelled
through these middle western state:
for the Hartman trunk company
and had often Travelled down the
Muskingum by train and boat from
GAINESVILLE to Marietta. We agreed
that this really was small world
after all. We retained our newly
found friend as guide while in Lon
don and through his fine guidance
we saw all the places worth seeing
while there, including the British
museum, the geological gardens
Westminster Abbey, London tower
ST. Paul Cathedral and Bucking'
ham Palace.
l shall not endeavor to give you q
detailed description of each o1
these places as you no doubt have
!
don visitors or have read about
them. However in passing / might
impart to you some of my most en-
during impressions. For instance
l was greatly impressed by the mas
siveness of the British museum and
the beauty of it's courtyard. The
entire structure, including the
courtyard covers seven acres OF
land. The most famous and to me
the most impressive room in Ahe
vast building is the reading room,
which is huge circular hall ac-
commodating several hundred read
ers who sit at desks which radiate
like the spokes of wheel from the
center, in the inner of which sit the
officials. We were told that a copy
of every book published in Great
| Britain has to be sent there. There
were several million volumes when
we were there several years ago
and of course that number is con-
stantly increasing. There must
have been several hundred readers
while we were there and despite
that large number there was an al
most reverential quietness. We
We're so profoundly impressed that
we felt we hardly dared whisper
AS our time was limited we were
unable to visit every room in the
museum although our able guide
being familiar with the place, saw
to 1t that we did not miss the most
interesting ones including the
sculpture and art gallery, the pre-
historic room, ancient jewelry and
bronze rooms, the vase rooms with
their magnificent collection of Greek
pottery, the Egyptian room contain