Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Feb. 10, 1907, edition 1 / Page 14
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li not onfte correct to speak of Lon Idol I DO don DMrtM1 Land, for the great I oovslist has sot th ami of his dominion opon Bath, Ipswich, Bocbester and other provtocUl centers, and a kmc many a high main Toad of England where relays of bones and posttUooa waited for trav eler at littW wayside Inns that have lonff since been coated by th atl-conquer-tag railway. Nerwrtbeles, London la tlx cart of Dickens' domain. Ha kaw and loved twit j yard of It, Ita roaring sliest, Us aoefent ebureb, tbe little, oboenre euauleays which Da hidden behind main ftoroofbfsres, Ita Inna of court. Its Oetd and bridge, markets. Its ilnms and pal ace and tta Thames, river of mysteries, whose mod banks, ctostertng ships snd dark, old warebooaca held htm In (loom fascination. He nerar leares London loos;; and he retnrns to It' In book after book with toeibsnatlble fertility of In genuity. Much of what was worst In his Lon don baa disappeared, along with tnnch that was pieturewroe. Many of tbe old slams bare been wiped oat by tbe com pletion of Queen Victoria street, which extends between Cbeapslde and tbe Thames, thrnogh those formerly crooked snd denreodlng streets wblrh Arthur Oenrnan traversed on his trrlral In Lon don, and by tbe building of the Law Courts and ratting of Klngswsy between tbe Strand and Holl-orn. He cannot rlslt tbe baonta of Fagln and hi promising poplls In Boow Hill and Field Lsdc. for Holborn Viaduct has swept them awsy. Nearly ail tbe old Inna bare also gone. NevertbeWa, we may still puraue the trail of Mr. Plckwlth, hot in pnraiilt of Jingle; we may see Dsvld Copperfteld's room on the top floor at IS Buckingham street, BtraDd, where Pickena lived, or stroll with hlra nnder Blarkfriars arches; snd we shall for long be able to rlslt Lin coln's Inn, where tbe great Jariidycs ease actually terminated at last, and follow Miss Kilt along Chancery Laue and In the parllena of Ilolborn. We may appropriately atart onr ptl grlmsge opon Ixnidou Drtdge, tbe sen gate of tbe metropolis, which unite the city, on tbe Middlesex bank, with tbe borough, noon the Hurrey ibore, s ramb ling district that still present In places the aspect of an overgrown Tillage. If the northern portion of I.ondon hn Im prored since the days of Dickens, tbe borough has deteriorated -lis llnea of mean, dirty atrceta, which it retch along the rlrsr frontage for many mile and extend eootbward to iMilwlch and Cero berweil. are Indescribably ecjuulld and poor. Aa we eras London Rrldgt we see ocean reeeela, Jammed closely agninst the low arches, unloading on either aldr sf tbe river; and eastward, looming through the haar, the bascule of the Tower Bridge. It was on London Bridge that Nancy met Ross Maylle and Mr. Brownlow, and asked Boss to com to tbe steps upna the Rorrey shore snd speak with ber; and here Ha r pole over heard tbe conversation which led to her murder. Not far to the eastward standi the Tower of London, dating back to the twelfth cectory, though Julias Caesar la said to hare Aral built a furtreas here. It wee near the Tower that Mr. snd Mrs. Qvilp had their residence. "In ber 1kwct on Tower IIIU Mrs. Qulrp wsa left to pine la tbe abeeoce of her lord. Qnllp bad a dreary, rat tnfnrted yard upon the Rorrey shore, known as Qullp'l Tard, "In whkrh wer a wooden counting house, burrow Uir all awry In the dust, a If It bad fallen from the Hoods and pried Into the ground; a few fragments of rusty anchors, several large Iron ring, some bales of rotteo wood, snd two or three heaps of old sheet copper, crumbled, cracked and battered." Many of three dreary