OUR ILLUSTRATED LONDON LETTER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 32, 9 August 1890, Page 10

OUR ILLUSTRATED LONDON LETTER.

SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. In the provinces the question of the Sunday opening of museums has never gone much lievond the debating society stage, but there is a strong feeling on the subject here, where the circumstances are so widely different. We aie in the midst of Sunday recreation. We have West End concerts and East End excursions, and I have even known of Sunday dances in some of the select mansions of Mayfair. Sunday is the day, too, of all trade and popular processions and demonstrations, and our parks are crowded with great hordes of people listening to bands discoursing secular music. It is not to be wondered therefore that there are many well disposed peisons in London who favour the opening of museums on Sunday as a counter-attraction to the many pernicious forms of recreation or riot in which a great portion of the community participate. The principle has been already conceded by the opening of Hampton Court Palace

A GUARD'S FLINT-LOCK PISTOL OF 1835, AND CUTLASS USED BY MAIL GUARD, 1800.

and grounds on Sunday, and it has been further supported by the Royal Society of British artists, who at the desire of the Sunday League threw open their doors last Sunday. Arrangements are being made for acceding the privilege again on Sunday next, and the Secretary of the Sunday League is distributing the tickets. THE MAIL COACHES. An interesting feature of the Postal Exhibition at the

Guildhall has been the arrival and despatch of mail coaches therefrom. It was a matter of huge delight to see the bright red vehicles dash up Cheapside in spanking style, with the guard tootling on the horn in the good old style. The guard is, indeed, the popular feature of the new conveyance. He is armed, mind you, not exactly to the teeth, but a revolver and cutlass hang fiom the waist-belt, and were it not for the somewhat youthful appearance of some of these guards, their equipment would strike terror to any modern would-be imitator of Dick Turpin, Rather ironical seemed the effect of the coach standing in the Guildhall yard, fully equipped in the old style, with horses harnessed in, and all ready, apparently, to make the journey denoted

on it: ‘Royal Mail, London to Edinburgh.’ All these things seemed to bring back to one the spice of romance of the good old times, ami the old Guildhall was in keening with it all. 1 *

THE DERBY. The Derby, which Disraeli called the Blue Ribbon of the Turf, was hist contested so far back as 1780, and as its name implies, it owes its origin to one of the Earls of Derby. It has altered much in its condition during the century that has since elapsed, but in its general features as a popular holiday it maintains its supremacy, and year after year Epsom Downs are thronged with the maddest, merriest crowd of exuberant sportsmen and excited holiday-makers, gentle anil simple, voluble betting-men in fantastic costumes, and all the accessories in the way of pickpockets and gingerbread stalls that go to make up an English holiday. THE FATE OF STANLEY.

That exclusive circle which calls itself ‘Society’ dearly loves a little surprise, and if it is a matrimonial affair so much the better. Hence it is that all drawing-rooms of Belgravia and Mayfair became scenes of the wildest excitement when the announcement came like a clap of thunder that Mr Stanley was going to be married. There is a fine flavour of romance about this engagement. Only ten days before he started on his last hazardous expedition the gallant explorer popped the question to the fair Miss Dorothy Tennant, and the Baroness Burdett Coutts and her husband were entrusted with the little secret, which was not to lie revealed until the bridegroom returned. How well they have justified the confidence reposed in them events have shown. The Mrs Stanley that is to be—if the explorer is not something more than a ‘Mr ’ by that time—is a daughter of the late Mr < 'harles Tennant, and an artist of repute, whose pictures have for some years attracted attention at the Royal Academy. She is related to Sir Charles Tennant, of the Glen, the friend and neighbour of Mr Arthur Balfour, although one of his stoutest political opponents. Men less daring than Stanley would scarce have had the hardihood to look beyond thedark gulf that intervened, but the chivalrous explorer, fired by the thought that he had a wife to win, has heroically overcome the dangers that beset his path to the altar of hymen. The smiling Miss Dorothy sat by the side of her hero at the Turner's banquet last week, and received the congratulations of many friends on her first public appearance after the announcement of the engagement. It is stated that Miss Tennant received letters from Stanley during his absence, and probably knew more of the details of his terrible experiences than even the members of the Geographical Society.

