LONDON REVISITED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4026, 13 January 1875, Page 3

LONDON REVISITED.

(FROM OTJR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

It has occurred to me, that those of your readers who know London, but have not been there for a prolonged space of time, may feel some interest in the perusal of the impressions made upon a returned colonist by the leadingchanges that have taken place in the metropolis during the last seven years. In this belief, I jot down a few observations of the kiad in question.

Hie great new fentuvc of London (the word " new," of course, having a. relative meaning only) is the Thames embankment, which was only half made when I was in London in 1807. It is now completed from Westminister Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge; and there is, also, a piece formed on the opposite side of the river, between from Westminister Bridge almost as far as Vauxhall Bridge. The e.-nbarikrnent forms a fine broad street, about as wide as Portland Place, and is entirely unbuilt upon on the side nearest the river, while there are but few buildings on ihe other side of the road, save those thf>t have always been there, suoh as Somerset House, &c. At the Blackfriars end, however, a fine range of shops has been erected. The embankment is lined with trees, which will give a pleasant shade in two or three years; aud at the widest parts of it, near Hungerford and Westminister Bridges, very vice flower gardeus have been laitl out. At various points seats are placed, these being the gift of Air W. H. Smith. M.P., the great newsagent. Altogether, the embankment is a vast improvement on the previous state of things in that (juarter, but it does not seem to relieve the traffic in the Strand and Fleet street to any appreciable extent, aud at night it is infested by hordes of roughs, whose conduct fully entitles them to that generic title. From the Blackfriars end of the embankment a new street leads diagonally to the Mansion Rouse, cutting right through the labyrinth of narrow lanes between New Bridge street and Cannon street. This thoroughfare, which is called Queen Victoria street, is well frequented, and contains a number of fine shops aud offices. Among the latter is the office of the Times—a line fourstorey brick building, fronting the niaiu sheet, instead of the dingy hovel in an uufindable court that I formerly knew. 'ihe Holborn viaduct is an improvement which, practically considered, is even greater than either of the two already mentioned. Instead of the time-honoured spectacle of omnibuses stopping at the top of tiolborn Hill to have their skids adjusted, and the daily sight in wet weather of a prostrate horse in front of St. Andrew's Church, there are now to be seen only vehicles going along at a rattling pace over the magnificent viaduct winch extends from the Old Bailey to Hatton Garden. Side streets lead down to Farringdon street, which cau also be reached by foot passengers by means of stops. The London, Chatham, and JDover llailway Co. have removed their station from Ludgate Hill to the viaduct, and a splendid station it is. Abutting on the Viaduct, too, is the City Temple, of which the Rev. Dr Parker is the high priest. It is an immense building, capable of holding several thousand persons, and its capacity is well tested, as Dr Parker is considered scarcely, if at ali, inferior to Mr Spurgeon as a preacher. I must nob omit to mention that that quaint old nuisance, Middle Row, has been removed, and its place taken by a safety lamp only, so that the Gray's Inn Read corner is robbed of its former dangers. Perhaps more people were killed at this spot thau at any other in London. Before ceasing to speak of street improvements I mny state that a circus has been formed at the foot of Ludgate Hill, and another at the intersection of Grace-church, Lombard, and T?euo':iurch stieets— two improvements of the greatest utility. As for the paving of the stieets, the proper material has yet to be discovered,! Asphalte is, pro-

