My Boyhood in London.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21076, 9 January 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

My Boyhood in London.

BLOND IN AT CRYSTAL PALACE. By W. E. MORTON (" Old Timer Many readers of " Girls and Boys" have sent kind letters of appreciation of the two previous articles dealing with my boyhood in London over 70 years ago ; and I think that somo further reminiscences of the old days may also prove of interest. Some of the older readers will no doubt l)o ablo to recall with mo a visit to the Crystal Palace to seo that world wonder, Blondin, perform ono of his most notable foals. The great French explorer, Du Chailau, had recently returned from Africa with a largo gorilla, which was the talk of London, and Blondin niado his appearance dressed as a gorilla and wheeled a whccl-barrow with a man in it over the tight rope. The latter threw flowers down to the vast crowd bolow, to show he was a roal man and not a dummy. Tho crowd went almost mad with excitement, for Londoners got very excited about things in those days. Blondin also did some marvellous flying from one trapeze to another; in fact, nothing like it had over been seen in London before. Misjudgement by even a hair's breadth would have meant death, not only to himself, but to those below, so it was not much wonder that his act created such a sensation. I think it was in 1859 that I saw Blondin at the Palace —I was eleven at the time—and in 1369 I saw hitn again here in Auckland. His tight rope was suspended between large trees in Government House grounds, facing Choral Hall, and hero he repeated his famous barrow act, with great success. Another notable who came to Auckland in the 'sixties was Ah Chang, the Chinese giant, whose height was Bft. 6in. Eventually he acquired a grocer's shop in Brighton, England, where he died at a great age. " General Tom Thumb." As a little boy I remember the furore created in London in the 'fifties by " General Tom Thumb " and the Siamese Twins. It is very difficult for those of tho present day to realise the way in which Londoners went wild over these freaks. I don't think even the presentday excitement over " movie " actors and actresses could equal it. A visit to Madame Tussaud's, and to Maskelyne and Cook's Polytechnic Show, are other pleasant memories of my boyhood, while I also remember seeing the Great Eastern, tho world's wonder-ship of those days, at anchor off Brighton. Another strangely-interesting memoiy is a trip my father took me to seo the beginning of a tunnel that was supposed to go under the English Channel. For years there had been talk of building a tunnel between England and France, and a syndicate had pushed the scheme so far as to excavate a tunnel beneath tho Thames foreshore. It was very narrownot more than about 12ft. wide, I should think —and on either side were dimly-lit stalls, sweets and biscuits could be bought. I don't think'tho scheme ever got much farther than these preliminaries, for there was a great deal of opposition to the scheme. London must bo honeycombed with old, forgotten tunnels, excavated during the passing of tho centuries. I remember one was dug from the London Post Office to the Victoria Street Station. It soon fell into disuse, and like the others, is .now probably the abode of rats and vermin. The Cremorne Gardens. Perhaps somo of tho oldor*renders will remember a very famous pleasure resort of Londoners in the 'sixties, the beautiful Cremorne Gardens. This was advertised on posters as " The Place to Spend a Happy Day," but, unfortunately, tho young " bloods " of the day decided it was the place to spend some very roystering nights. They wero always seeking new excitemont, and free fights between theso gentry and tho riff-raff of London became so frequent that tho gardens had to bo closed, and wero cut up for building sections. It seems strango now, looking back, to reflect upon tho riotous behaviour of a certain class of idlo rich young men of those days. To assault a policeman and knock his helmet off was considered a most dashing and daring adventure. Society regarded such exploits with tolerance and although nowadays the roysterer would quickly find himself haled before a magistrate and branded as a common hoodlum. A Visit to Guernsey. When 1 was nine, not being a strong boy, 1 was sent to Guernsey, ono of tho Channel Islands, to stay with my granny, and I lived there for two years. As I write this, I havo by me a letter I wrote home to London in 1857, in which 1 tell my parents, " Granma's garden 'tis very large and has a goad many trees in it and a largo greenhouse, seven fouls, and ono is siting on somo Duck's eggs, and there will be somo young Ducks in about tlirco weeks." 1 had a splendid tiruo in Guernsey,* and I daro say the change there, after tho overcrowded streets of London, set me up for life. It is now 75 years since I wrote that letter, but I still remember those happy days by the seasido and tho joy I found in that, old Guernsey garden.