Another memorial of some significance is that which was unveiled on Monday by the Prince of Wales at the Military School of Engineering at Chatham. It is a statue of that unique hero, Gordon Pasha, whose marvellous life and tragic- end read almost like a fable. That brilliant campaign in China, that long and determined struggle against the African slave trade, and last, but not least, that lonely and patient mission to Khartoum—these are chapters which are written in letters of living light. The memorial is a splendid piece of bronze casting, designed by Mr E. Onslow Ford, A. It.A. The subject presented considerable difficulties, but these had been successfully met by the sculptor, the statue being an excellent likeness. The statue is fifteen feet high, weighs three tons, and rests upon a massive concrete base, the pedestal increasing the total height to oyer twenty feet. The memorial has been subscribed for by the Royal Engineers, and the corps responded to the appeal for the necessary funds with a thorough good will, the contributors ranging from the highest Royal Engineers* officer to the youngest drummer boy. THE MILITARY EXHIBITION. It was remarked at the recent Parisian Exhibition, as a sign augurin" ill for the peace of Europe, that the department devoted to war proved more attractive to the visitors that any other. The inclination of men and women to be fascinated by this gruesome subject was equally noticeable at Dunedin last summer in respect of the one battle-piece there exhibited. There is in us the germ of that glorious intoxication of the warrior which Lord Wolseley says exceeds in intensity all the other pleasurable sensations of life. The Londoners in their military exhibition will now find an opportunity of indulging this peculiar propensity of human nature, of which we see the utmost limit of gratification in the ancient gladiatorial spectacles. A glance round, before the opening on Wednesday, showed that things were in a much more forward state than is usual with such exhibitions on the ojiening day. The decorations partake very- much of those we are familiar with in the armoury of the Tower. There are stars and devices formed of weapons, both ancient and modern, while lay figures show off all

styles of armour and accoutrements. These and the picture galleries and various other objects make the exibition quite an historical show of warfare, recalling the chivalrous days of knighthood as well as some of the most striking episodes of British history of more i ecent times. FRENCH EXHIBITION. We are to have a pocket edition of the great ‘ Exposition Internationale,’ which carried myriads of visitors last year to the premier city on the Seine. Translation to English soil, like translation into the English language, will naturally rob this brochure of Parisian life of much of its charm, and the necessities of the case demand, of course, a severe process of abridgment and condensation. But sutticientwill remainto givetheExhibitionadistinctly French flavour, and with polite

gareons serving up savoury dishes a la Francaise and dainty demoiselles ministering to creature comforts in other departments, the transformation will be complete. The Exhibition will retain some of the distinctly French features of its Parisian parent,and will be a respectable substitute for the great Exhibition to those whose circumstances did not permit of a visit to, the neighbouring capital. Various supplementary attractions have been arranged, including a visit of the performing lions which created a furore in France, and a show of the ‘ Wild West ’ calibre. EXCELSIOR. Sir, Edward M atkin’s idea of a Great Tower for London, rivalling the famous Eiffel Tower, has so far assumed definite shape that there are being exhibited this week at the Drapers’ Hall some eighty-six designs for the project. Those that are slender and graceful are too much ' like servile copies of the Parisian structure, while those that show any originality are ugly and ungainly. Would London ever tolerate, for instance, such erections as those sketched above ? The first may be dubbed ‘ the Extinguisher. It is a tower of 1,267 feet with a base

of 400 feet diameter and constructed of steel. ‘ The Telescope ’ design is submitted under the motto, ‘ Circumferentially, radially, and diagonally built,’ and is 1,600 feet in height, the idea being to provide for its bein" taken to pieces, screw bolts being used instead of rivets. This tower might be advantageous if the telescope principle was fully carried out. Mhy not abandon the lifts and raise and depress the whole tower by the hydraulic principle ? The designer lias probably not the thou"ht of that. The third design will at once be nicknamei? ‘the Screw.’ ■ It is proposed to be 1,900 feet, or more than double the height of M. Eiffel’s creation. The tallest design submitted is in the form of an obelisk, 2,007 feet in height and 644 feet at the base. It looks like a gi"antic (leopatra’s needle. It is stated that the locale of the tower will be St. John’s Wood, which the Paris Exhibition has suggested.