yrd eilit; sod when tbe tide Is low sod the mud rllna to the qusys snd stranded vcsarla and decaying wharves, we eaa appreciate tbe gloom wblrh Dick ens' experience at Mordntone and Orln by always led blis to associate with tbe rivet. "la tbe boroogb especially," writes' Dtckeoa, la "Pickwick." "there still re saw some half doseu old Inn Mcb have preserved their externa! features an rhasged, and which hav escaped silk tbs rsgs for public Improvement snd the mrroaehrosnt of private rtteculalion. . Oreat, rambling, queer old places tbey ira, wttb wld gallerlea and psg snd staircases wide enough and antiquated mooch to furnish maierlala for s hundred (host stories." . Darkens bsd so extraordinary arTectloa .;. tar aeeh old Inna. lu hi earlier day lbs war of the highest Importance, for rves) la London tbe modem hotel bad not teea thought of, snd trsvelers of tb Vgnost rank atayed In them, la tbe epoch of Mr. Pickwick anyone senna to ' lav been able to go Iota the coarbboos tod ask for a carriage and psir with tba - ot perfect confidence that bla order ' ld kw compiled with. Dot tima ha been scoring heavily of eai years, both la tba boroagb and la . . fit worth portiea f Loodos. Tba Ool4en ; ' Dross kaa been transformed. Tba While lores la ' Piccadilly Is (oat, It may be ' tdmltted that there still exists I aoreeea's lead as) Uat psrtlewlar out at Snow Much Ctpt Rdwari IT "ward, of Oakland, Sal prrably rh oldest marl set la tn Salted Sute, ha retired after having WKwed the ea foe over SO year. ' ' Twelra 04cg woneo wilt make pp le Jory to try the case of Mrs. M- A. U-ri-r sj?lwtt ber oeiebbor, Mrs. Mary t - ' . it I f'r slander, aad tb Jadg m&m 0iA s e" tw WMh vAl -JH. ' ' vii-""i-vv elkaJaF 'l ,-. .: Lu.. wjew IJajJsksw. -J it r .-.'A V Vi: faV ' 1 - fi'.-V- 0'- v . ".'"A .vv i'.-.y? -v-J' v.'.y , l-.v.y.',.;, ' :. . ..v,. asssag--. bsjbbw- i 1 -ew i .- ' "issw x v- ' v. v . -r-i"-A 1 TJTJ: SOQL QTZQlfDOf r if . 4mmm.-A. Assjaajs-s. smAMyiiaiaiisii mm, rAJ3v or "mi: G-j;onG-i:JKtt" llltl "wber omnibus horses going eest wsrd m-rlnly think of falling dowu on pnrpmc," from which Nlcholaa Nlrkledy departed on bla erentfnl Journry Into Yorkshire; but ll la a parvenu aucb ns Dlckeus, could be have known Its arro gant pretenalosa, would hare despised. Tba White Hart. In tbe borough, where Mr. Weller flrst ssw his maatar, aad where Mr. Jingle waa ran to earth after his elopement with the uplnater aunt, re mained even a few years ago, then a large quadrangle parceled out among tenants of bomble rank. Now this, too, bss goos, and a new block of bixlness office occu pies tbe sits of It. Tet. strangely enough, there 1 still to be seen, just off tbe borough High street, a portion of a famous Institution wblrh had been demolished before tb lime of Dick ns himself. Cross London Brldgs and go down High street uolll you see tba clock of HI. Oeorge's Church In front of yon. On tbe left yon will find a squalid passage railed Angel Court. It Irsda luto what ssems at first a cal d aac, bat la, la fact, a winding alley that com m s Ccatea, after purpose leae turnings, with a aids tlioroaghfara, Cpon tba right ap pears a gloomy aad forbidding wall, frowning boob a lower wall upon tb left, topped wltk wood a palings. Thla la se xually tba lower wall of tb Marshslsea, tba debtor prise, Which la described aa vividly la 'Utile Dorrtt" tad alas- tn Little Bits th tojsry, If any. . , '" liana, ef tb United State laprewt Court, TO, giirsntia and healthy a a country boy, dorsa l beilav In cold baths, , "I sever put-told water et my warts) skis i toy III," h says. r Tb trst set . of American fthodso acboiar will eomplet their tbrs yesrs' xtrm next Jwask, Bxusaio. Ik? ff w 4 . . rk r mmAk 1 ; .rvs , "r11 " "".. - 7 r. S&L .'J.