"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2685, 30 August 1905, Page 67

"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

(Specially written for the Witness Ladies' Page ) UNDERGROUND LONDON.

■London, underground, is chiefly associated by the uninitiated with sulphurovstunnelled railways and stuffiness. The railways and the stuffiness are there, the smoke-ehokinj atmosphere — that torture of the city worker going to and returning from the scene of duty, — but also in this ■world underground there is romance, history, charm, utility. Ths story of underground London is too strange not to be true. The vast, white tunnels of the electric tube which sweep and curve deep under park and city and river ore in tßemselves a revelation of the engineer's genius. But- if the whole story of underground London could be written it would absorb tlie attention, of the upper world for muiy a day. Take, for instance, the "area"' — the ■"be-low stairs" of th& aristocratic world, and also of the suburb, for space in London is too valuable not to utilisa that beneath the foundations. Novelists have put on record the underneath criticism of the "upper ten," and every doy in thousands of area kitdhens not only are the ethics of modern society discussed, but there the machinery is worked that regulates and ministers to the -need and enjoyment ,of those above the pavement level. The great kitchens of the great hotels, the lesser kitchens of the lesser hotels, kitchens of gr-eat hoxises, kitchens of louses not great, boarding-house kitchens, •add kitchens of Suburbia are part of that underground Lcradon, which is a vast city in itself. What would happen if all that underlying life and activity were upheaved upon the surface? T«n fathoms deep of ocean and the life beneath the ocean appeals to the imagination. The ships that go down, the treasure that lies buried." the bones that strew the oceanbed — all this has riveted attention ; but Xrfradon underground is a world' as rich in romance and as nnexploraMe as the caverns under the sea : vaults of treasure, great warehouse vaults, Mib-ways of railways, strong-rooms and "grill"' rooms, •and a thousand comfortable coffee and •smoke-rooms and dining rooms attached to restaurant and hotel.

But apart from the London underground, to which surface London dips on occasion, or from which it receives benefit, there- is a "submerged tenth" who congregate where the hottest summer day has no : in a pale shadow these sickly shadows of humanity have their being! /They exist ; - they move through the unrealities — to them — of the upper world, and -return: to their dungeons for any vital hour of life or death. Th« evil deeds wMch shim the light are bom in daikness, not only of spirit, but often n&atefiiJly, and sorrow that has never known the light broods to tragedy. But there is a happier aspect of this world underground. If the tales could bo told of its "parlours" and "breakfast rooms"' in Suburbia alone, for this era the world •would never be short of romances. The area- sitting room is the retreat of the' family; the great world surges around and above ; here, in comparative quiet and seclusion, two or three axe gathered together, a community unto themselves. Than^here is the underlying historical London, which would take a life-time to explore. One happens upon a fragment occasionally which is a study among a ■world of studies, one of which I stumbled across recently. St. John's square, Clerkemrell. is a Tery irregular affair, baing a jumble of medieval gateway, tall warehouses, and sordid tenements each with their basements. The shape of the square belies Its name, for, like many another London square, it is everything but square. A busy thoroughfare with a double line of tramways has encompassed it, where once calm and seclusion reigned. ■with ths modtrn city din, and unless one jhad been informed "one ,-would not associate the gateway spanning ths road with tihat which formed t(he •entrance to the priory of the once rich andi powerful order of the .Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. (St. John's Wood, miles away, now a suburb favoured of the artistic and literary irorld, was a continuation of this estate.) So powerful were the Knights of SrJohn of Jerusalem, and of such unimpeachable honour, that King John deposited his treasure with them for safe keeping during iris trouble with the barons. But the extensive and imposing-lcoking pi] e of buildings which once stood hereabouts in tlieir cloistered seclusion were almost •wholly destroyed during the Wat Tyler insurrection, when the Grand Prior was beheaded by the rebels. The knights Teluxned to what the rebels and the flames fcad left them of their magnificent priory, and set about re-building. More than a century, however, elapsed before the restoration was complete; and as one stands in the commonplace street 100-king at the battered arch, around which cluster the shops and present-day habitations, it is hard to realise the stately grandeur of a pile of biiildings fallen into decay. The [gateway in its degeneration became in, modern times incorporated with a tavern, and has interesting associations in that connection with Dr Samuel Johnson and t!he Gentleman's Magazine, which was launched on this spot on its successful career by Edward Cave in 1731. Li the r«im above the archway, over the Chapter Boom of the revised crderT David Garrick gave his first performance. The remnant, after becoming by turns, storehouse for ILing Henry VIII, to be granted a short lease by Queen. Mary, was afterwards wine cellars of the Earls of Aylesbuiy, who occupied a house adjoining, when fashion ret lingered so far E-ast;. and the West "was unintercepted by Eiordidiiess and! .slum. In 1721 tbe edifice was made a parish church, which it now is. B»i original cxynt is one of those

