LONDON PAGEANTS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12365, 2 December 1905, Page 7

LONDON PAGEANTS.

THE NEW POST OFFICE. OPENING OF KIXGSWAY. (from our own cokrespovdent.) LONDON, October 21. This week has been a euperb one as regards weather for the multiplicity of public pageants of which it has been the occasion. Ite spectacular events have included two Royal visits to the city with special functions, one being the foundation 6tone-layiiig of the new j Genera! Post Office, other the opening of the great and' much-needed north and fcouth thoroughfafte, from Holborn to the Strand, Kiiigsway, tie funeral of Sir Henry Irving tho leception of the members of the Paris MunicipalCcuncil. end finally the opening of the fect.vitiee in commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar «nd its victor, tho immo. foal Nelson. Th!e is certa.n y a pretty fair allowanoe for a single wo:k, and in view of what is involved in these groat London celebiations, it is specia.ly fortunate that tho weather conditions should Lave 1 been fio exeeptitnally propitious. Otnerwisa the amount of human misery and discomfort, which would have been compressed into thia lemaikable week would have bean something too tragic to contemplate. It is hardly neceerairy that I ehould indulge in any very elaborate or very I long decript on of thete icepcctive funcI tions. A.I theee proceedings bear a ' painfully monotonous family likeness one to the other. There is the came stereotyped Royal Prooeseion, the came I kind of Royal speech, and the same loyal ' addressee, the same trumpery—although well-meant—alleged decorations, and the pa mo a&semb'age of dense multitudes to behold the not very imposing show. Wβ do not seem to hews the knack of working these things in England; perhaps ; we are too much engrorod in cea.jng j with more substantia, matters to nave i very mu;h braiu fo;CJ leu to be btwtowod on nag)- and bi.s of coloured liut at a.iy iate, there a no possib.lity of jgaoriug or denyi.ig tho be: taai en regard.i pu-ilio spectac.es, the Oontinunt luate its hollow. jiven a pokey l.ttle vi 1 gj abroad couJd do b -tter on such ocuv> one than what .ipptnre to tx» m.g'rity Lon "on-» . ill re st: nit 1 -! 'ho fir-t in ordir in tlra week's fitnetiors whi h it historic c u iract»r. The nevr T'mi O!sce birldinr;. of whic'i King Edwad 'ai' *h> fonnd-'t'on In to ha •ri'cted on the «ite occupied for over »liree hnn 4 r -d v&n by *h rchool founded by tho previous Eng'ih Sov o, e : gn I the Barae name as his proaent Majecty,