-A. ! - .ri';s .',-&. X'j'.r '.,4 MM X o 7 '.vr-v. 7-, ,- ..5 ft -.' .'i . Si.Wri. "rssTash.. w- 1 t y Jt aTi stasia. --4. t -m . h m i - ' - ri Jr) k? i ' , where. Ita crumbling bricks, tba sunless Bag beneath It, tba winding paaaagea which do not aetm to lead to any place In particular, th general atmosphere of misery and discomfort, still teem to con vey something of tba wretchedness of those unhappy prisoner who haunted It Let us psaa from tba shadows of thla place, and. recrossisg th Thame, enter tb city of Loudon. Coder tb monument. tall abaft wblrh waa erected to tb com memo rstioa af tb great Art of 1000, we enter Into a mas of narrow streets, teeming with traffle and pedestrians. W are lu tbe basin. eaa center f th world. I'aasiug tbrouga Cbeapaid Into Oreohas street, we emerge spun tb Qalldhall, a gray old building set somewhat back from tbs main current of traffle, holding tta many meaorlaa wlthta shrln of ailenra. Uur Oarset, tb Jeealt, was tried for his coo section with tb Gunpowder Plot In 1600; her Ann Askew waa rooderoeed for heresy la th eighth neary'i reign: her, to, tb tuk of Gloscwscrr waa proclaimed king by Buckingham In 1483. lUchard WbltUogtoo waa aaaocia nt with th OuDdnalt, and kit catra paid t bava ttM eoort pavsd wttb Pnrbevtt marble Bat (or as t QoiMbaU baa nor Immedlat tntarsat In that It waa tb sewn af tb fa moo RsrdeH rn. Pick, wick trial. Tba Lord Mayor bod bla eoort her aad baa Jurledlctloa ver all actkHM If a nojoant tcda 'f00 and o Interesting Information tleo to bt held this asoath la th earl- a ttatoa will start th third Instalment of scholar oa thotr fortan favored way. Disappearing paper I a novelty for net by those wheat correspondent forget tt burn tht letter after their utility . ha ceased. It I steeped la sulpbertt add, drted nd gianed, th arid being partly nwetrV'wd h OwtmHria nH U CaUS fT x tM ' vjS-r r v ' x1 ,- ' "r j 4 Vi)A.vtewSiajlftiJ i fci.i tk cans of tba action took plaet within tb city limits. Tb court sits every moeih, and tb presiding )dg la either tb m order or comtnoo sera ear t or a deputy appointed by them. nwvcr, there rxlsu tb right of appMl from tbla court's derisions, and w most bold Ltw m Perker gallty of grsr dereflctlo of duty In not advising Mr.' Pickwick to ttkt advantage of tbla oppertunlry. Wandering into Aldersgat atrewt wt look up toddeuly and JbercsJv noon t wall tbe title Llttl Britain. Br Uvd th formidable Mr. Jagg", "Jot ant of Smlthfleld and eloae by tb coach fflcs." It la a narrow, winding paeeags way, atlll coots In tag tb office of many lawyer, thongb th ooach offlca jws wept long ago into tb Umbo of tb past it open upon tb meat market of Smlthfleld, wher Protestant wer burned In Mary'a reign, Dlekwna write of tbla with ror. "Tb shameful plac. being all astawar with 0JU and fat aad blood aad foam, (earned to stick to ," Mya Pip, la "Oreat BxptcUtloaa." And Dickens wrttea la "Oliver Twlati" i "It was osi a markt day, Tka grod wit covered nearly ankldo with BItk and mlrs." But mlthhald Old htarket ram t aa end la 1RS3, and la th aew Smith Arid w see only butchers In bint aprons, wagons aad laaaoMraM 'Care f bva haoainff la eesauly ataila aboe banded boot- Lt M arap Plf to pieces afttr a given tim. - Tba campaign against child labor It at teat making Itself felt among tb cotton null of touts Carolina. More tbaa two sMrd of th tptJMll f tm aat hart greed tt reduce th working boors ol uiploye from (Id to 'fit hours a week." sod to U boora tn loos and eo boor la J www to rewxie, as ..iiie umbmmmmmii back through UtO Britain until wt aea tb great black' dome of St Paul'a. ausy mounted by a flit cross, dominating and dwarfing tb balMlnga round It