nounped.'unsuitable, on account* of its- slipperiness in wet weather, and it is to be replaced by wood. The latter has long been in use in several of the streets in the City, but the same fault used to be charged against it. As for iron and stone paving, they seem to'be Unanimously'regarded as unsuitable. A colossal fortune awaits the man who will solve this problem of the best paving material for the streets of great cities. In the matter of new buildings there is not so much to note. . The Law Courts are still unbuilt, though the site for them was almost all cleared seven and a half years a'^o. I believe the plansarenotevensettledupon yet. 'f helaw'sdelays are notorious, but the delay in building these Law Courts threatens to be still more scandalous. The empty space, bordered by a huge hoarding covered with bills of every size and hue, is an eyesore that would not be tolerated for seven years anywhere else than in London. Opposite the Houses of Parliament, on the Surrey side of the river, are the new buildings of St Thomas's Hospital. If I recollect lightly, there are seven of them, and although separate from each other, they are ruade to form one harmonious whole. This range of buildings is seveial hundred yards in length, and forms both a, pleasing and a striking object. Burlington House has beeu rebuilt, and is a handsome edifice, though hidden away, ft is now the special domicile of the Royal Academy, and when that body's exhibition" of pictures is on view, the spacious court-yard in front is crowded with carriages and studded with flunkeys. The Colosseum, in Regent's Park, after remaining closed for a number of years, is doomed to disappear, and its place to be taken by handsome mansions. The finest of all the new buildings in London, however, are those of the South Kensington Museum, and the late international Exhibition adjoining it. The Museum is nowa giand'edifice, much more worthy of the splendid collection it contains-than was the rambling shed that formerly did duty for this purpose, and was as dark, dingy, and draughty as it is possible for such a building to be. The Exhibition buildings enclose the Horticultural Society's gardens, and are nearly a, quarter of a mile in length. When it is- a gala day in the gardens, the scene, as viewed from one of the balconies of the Exhibition, is one of the most brilliant to be seen anywhere. I have in a former communication given you-some account of the contents of the Exhibition; and so need not go into the matter here. The Exhibition is now permanently closed, as it was found to be a losing concern, anil' the building is to be utilised for museum purposes. One-half will for three years house the contents of the India Museum while this building; isbeing extended, and in the remaining portioa will be plaued the natural history collection at present in the British Museum, while- a portion, will also be reserved for the formation of a Colonial Museum, At the Hyde Park end of the building is the Albert Hall, which is a grand place. It contains several galleries, one above the other, anil will accommodate about 12,000 persons. Its organ, which is one of the finest in the world, has a two-horse power engine- to supply the -wind. The organist is Mr. Best, whom some of your readers may, like myself^ remember as the talented organist of St. George's Hall, Liverpool. The boxes in the Albert Hall can be bousht out and out, like a house, and bequeathed by the possessor in his will in the same manner. I believe the price of the freehold of one, if I may so speak, is £1000-; and certainly, considering the London prices for such things, the sum is not an extortionate one. The aeuistic properties of the hall arc said to be magnificent.

It would be vain for me to dilate upon the glories of tlie London shops, which strike a colonist very much ;. but I will just state that what struck me most in connection with them was not thoir size, but the costliness and beauty of their contents. 1' am now prepared to believe fully statements I have read regarding the effect the numerous exhibitions held of late years have had in croating a taste for the beautiful in England. Before I pass on from the buildings I would add that the Scotch system of flats is gaining in favour in London, and houses built on this plan are now to be found even in fashionable localiti.s. Apropos: of this I came across an amusing anecdote the other day illustrating the oue great obstacle to flats becoming popular among the fashionable classes of London. The narrator had ocoasion to visit one of the high houses iv Victoria street, Westminster, and proceed to one of the topmost flats. He was not a little surprised to find several ladies dressed ia the height of fashion- sitting down at various places on the stairs, taking a rest before finishing their climb to the abode of a friend who was "at home" somewhere about the sixth storey. It is said that some persons who have gone to live in such lofty quarters have lost a good many of their visiting acquaintances, solely because the latter have been unable or unwilling to mount so many stairs.