niches of underground London which has defied all changes of the smface noild. The crypt is easy of access ; descending the steps, on the left is seen the I use paitions of the walls which were laid bare. For many years tliiis undercroft was used as a place of burial by the parishioners, and became a veritable charncl house. The coffins, in various stages of decay, were stacked to the roof. Among them was th-it of "Scratching Fanny,"' whose alleged manifestations hoaxed all London. The celebrated Dr Johns on, who leaned towards the belief in these spirit rapping*-, paid a nocturnal visit to this crypt in company with the rector and a few others to hear the promised rappings upon the coffin, but none took place. The perpetrator of the fraud was subsequently completely exposed and punished, but not till 3 11 iiondon, from a prince of the blood downwards, had been attracted to Cock lane. Strangely, Ibis week there is a revival of the ghost story, and an account says : —

Some curious and unexplained events have caused people to inquire whether the famous Cock lane ghost is at work again. Saracen House is built on the site ooenpied by the house where the ghostly manifestations which so interested Dr Johnson took place It is now occupied by an unromantic firm of American dealers, Messrs John L. Sardy and Co.

A night or two ago Mr Sardy was called up on the telephone by the police, who told him that the door cfthe premises was open. They also said that the electric light had besn switched on.

Mr Sardy hurried down. The liglit had bsen switched oS before he arrived. Accompanied by a policeman he entered the office 3, to find th«m perfectly empty. No sign of anyone having been there could be found, and i so far no explanation of the incident is foithcoming. !N"or is the opening of the door less j mysterious. Hammond, the warehouseman, declares that he locked the doer when he left j at 8 o'clock. That he did so is proved by a. customer of the firm who saw him not j only lock the dooi but apply his knee to it to lest it. There were no indications that tfoe door had been forced, and the lock had not been tampered with. There have bsen several unexplained happenings in the same building. Not long ago a heavy weight was heard to fall in one of the first-floor rooms, breaking the incandescent mantles in the room below. "When an employee went upstairs to see what had fallen he found the room in its normal state. Messrs Sardy and Co. have occupied their present premises for about six j-ears, and are no believers in the supernatural, but they find it rather difficult to explain weird incidents of the kind narrated. —Dr Johnson's Belief.— In Mr Sardy's room, oub of respect for the historical interest of the place, there is hun^ a card giving a. brief account of the Cock lane ghost, in which Dr Johnson firmly believed, though he could not be convinced of the tiuth ox the earthquake at Lisbon. It states: — On this site stood the house in which the Cock lane ghost was supposed to appear in ths year 3762. All London was thrown into a state of excitement by the reported exi=tence of the gnost. Queer noises were beard, in the house, and a luminous lady bearing a strong resemblance to a Mrs Kemt, who once lived in the house, but had died two years previously, was said to appear. Suspicions were aroused as to Mr Kemt having jpoisoned h-is wife, and were confirmed by the ghost, who answered interrogatories by knocking. Crowds were attracted to the house, and the majority became believ-ers. Dr Johnson and nianv celebrities visited toe house, which at that time was occupied by a Mr Parsons. It will be remembered that the manifestations were afterwards proved to be rather clumsy tricks performed by a young girl. The condition of the crypt at last became so offensive as to be a positive'danger to worshippers and neighbours, and at last was put an end to by an Order-in-Council and a faculty for their removal. In 1894 this was successfully carried out, and the bodies, to the number of 325, were conveyed to Woking^and decently interred, which could not have been said of them before. Th& crypt as it now appears consists "of a nave with five bays, with transepts at the extreme east end, Trhich on | the south, side forms a portion of the south chapel. This latter is used by the | present day knights for the anniversary service, now held again after 365 years, on their patren saint's day. The three westermost bays are early Norman, and with the exception of the White Tower of the Tower of London the oldest building in London. The two eastern bays and the transepts are transitional in character. In the northern transept, which consists of two chambers, and gives evidence of having been in direct communication with the Prior's lodging, an interesting little museum has been formed of fragments of masonry, which the demolishing by the County Council of the sordid buildings abutting upon the church are constantly bringing to light, together with other local objects of interest. Among those being particularly worthy of notice is an un.-ioi«i baptismal bowl made of lignum vitse wood lined with sheet iron, and with a silver ci't rim inscribed ''St. John's, Clerkenwell. Deo et sacris. He that believeth and is Laptised shall be saved."' On both Norrmn and transitional portions many masons' marks may be seen.

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