BL Paul's Cbnrchyard, where sr sests. Sowars and ahrnba, la filled with Idlan, cierkt aad . workiog , gtrls, sating their noon teach. On tb tooth aid Is Ooan'a Court, described ' by Walter a "PanTt Charehysrd, low archway on tb csrrlags aid, bookseller's at on corner, hotel oa tb other and two porters la th mlddlt at tout for Been sea.". '. Ber ' Samuel Weller, senior, pledged hlmelf uninten tionally to marry Buaaa Clarke, Mark la ' Orsnby, Dorking) ber. too, David Oopprfild resolved to b a. proctor, described by Btoarforth tt "sort of monkish attorney." Bat tht bookswOer hat gon and tht hotel baa gonl tb tout bar gon well, and th whol eonrt of proctora waa swept ost of t totencs by a war of refona la tb mUldl of tht hut century. - Lt ut sler tht prtdncta . of th cathedral and diattod : Lndgata HBJ mta fTswt' street, fa moot for Its newspaper offices, and tbe net t th griffla oatsid tht. taw Conra la tht BtrandV Wher Tvmpl Bar formerly stood tt deaoU tht bonadary of tba city. ' Wt art how la tht heart of legal London, Borough of II ol bora, porta pa tht Idsst porUoai of ! tot Btropothi aad thsf most lovod of ! DtekMt, quaint , medley of ' amllevml ' Gathered from Various Sources. Twt plnk.noolen petticoat of beautV fal crochet work, mad by tht Princes of Wales tor th Beset Needlework Ootid, bavt been gltt sa presenis t two littlt girt at Hsvorlng-tte-Bower, Ksi.- Tb pmbaM exlstenee of a lanr planet beyond ICeptuut ws pointed out by Prof. Ceorye forbes B qoaxter of a century vm. Ills Hat A..aft ... pOea and eighteenth-century alama, of noisome alleys and of atatety gardena. Her are th Inna of Court, now swiftly disappearing before the march of time. "Curious little nooks In a great pine Ilk London, these old Inna are," Bald Mr. Pickwick; and at that date tbey nourish ed aa they had done for centuries, with no prospect of dissolution. But Bar nard' Inn baa goo; Clifford's has been purchased and la for aula for building purpose; th Serjeant' Inna ceased to fulfil their functions when the aerjeanta were abolished; Btaple Inn la In ex tremis. Gray's Inn, In Holborn; Lin coln's Inn, round which the entire story of "Bleak House" 'centers, and th Tem ple, with Its Innumerable count and gar dens, alone retain tnelr pristine glory un diminished and unqnencbed. Lincoln's Inn, which fronta upon Chan cery Lane, was traditionally the resi dence of the Earla of Lincoln. Henry d Lacy, who died in 1312, Is supposed t have assigned tbe family residence In Holborn to tbe body of lawyers. It baa I bees found, however, tn tbe cbartulary of the Abbot of Malmesbury in th Cot ton collection In tb British Mnaeum that the Abbot' mansion In Holborn waa known aa Lincoln' Inn In 1380. Thomas of Lincoln, a Serjeant ' practicing In the Court of Common Pleas, who nam appear In the Tear Book of Edward III., formerly owned the property. He probably gathered round him a body of apprentlces-at-Uw, who took up their residence there. It I said that Ben Jon son worked aa a bricklayer upon tbe old gateway. The chapel on the right of the entrance, shown la tbe Illustration, waa designed by Inlgo Jones. Its stained glass window sre considered to be on of tb best exsmples of this kind. Arch bishop Laud, whose stalned-glaaa win dows at hia Lambeth palace, were so much abased, thought It strange that those In Lincoln's Inn Chapel should pasa unnoticed by the fanatical Puritans, but remained allent upon th subject, "lest be shoe Id thereby set some furlou spirit at work to destroy those harmless, good ly windows, to the Just dislike of that worthy society." After the bonding of th new law courts In the Strand, Lincoln's Inn lost many of Its historical associations. "Hk-ha earns term lately over, and