This mention of the fashionable fair reminds me of a feature of some of the shops which, though not new, is certainly much more marked than it used to be. This is the number of photographs of ladies in high life exposed for sale in the stationers' shops. Formerly the lady members of the Royal family and actresses were almost the only persons whose likenesses were thus indiscriminately sold. Now one sees in every stationer's and colourman's shop duchesses, countesses, &c, in great profusion. The Duchess of Manchester and the Countess of Dudley are those whose photographs are most frequently met with. The latter, who was one of the first to obtain this publicity, seems still to be first favourite with the purchasing world, as her likeness in various styles meets you at every turn, being even more common than that of the Princess of "Wales or Madame Adelina P:itti. Most of these photographs come from Vienna and Paris, especially the former city. A few words upon newspapers in London may possess some degree of interest. I was struck by the- number of dailies offered for sale whose names were strange to me. One of these, the Daily Chronicle, I soon found was an old acquaintance under a new name, being the former Clerkenwell News — a paper which has been able to boast with truth of having more advertisements than the Times and which the leading journal thought a sufficiently formidable opponent to necessitate calling in the law to compel the News to remove its second title of "London Times." Another of the new dailies was the Daily Independent, «hose posters declare that it "will be the best daily paper," and " will have the largest circulation in the world." I am bound to say that these announcements are strictly correct; for whatever excellence the paper possesses is still entirely in the future. Of the old established penny dailies, I nmst confess I think the Standard from being the worst has become the best. Its matter is greater in quantity, at least as good in quality, and is far better better printed than is that of any of its Liberal rivals, and I was accordingly prepared to find it in high favour. But for its politics, which are unpopular with the masses, the Daily Telegraph would soon be surpassed by it in circulation, for the Telegraph is a very twaddly concern now. As it is, the Standard is close on the Telegraph's heels as to circulation. Provincial newspapers have invaded London in great force, especially the leading Scotch ones. Formerly, the Scotsman aud the Manchester Guardian alone had London offices. Now there are established in London offices of the Manchester Examiner, Newcastle Chronicle, Daily Review, Kdiuburgh Courant, Glasgow Herald, Glasgow News, North British Daily Mail, and others whose names I do not at present remember. Several of these are sold by news boys in the streets in the same way as the London papers, and at their published prices. In Leicester square and the neighbourhood French newspapers are hawked for sale, their principal contents being cried in French. Possibly this is a consequence of the French immigration duiing the last war; and to the same cause, no doubt, is due the fact that one occasionally sees posters printed in French, this being especially the case with respect to sales of property.

I have left to the end one of the most striking evidences of the growth of London during the last few years. This is the marvellous inevease of railway lines. I used to think the number of railways between Clapham and Waterloo and

Victoria stations bud reached the maximum compatible with freedom from constant accidents, but I have lived to see how egregiously I was mistaken. It is impossible to describe in words the network of lines running in all directions and at all levels in this quarter, for it must be seen to be realised. Here one may enjoy a railway race with another train going the same way, or experience half the horrors of a collision by seeing a train apparently about to d-.isli into yours, when suddenly one of the two dives under or climbs over the line on which the other is running. Nervous people travelling in this quarter had better confine their attention to their newspapers. The same remarks apply in scarcely less degree to the north-western and south-eastern districts on the outskirts of London, it is astonishing, under the circumstances, how few accidents occur. Their scarcity, I believe, is owing in a great measure to the selfacting signals employed, for no human machine could do the work so perfectly. The tinderground Railway is now open from Edge ware Road round by Kensington, Pimlico, the Thames Embankment, and Queen Victoria street, to within a few yards of the Mansion House. The stations on this part of the railway are vastly superior to those on the old portion of the line. Of course, this increase in railway communication has led to a corresponding increase in the population of the suburbs, which liave grown into large cities. Hammersmith, for instance, is now as lave as some of the manufacturing towns of Lancashire, while a few years ago it was little more than a big village. More than ever does London novf

deserve the designation of " a province of Louses." In concluding, 1 may mention a circumstance that came under my observation—not in London, but not far from it. Crossing tlie fields between Islewortb. and Twickenham one Sunday afternoon, I was greatly surprised to see quite a number of persons—men, women, and children - at work strawberry-picking. Oa my remarking on the sight, my companion, who has long resided at Twickenham, told me it was now a common thing to see people working in the fields there on Sundays, and nobody said anything about it. This is assuredly a retrograde step, and it would be interesting to know tlw various stages by which this result has been arrived at.