"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 75

"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

~'- fx , (Specially written for the Witness Ladies' Page.)

IN THE HEAT.

London is broiling; day after day and Hight after night the heat is intense, fcroken only by an occasional thunder-

storm, which leaves the hot streets in a xarm vapour. The thermometer itself registers that of an Australian summer and by .the sea and in the .country it is glorious, and every day now the '«abs going to ..the stations are filled with the luggage of those fortunate enough to be able to escape July and August in

• „ " "..,,- . , , . ! •' A gentleman correspondent to one oi - the -papers -'stated -the. other day that he 3iad lived in Africa and India and other tropical climates, but had never experienced anything like the discomfort irom -the -heat as iiTLondon, with its attendant -lassitude and heaviness of head and de%ressioii of .spirife; ' This comes, -of course, <irom the quality of the air, or, rather, -' viact of quality; for-its vitality its used up, •!and the miles and males of blazing streets j 'are baking all , day, with no refreshing ! current- to ,oobf ,'them at night. The very : bricks -are - warm i» ' the touch, and the | jnost "musical sound is the splash of the .•water-cart, which " even the horses know, \ .and toos their'heads gratefully when their j drivers' guide them where the falling stream -of spray cools their feet. \ The papers are prolific in details of heat; j ■strokes, of -what f</dd to avoid -and what to drink. Personally, -1 find a hot ibatb and ! hot tea , and, loose garments,, the greatest relief to 1 open the pores and to perspire ■freely. It would be ■so glorious to have the heat if one could have the a.k and - -quiet with , it; „ but the' sun-baked roads intensify the sound, and open windows jnean workless days to those whose occupation is mental, and sleepless nights, foi jiot only does the traffic disturb, but during the summer -nights the songs of tho late returning "Beanfeaster" and other revellers make, the ndght hideous. A sufferer asks -.this morning, "Have drunken - -Tevellers /the v logal' -right to 'keep sober citizens, awake far into' the night by their 'loud and- raucous howliug (called 1 sing-j .ing)?; ; .,:;-Nqt .many; years 'ago "drunken men •Tissd^fo^nia&b^iheir' way home quietly, and hide their ,v shame. - But rio^tliey.do not seem" happy ".unless, they can "wake up other people! and • make ■' them miserable. What is the duty -of the police in suohi a- da.se . towards the drunken and the

sober? Have the" latter no claim to protection^? '. . . . I went to bed at 11.30, thinking %I had allowed time enough for the local revellers to make themselves ■scarce. But no, it was impossible to gel ■to sleep for another, hour on account of the" noise. After 12.30 I managed to get to sleep. vA.t 12.45 a band of drunken men and women (and children with them)'

passed • by, making a noise which . was dimply disnioniacab to 3 o'clock before I managed to" get off again. . . ." And this is thY nightly "experience of thousands of heat -fagged Londoners, not only in the congested parts of the metropolis, but in the outlying distracts, which electric tram and tube have -opened up north, f.oufca, '€asfc,- >aridy-west ; and the question.., now is . where- Ho .-live beyond the rattle of iron .«nd hoot of the motor car.

It is this, escape from noise and aiTlcssiess that makes the Londoner's summer ' holiday not only a boon, but a necessity. [It is IVDt so much release from the daily task as 43ie daily jar to his nerves which is rest The silence recuperates the noisedistractcd brain. Among the corn-clad fields there is no sound except that made perhaps by- the old bird-scarer, with his bird-clapper, which scarce suffices to frighten the linnets among the ripening corn. How sweet in comparison to the clash and bang of machinery are the evening noisres of screaming swifts in their flight against the open sky, testifying that it Is late summer, because the young birds - are on the - wing. And beginning in the south of England and spreading to the north the haymakers contribute soft sound