tht lord chancellor sitting In Lincoln's Inn Had," writes Dickena In the opening chapter of "Bleak House." It was the Chancery Court and the great Jarndyce suit waa In progress. Miss nit was peregrinating Chancery tan, entering th In under the old gateway ovr which Cromwell one had resided. Chancery Ian, which figures continually , tn thla story. Is a loog, narrow passage skirting th front of the Inn, connecting the Strand with Holborn, and Is given up largely to law office and shops for tb sal of legal supplies. On either aldo of tb Inn are some of the worst slums In London. The group of adjacent alleys, among which Krook's rag and bone shop existed, haa been pulled down, but Cook's court, Cursltor street, which Is really Tookes court, still exists. On th west of Lincoln's Inn, among tb alums of Drury Ian, extends Klngswsy, a - fin new street, which baa demolished most of th unsavory tenements of this sec tion of Holborn. Ftv years ago on could still set tht spot wher Nemo died and th gloomy , burial ground. Ther was a llttl Inclorar at th nd of a passsgs loading out of a Sagged, wind--' log alloy aear Drury lano, called Russell court. , Looking up thla one could set tht rallod gata at tht tnd and tht small graveyard surrounded by houses, as Jit aad Lady.Dedlock saw It. Dickena ottea ell odea to this "little tunnel of a court," and to "that hideout archway"' with its "deadly stains." From i, the mournful manner tn which bt writes of It we may tonctndt .that It was associated la hla njemory with hla unhappy childhood when b froqaented thla district, just aa ht make Dartd Copperfleid do, " Acroa tht Strand from th taw courts art tht tzttnslrt Tempi courts and gardena, stretching down tt tb Thame tmbankmtnt Fountain court I UtU changed since the days when Tom Pinch need to meet , hi sister ' Bath tber. "Merrily tbe fountain leaped and danced, aad BMrrlly tht amlilng dimples twinkled and txpanded atort and mora, until tbey hrokt Into, a laugh against tht basin's rim and Tsulshed. I Tht founts! la omtimet abut off by Some , mysUrtou tatborrty, but often It play aa merrily at af old. Sparrows bath In It, and awmoroot plgooaa strut fearissatly troond of comets, bat he hat Usee noted pet tsrbatlons of Neprnoe that teem Hkely la a few years to giv a good Ma of th poslUoa of thla unknown body. The Crytaw goroenmcat I reaplag tht beneflt of tht rubber boom, states . th Loudon Commercial Inteilltonc. A big ssl of rrowa land, suitable for rubber sv'.t, e4 m r at -it.y n f IV Not far from ber ta tht aid Bomaa bath, where David Copperfleid waa ao customed to take bla morning plunge, reached through a, narrow alley leading out of tba Strand nearly opposite Klngs wsy. But let ns turn toward Drury lan again, through a wilderness of open plots, boardings and half demolished house, marking the Improvement of the county council. At tbe corner of Lincoln's Inn fields, Sheffield and Ports mouth streets Is a yttle establishment proclaiming. In large letter, that It I "The Old Curiosity Shop. Immortalised by Charles Dickens." Readers who re member bow. In the commencement of bis tory. Dickens expressly state that the shop bad beea pulled down ' long previously will be Inclined to smile at this pretension; but evidence must be manufactured when It is not In exist ence, this shop will do as well as any ' other shop; snd no doubt when tbla, too, yleldai to .the event of Timo some other Curiosity Shop will supersede It, But every turn la Holborn brings us back to one of tbe eld Inns of court. (Staple Inn. on tbe sooth side of Holborn,'1 I tbe 'most picturesque of Its kind In London. Hawthorne describes tbe sensa tion of stillness and repose which b ex perlencedyn this quiet courtyard