namely, King Edwaid VI. That ' oi cou.be, w«& Uie one propuiiy d,e.i '(Jii.Ltß Hcepitdl,' but uioio familiarly known as tne Blue uoui &mw>; xiiu uoJiuOi est<aoiLhment vvas removed eovvraj yuars ago to Hor&ham. in au.«es, for loasond of health and t?pace>; but the old bui.dings, which a s vain attempt wee u.ade to p.« erve, have • been swept away at a comparatively j recent date by the march of Lonuon im- J proyoiEentf and, their s to being in con- j renient proxim.ty to the present general 1 offices ot the Post Office end Telef-.aph '■ Department, mas secured by the Government to enable the teadly-n«?ded additional premises to ba erected. The Royal preces ion opproached Newgate strost by way of Ho born, and at the point known as Holborn Bans, whore ono of the c'ty pates u.*ed to stand, the Kino; and Queen were duly rccoivoo by thp Sir Johu Popnd. who, in accordance wth immemorial cv torn, tendered to the Sovereign the Cty Swot>3 of State. wHien, also in ac'cordanpf with preeden*. tne Ts.ing fmc'ied and "remitter , .." Tne ««tunl ceremony of the stone laying was eimnle a;w br'ef. Stfln'er, the PcetmaMTGonernl. offorrd .1 «Tiort hictory ot tlie BrtVh P'-s 1 Ofß'-e and i*s growth, nnd lv» l *be f^nn'at on now to t>e Vircl by FdwaH VII. Horo tlw record that on thp s'tiw snot stwKi Christ's Hospital, founded by King Edwflrd VI.. moro tbnn SSO yoare ago. The King laid tne atone in due form. A box was paced in a cavitj under flinong other rhnjs', coins of the ralm, postage stampe of each denomination, a set of pcetal orders, impressions of oate stamps of "London. 16th October, 1905.' ixr-t-cardis, ombonsed envelopos, a oopv of tlw Postmaster-Gene-al's- ad-dre-ns to the King, b copy of the P»st-master-Gonsrars latest report, and ft copy of the current issue of the " PosE Offce G\i!de.'' , ... Much moro and, mdeen. moro inter««tins, was tfho la<CT Royal function, tho opening of the long-needed and long-planned , arterial thcroughfaro between the north and south of London. To mako matters clear to ..New Zealand roadcirs who are not acquainted with tho BritHh metropolis, I may briefly explain that whereas London proper hns three great arterial tlioroughfares from east to west, namoly (1) Ludgato Hill, Fleet ertroet and the Strand, forming a continuous street practically along the northern shore of tlio Thames, (2) Oity road, Pentonville road, Euston and Marylebcne rosd, goinc from en«t to west in the extreme north, and (3) Newgate street Holborn, and Oxford 'street, midway between those tw .°— there is no genuine main street at right angles to those three groat thoroughfares, co -tliat while it vs relatively easy to get from east to west, it is both difficult and tedious to geit from north to south, or vice verea, wbiich can only be done by threading a labyrinth or narrow streets choked with traffic, and very often blocked by standing vehicles, luoh as wngsons being loaded or unloaded. To remedy this drawback m London's traffic conveniences, the now street, Kingsway, was planned. It runs virtually from uho Shnand to Enston road, nnd is approached from the former 1 street by a hwidsomo crescent, to which I has boon given the old Saxon name of the locality, Aldwydh. Thus, anyone ci-ossing from fhe huge "Waterloo station over the bridge of tjhe-same name, and desiring to go direct to Euston road, with its group of important tormiuiit railway stations, will simply pass from tt» Strand by the western limb of the Ald-wych crescent into the splendid new Kingsway, 100 ft wide, by whioh he will be able to drive rapidly to the northernmost east end west thoroughfare. That is tie whole scheme in a nutshell. From what I "have already siid, it will be gathered that my personal views are not in accord with those of the authorities in the matter of decorations. Still, it is <snly fair to admit that there wero a few efforts at better tfliings. Aldwych was approached under a human aroh of fire brigade men, who were" perched on an edifice of fire escapes, and presented a. very striking appearance with their brrss helmebs dn tho F.unsliinel;' At tha jtmoiaon of AkJwydh and Kingsway a vasb pavilion of red and white canvas bad been erected, and here a large number of distinguisihed persons wer© assembled. It was hero, too, tJiat.v the" formal addresses were preseaited, and hex© also the King delivered what was termed an " important speech " in reply. As a .matter of fact", his Majesty eamply expressed his pleasure tihat "these magnificent streets" should have been constructed, whioh would ,f aesist largely in facilitating communication between tlie various parts of the Metropolis," and " do much to beautify the oaoital of my Empire." Tho King added his formal gratification that the industrial population displaced by the improvement hnd been provided for by means of suitable -housing aocommodatien. Then came what waa really the only striking or originaJ feature of the ceremony, the opanang of the gilded gates. Theso had been erected about fifty yards away from a black pedestal, wWdb was surmounted by' a gold globe containing a lock. By this pedosbal the King and Queen stood, and, at the appointed moment, his Majesty inserted mto this lock a gold key,- which ho turned. This set.i? motion certain electrical apparatus, by means of which rfco great gildexJ; &atca sTiorrthly, and' apparently of their own volition, quietly rolled bnck, and then the King deoWed Kingsway open. The declaration was followed by a flourish of trumpets and groat obcering. I may add that Kins? Edward took a great deal of interest in tlie .ingenious electrical niaehincry by which the tranrfoTmataon ficeno was carried . out. , The French municipal guests, who wore present by invitation, were certainly not the least intercnted anwmg those-who witnesead the scene. Everything pas&ed off to i admiration.