and de'icious scent to the loiterers of the

meadows; but what to the town-weaiy can rival tha cool music of the rippling •waves along the shore? - ,One caimot help wondering where all lihis rush and ceaseless activity of modem life is leading — to keener intellectual development at the cost of physical detexi--oration or to. insanity? Are we, after a! 1 , so much superior to the older genera tc-ons, or indeed better in any way than our more emphatic predecessors, wham we regard with pitying smiles from our modern pedestal? It is true we can travel at greater speed, and do a distance- in ■minutes and hours which took our aiices-

tors days or weeks to accomplish ; but

have we improved upon Nature? The dignified repose of age is broken in upon by every psace-destroying device of the engineer and electrician ■known to modernity. And are we less 'criminal than the age \re speak of as the "ruder"? Certainly- our methods have changed ; crimes are committed by more reiined methods. In the ruder times men .waged war with muscle and weapon; a duel often "settled a question where now a court of law ruins a reputation. Greed, avarice, selfishness, and the un&atiab l e love •of pleasure demand as many victims ;n the iherculean task of administering to these ,Tices as a scourge. * But to return to London and the heat. ..Society, thanks to the aid of wealth and jluxury^oan protect itself from discomfort'3&d*'exhaustion. "The inner circle" is shut away ft bin noise and discomfort in palaitial exclusion, is finishing the remaining iweeks of June, which close the season, more or less brilliantly. The last State ball at Buckingham Palace for the season •is over." It lacked nothing of tbr usual .magnificence, a crowd of royalties being present. Her Majesty — whose spring trip

r braced her for an arduous season — was looking lovely in a transparent gown of ! black covered with Indian embroidery, and her wonderful ropes of pearls and crown of diamonds. When the King and Queen travel from place to place- the saloon of the royal train is kept cool by great blocks of ice hidden under lovely flowers ; but the ordinary public (especially by underground railway) are a gasping, perspiring, flabby lot, unless it be perhaps the American in our midst, whom nothing seems to rob of energy. In tifoe evening returning from the city is that long line of 'buses through Piccadilly to the Marble Arch bearing homewards tens of thousands of white-faced men and women from the toil in office and shop. Every summer brings that pathetic i procession of ghosts from city tombs, and every -night- the open spaces swarm with i light-clad men and women and children f lolling under the trees, strolling through the parks, and the othei evening, where the Thames at high tide had overflown the grass-grown towing path near Kew, the children were paddling as though at the seaside, with exclamations of "Oh ! isn't it lovely !" The ihsat has resulted in a great many suicides. One well-known coroner says that never within his experienoei has he traced so many suicides to the depressing effects of the heat as during the present heat wave. - Nor are these suicides confined to the poorer classes, who, by necessity, are huddled in small spaces, but most of them are among the mentally strained', either by work or worry. It is surprising how few i suicides there are among "The Submerged Tenth." It would seem that their very darkness- and destitution had its compensation in that hopeless lethargy which does not think — aven to anticipate a better day. In the reeking courts and alleys througn that vast area of Slumland the sun shines as pitilessly in summer as the frost and snow bite in winter. There is no shade I there save that of dingy walls, no rustle and shadow of tree or springing turf to bare, tired feet ; the pale elfs of this wilderness of brick-bound sordidness and misery play with their rags and sticks and stones in patient, unnatural unanticipation, exoept for that one day — some of them — when they will be taken where there is green grass and tfrees. They suffer the summer heat and .thirst as they suffer the winter hunger and cold as part of the existence which has known pain from the beginning. And this is the population which, while ipopulation is decreasing among the intellectually and physically fit, is increasing every year, is being added to by thousands by the diseased and corrupt aliens that flock to London every year. Among another sort of invasion — tihis summer's invasion of Americans — has been 50 fair ladies, according to report:

Fifty of the most beautiful women from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana reached London in a body last night. They are making a European trip under the guidance of Mr Eshelby, the cwner of the Cincinnati Tribune, the readers of that paper having elected them as repre^ sentative beauties.