off busy Holborn. i Here Johnson wrbt "Basse Is." Thetfroot of the Inn. which feces the main thoroughfare of traffic between the city aril West London, was erected in the first Veers of the seventeenth cen-. tury, snd I the quaint, old faahloned houses, shown In the photograph, eeem" incongruous Vhd out of place between the up-to-date modern building upon either side oftbem. "Behind tu xnost ancient part of Hot born," writes Dickens of Btaple Inn la "Edwin Drood." "where certain gabled -bouses, some centuries of age, still stanl Icoklng on the public way. a If dlacon- ' aclatory. looking for th old Bourn that ha long since ran dry, hi a llttl nook composed of two irregular Quadrangle' " called Stapl Injn. It Is on of those cooks tb turnluV Into which out of th ;. clashng streets Imparts to th relieved pedestrian tbe sensation of baring put cotton In bla eara and veljet coles 19 his boots." It waa In Staple Inn that "Mr. Grewgtou himself occupied a set of chamber In a comer bona In the lit tie loner quadrangle, presenting In black aad -white over It ugly portal th mysterious ; Inscription: P ' J T . ., 1T7 la which set of chambers, never hsvtng " troubled his bead about th Inscription, unless to bethinks himself at odd time ' On glancing up at ltthat haply It might mean perbapa John Tboms' or "perhaps . Joe Tyler,' aat Mr. Orewgkms writing by tbe fire.' It waa In Staple Inn, too, that th gar ret of Neville Landless was situated. "Aa air of retreat and solttode bung about ' the rooma and about their Inhabitant. He wis much worn and so were they, ihelr sloping ceilings, leumbroua, rusty'; locks snd gratea, with) heavy wooden bins and beams aiowiy nsoldertng withal had, a prisonous look, and he bad ,th -j haggard face of a prisoner. Tet th enn-, light sbons In at tb ogry garret wiav ' dow and on the cracked and mokt blackeoed parapet beyond aom of tht ' ' deluded aparrowa of th plac rheumatlo ally. hepped." In Klngsgat street rnnxtlng from Btgb Holborn to Queens 8qnam, dwelled Mrs. y, Otmp, rwlth her large boodle, a pair of pattern and a ipede olj gig ombrefm. 'V .'. th latter article In color Ilk a faded ' leaf, except where t rtrtmuir patch of ' lively bio had beta dexterously . t In at 1 " v tb top." On the north aid of High Hot- i , ..; born, opposlt Btapl Innt, I Gray's, on , of th mrpr Inn, atlll flourishing, Pe. i Tr ' U P1ttwlf.k'a law Kail -v . '' here, andltht plac seem to hart tm- . . nraved alnre Dickena dss iltiil it with " Ita "doaty) windows, tht, bills .TO XJBtJ .' TO LET, I tb doorways lncrlbed Ilk r ? gravestone," . r ( '. - - fi raw wwoiu sv arv iruoakuiff IU VUV arv7rsj y ;!; or a oner articit to giv any systemaUe -.J. guide to Dickens' Londoin, which strttchet rrmn Hbidweil snd Itotherhlthe, torn miles below London Bridge, to "Tht May pole," In BppJng Forest, and tt "Tht '; Spaniards," ouXHampa'toad Heath, where, Mrs. t-aroeii was urst approached by Dodson and Fogg. Wt might wander .' from sqsare'to qMne seeking tt Identify , 7 tb bona of Balph Nlckleby. r throogh v th Minortea and Lcodenhsll street, look-; Ing for th woodeuS midshipman, or by . tn Thames, searching ror Murdatoa and Grlnbyt warehouM. Tim - weave : her day will com whea every haant tinned by Dickena will hav a doses) clalmaau. - , . :, . -' price ' wer oWlaetl. ' Alter other torn lo.ow acre were put p for !, and pM,K wer reaUsedA - Up to data It costs ajn alien 133 la feet to become a aatarallod Briton, eed ba" must wilt five years and then produce ' evidence to character. A gowruntent -bill la to be Introdoced k r4uce tht fco amnhehhr So tX
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 10, 1907, edition 1
14
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