LONDON’S LURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10508, 9 February 1920, Page 2

LONDON’S LURE

WHAT IS THE FASCINATION? What is it about London that exercises such a fascination not only'over its residents but also over visitors from all quarters of the globe? (asks a’writer in tho London”*‘Daily Mail”). It .cannot bo beauty, for there; are many other cities more beautiful, greener, and architecturally superior; besides, such things attract only the curious or interested minority. It cannot be its mere size, for that in itself would-not fascinate. It cannot be its luxury and wealth, for I know people to whom such things are but hearsay who confess to this mysterious longing for London. It cannot he, its lights and life, for there are thousands of it* residents who have clung to London from choice when the moon was’ a danger and London life was very sad. It cannot be its museums, for the Londoner leaves them ,to tourists; nor its educational facilities, for they are no more than those of ahy other city in proportion to its size. It ceftainly cannot be for its healthiness, for that is a minus quality. It is not even its ■business opportunities, for by far tho greatest proportion of London’s residents are those who can just manage to “rub along” and no more. Yet I know Scotsmen without number, and some Irishmen, who, having gravitated to London, now say they never feel happy away from it. 1 know many Americans who declare that ■ after a taste of London they could never settle in any other. country, and others who, while they cannot reside here permanently, find annual excuses for trips to London merely “to he here again.” I know of Australasians whose fighting fitness brought them to England who either have succumbed to uho lure of London and aro taking up business interests here, or have declared that they will never rest tin their native land until they have come back to visit London again. One Anzac, referring to his Gallipoli experiences, told mo “it was worth it all to see London.” Their I know country folk, women born in London and settled through marriage in distant villages, who wo”W give all they have to he back within sound of Bow Bells. What, then, is this fascination that keeps Londoners faithful to their citj lore, that drags the exile ever back, and transforms visitors from other countries into devoted admirers? Is it that London is one vast panorama of constant change, and that within it lies an inexhaustible store of interest, excitement, and appeal, varying with every moment of the day and night, and satisfying all ? But that might equally be said of Paris or of New York. 'What, then, is the particular lure of London?