LONDON AND PARIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19802, 29 May 1926, Page 4

LONDON AND PARIS.

REVELRY BY NIGHT. By Constant Reader. The night life of a great city lends itself to the pen of a ready writer, espe . - illv when, as is the case ot Mi. Baipn Nevill, ho has been an active participant m mnnv of the scenes he so racily deswibfc. “Nicht Life, London and is. 1 j - ana 1-jS.t,” i. csaclly yl.rt rates a panoramic view of the gaieties and revelries indulged in by the dwellers in London and Paris for the past.2oo years. The chief interest in the book s the contrast between “the nocturnal revels popular with the bucks and bloods of a past age” and the night life of the great European canitals of to-day.. One duet difference -hich Mr Nevill indicates is that the former were only accessible to Iho few. whilst to-dav the latter is virtually open to the general public. And this ‘difference reacts upon the '. llu ('U' t U of the entertainment provided. AH Ae\m makes a point when he writes: The introdm on of new and important methods of illumination has more than anything else produced the “night life” of modern cities, the electric light unconsciously dominating the sensibility of many of their inhabitants, who in a darker age would have been content to go quietly to bed. Before the days of gas the effective lighting of places of entertainment was apt to be a difficult and costly business, but once it had come into general use those who catered for the amusements of Londoners were quick to grasp its advantages from a money-making point of view. In the ’sixties, when the night houses of the West End of Loudon were kept open till dawn, the patrons mostly belonged to the fashionable world: no one engaged in rade or business would dream of “making a "ight of it”: that was left to the rich young man of fashion engaged in sowing his wild oats. Writing of the London of the past, Mr Nevill says: The old night lire of London is now invested with a glamour of adventure and romance which possibly it never deserved. Be this as it may. it is certain that many of its features would appeal but little to the present generation of pleasure seekers, accustomed as they are to luxuries which their predecessors never knew. In addition to this there is no glossing over the fact that a too free consumption of alcohol played a greater part in it than is the case with the night life of the present day. A modern pleasure seeker would also probably think the nocturnal amusements of a former age somewhat old fashioned and provincial, ns well as permeated by a mischievous and rowdy spirit of . law-breaking kind.

Following a general description of a London which now exists only in memory. Air Nevill proceeds to deal in detail with the pleasure resorts of Ranclagh and Vnuxhall, not forgetting the once famous Cremornc. “As the nineteenth century waned.” he writes, ‘‘(he dancing halls which were once plentiful in London were gradually closed. The first to go were Highbury Barn nnd the Holborn Casino: the last, the Argyll Rooms and Crernorne, both of which had closed their doors by 1878.” In the ’sixties, the Haymarket was a recognised haunt of dissipation, and mention is made of such well-nigh forgotten places as Rose Barton's, Jack Pcrcival’s. a rendezvous for the sporting fraternity, and Kate Hamilton’s in Leicester smiaro. all night houses of more or less ill-repute. The stories of the demi-monde of those days, notably Nellie Fowler and Mabel Grey, make entertaining reading. Coming cn to the 'eighties, Mr Nevill makes mention of the Westminster Aquarium. and later of the Empire Lounge, and he relates the circumstances connected with the agitation which led to the closing up of both these establishments. Chanters dealing with the Bohemian Clubs and the Alusic Halls of London are full of racy anecdotes, and the prevalent atmosphere is faithfully reproduced. One of the most delightful features of the bonk is the pictures given of restaurants, old and now. in which the feeding of men and women who love good living is vivaciously set down. Under the heading “sparks and spendthrifts,” space is give", to many of the notable men about town in London during the past couple of centuries: a further heading, “Gamblers and Gaining,” explains itself; as does a third heading, “Men of Pleasure.” The two final chapters give a similar picture of Paris and the Parisians.

Readers will approach the book from a variety of motives; old Londoners will recall with delight some of the escapades of a reckless youth; the voung Now Zealander may read the book in a spirit of curiosity; whilst the moralist will find in its pages material for deiuinebition. However approa'hed, it is a book certain to be well read, and the illustrations a’one make it web worih while.