At 11 o'clock last night they reached King's Cross, and took No. 1 platform by storm. They (hustled out of the train, a laughing, bright-eyed throng in long cloaks, with fieldglasses strapped round them.. These were no , delicate, mincing maids with pale cheeks and i soulful eyes. They were for the most part j sturdy young women with plump, rosy cheeks, rippling laughter, and athletic stride. None would perhaps have served as a ! classical model, but all had a charm of manner, and most of them a witty freedom of speech, and there -was not an eye in the party that did not sparkle. Twelve private omnibuses were in waiting '. to take the party to the Hotel Cecil. The | "American beauties took possession of those omnibuses within three minutes of leaving their railway carriages, and pretty girls, laughing heartily, swarmed up the sides to j the high seats beside the drivers witih the skill and readiness of practised athetes. "There are 50 of us," said one in reply to a question, "and only six are married. Some of us hope to get husbands before we Igo back. Some of my friends are set on 'marrying earls, while one of them says that she won't be content with anything but a duke."

But this report vexed the ladies exceedingly, and from the same source came the following : —

The majority of the 50 pretty American women who are staying at the Hotel Cecil were furious yesterday. Their fury was delightful. They were furious because the newspapers termed them "American beauties," and then proceeded to analyse their looks. Last night xney became excited at > ,the mere sight of a journalist, and -when he approached therm they rose with all the dignity of their native Kentucky, Ohio, or Indiana, and proceeded to "crush." him. If they failed in that they condescended to explain matters. They did it with a scorn that was really charming. "We are labelled American beauties," said one, "and then we are laughed at. Beauties, indeed! Who called U9 beauties? We have never said we were beauties. What right have other people to do it?"

Tftien there came the explanation, given, perhaps, for the hundredth time, that the party of ladies was selected by the readers of an American paper, and that their selection, by thousands of admirers, was due primarily to their popularity, and not necessarily to their good looks. But there was really no need for the ladies to trouble, for many of them are delightfully pretty, while all possess a vivacious attractiveness. Here are some of the characteristics of the American women at the Hotel Cecil. An erect carriage and well-poised head. A free swinging, athletic step. Shoulders naturally squared; back straight. An almost masculine air of independence, but an entire absence of self-consciousness.

Vivacious eyes that say almost as much as tongues. Speech keen, yet simple. Lightning-like comprehension and a sense of humour.

There are those who may complain of the absence of classic features. One who made a study of the appearance of 20 of the ladies asserts that nine had veiy dark hair and complexions, six had dark brown hair, two

chestnut hair, two very light brown hair, and one brilliantly golden hair. Five noses wero perfectly straight and delicately moulded, 11 were almost straight, while four were slightly retrousse. Nearly all the Americans had level, broad foreheads, giving them a touch o.f distinction. Their dress was tasteful and simple, and when arrayed in white and filmy material for the theatre they looked, indeed, the part of prize beauties. Yesterday was spent in sight-seeing, and moat of the women were driven round to the many places of interest. Pour, however, filled with tho American spirit of independence, were late for the vehicles, and had an unofficial ride across part of London in omnibuses. They enjoyed themselves inua«ns«ly. They liked the policemen, they liked ihe Thames, they liked Westminster Abbey, but they disliked the hurry and rush of people in th« streets. When they reached the hotel in tho evening the majority desired rest, but a strong sense of duty sent them after dinner to the theatre.

"I like you Englishmen," said one of tlia prettiest of the party. "Some of you are pretty plain, but you're downright -manly. Some of you I couldn't ©v-en tell from Americans."

The streets and all public resorts are looking exceedingly bright and gay with the colours of women's costumes. Even tho men have lost their insular prejudice against any dress save the conventional frock coats and silk hats, which, in weather such as this, were torture. In the Row, in Regent and Bond streets, at races, every where where men congregate, panama and' straw hats, flannel and light tweed suits are seen in hundreds, where ten years ago they could have been counted on one's fingers, with the result that not only have the conservative sex (concerning fashion) made concessions greatly to their own comfort, but have added to the general picturesqueness.