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Page 55 text:
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44 RAREBITS ilinnhnn By TOM LEIGHTON, IIIA. It is said that all roads lead to Rome. Well Rome had a great deal to boast about, and it still has great renown, but its glory has long since crumbled. Down through the centuries the peoples of the 'i'Little Island Kingdom have trod, slowly but surely. First Spain, then France, then Germany tried to stop her progress. But the spirit of England, like a glacier, moved slowly but never stopped. To-day we have the greatest Empire the world has ever known, and all roads lead to London, its capital. Mine is not a detailed account of London. Thousands of volumes have been written about Londonand still its story is not told. If I am successful in giving you some impression of the city my article has achieved its end. I shall begin with London's doorway, the docks. The docks of London start at Tower Bridge and continue for forty- five miles towards the mouth of the Thames. Through them come the riches of the Empire. London is more cos- mopolitan in this section than in any other. Through the crowded noisy streets swarm negroes, Turks in sash and fez, Italians, laps, Chinese, Indians, every nationality. , Immediately west of Tower Bridge, on the north side of the Thames, is the cradle of British history, the Tower of London. It consists of a broad moat, tnow drained and used as a parade ground by the garrisonj, a stout outer wall with towers and battlements, a courtyard, another turreted wall, and an inner courtyard containing barracks, hospital, chapel, andthe White Tower, or keep, the oldest part of the castle. In the outer wall, facing the river, is the Traitors' Gate. Any popular prisoner, if brought through the city streets, might be rescued by the mob, so they brought him down the river and under the Traitors' Gate. The inner wall con- tains thirteen towers, among which are the Bloody Tower and the Wakefield Tower. The Bloody Tower was the scene of- he murder of the two princes, and als, 'of the long imprisonment of Sir' Wa ter Raleigh. The Wakefield Tower is the most valuable tower in the world as it contains the Crown Iewels. The White Tower has four storeys. The lowest, the Crypt, was formerly used as a dungeon and place of torture. It now stores cannons from old ships, castles, and battlefields. The second floor contains many trophies of war, among which is the cloak in which General Wolfe died. The third floor houses numerous swords of all varieties and ages. The top floor contains armour of all periods. It is the most complete armoury in the world. The beams that support the roof are of timbers from the invincible Spanish Armada. Also on the top floor is one of the finest Norman chapels in existence, the St. Iohn's Chapel. It has never been changed since it was built and is still in use. The other chapel of the Tower is St. Peter ad Vincula. It was here that the famous victims of the Tower said their last prayers and went forth to die. Shortly after the fall of the axe their bodies were buried in the chapel. Here rest four Earls of Essex, fthe Tower was fatal to the heads of that earldomj, and the odd queen of Henry VIII. A short walk west along the river and up King William street brings us to a low, dirty building of classic style. No stranger would ever guess it, but it is one of the richest buildings in the world, the Bank of England. It is entirely windowless on the street sides as an added security, and the windows face the inner courtyard. Continuing westward we come to St. Paul's Cathedral. The original church, still known as Old St. Paul's, was a Gothic structure with a spire five hundred and twenty feet high. Con- sider that it was built in the thirteenth century and think about it. The Bank of Commerce in Toronto is only four hundred and fifty-five feet high. Old St. Paul's was 'destroyed in the great fire of 1666. Sir Christopher Wren started the present building in 1675 and finished it in 1710. It is a tremendous Romanesque church. The ball above the dome can hold ten people. The dome itself has a very interesting feature in its Whispering Gallery . A person can whisper against the wall, and a
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Page 56 text:
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RARE person on the other side of the dome, over a hundred feet away, can, by put- ting his ear against the wall, hear easily and exactly what the first person is saying. But if two, at opposite sides, try to whisper at the same time, their voices collide and only a rumble can be heard. In the crypt are buried Nelson, Wellington, and many other soldiers, artists and writers. Going west along Fleet street to Essex street we come to three very ominous localities. The first is on our right-the Law Courts. The second is down Essex street, along the river. It is the Victoria Embankment, commonly called Suicide Rown. The third, being more romantic we'll note more thorough- ly. Winding through some little narrow streets to the north we come to a very familiar sight, the Old Curiosity Shop. Another turn and we emerge on a beaut- iful common with bushes, flowers, and steel railings around it. It is the third locality, that is to say, it used to be. It is Lincoln's Fields and in the reign of Queen Anne it was a favourite duelling ground-indeed a beautiful place to die at misty dawn with the scent of lovely flowers to waft the soul into infinity. Returning to Fleet street, which be- comes the Strand, we continue to Char- ing Cross. In this place stands the in- ternational cognizance of London, Nel- son's Nlonument, for Charing Cross is better known as Trafalgar Square. As Charing Cross it has an ancient history. When Edward I was taking Queen Eleanor's remains to Westminster Abbey he built a cross at every place where the bier rested. Charing Cross was the last stopping-place before the procession reached the Abbey. As Trafalgar Square it was named in memory of Nelson's last battle. Nelson's Monument is nearly one hundred and seventy feet high. The statue of Nelson, standing before a coil of rope, his left hand on his sword-pommel, his figure proud yet jaunty, is seventeen feet high. The mighty bronze lions at the base of the granite column were designed by Sir Edwin Landseer. Every year on October 21 the monument is decorated in memory of Trafalgar. To the north of the monument is the National Gallery. To the north-east is St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. It is said that this church was originally founded BITS -15 by Henry VIH because he objected to funerals passing his Whiteliall windows on the way to St. Margaret's. He saw to it that St. Martin's-in-the-Fields fthe fields are now absent, by the wayj had a goodly churchyard. Un the east side of the square are the South African Government Houses. On the west side are the Canadian Government Houses. Passing through the Admiralty Arch on the south-west corncr we come to The Mall. The -Mall is a straight broad boulevard about three fourths of a mile long, marked at one end by the Admir- alty Arch and at the other by Bucking- ham Palace. On the north side are the London Museum, St. Iames Palace, the residence of the Prince of Wales, Marl- borough House, and other buildings. Un the south side is St. Iames' Park. Thousands of autos and carriages tra- verse this stretch daily. His lVlajesty's Life Guards ride down here each morn- ing at ten-thirty to Whitteliall. The latter are one of London's most splendid sights, with their glittering steel helmets and breastplates, their tall black boots, tight buckskin trousers and blue tunics. Un holidays they wear scarlet tunics and white helmet plumes. Their horses are of the best-high spirited and fiery. When we reach the end of the Mall and stand before Buckingham Palace we find that we are in a semi-circle of pavement, the flat side of which edges along the front of the Palace. It is something ofa forum. In the middle is a beautiful monument to Queen Victoria. Above every road leading out of the semicircle is an arch representing a country of the Empire. The Palace courtyard is separated from the street by mighty iron bars. At each gateway stands a tall sentry of the Buckingham Guards. Each is dressed in tall Hbusbyn, scarlet tunic, navy blue trousers and heavy boots. Each carries a rifle with fixed bayonet. At short intervals they break their statuesque stillness to march with clock-like precision up and down before the Palace. Witliiii the court- yard the Guards are changed every morning at ten, to the strains of the famous Coldstream Guards Band. What we see of the Palace from the Mall is its back. The front faces the very private gardens on the other side. The present building was erected in 1705 by the
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