LONDON 



3490 



LONDON 



of the city for over 500 years. Here are held 

 the most important civic functions, not only of 

 London, but of the British Empire. One of the 

 greatest honors that can be bestowed upon any 

 man, British or foreigner, is to be entertained 

 by the lord mayor of London at a public ban- 

 quet at the Guildhall. This distinction was 

 accorded Theodore Roosevelt, after his return 

 from Africa in 1910. One of the great political 

 events of the year is the banquet given by the 

 lord mayor on the night of his inauguration, 

 November 9. The speech delivered on this 

 occasion by the Prime Minister or the Foreign 

 Secretary is always awaited with the greatest 

 interest, for as a rule it contains some im- 

 portant announcement defining the attitude of 

 the government upon the chief questions of the 

 day. 



Other Important Streets and Buildings. 

 Within the county of London alone there are 

 2,210 miles of streets, and only those of particu- 

 lar interest can be mentioned. Among these 

 are Piccadilly, along which are situated many 

 famous private residences and the most ex- 

 clusive clubs, and Regent Street. At their 

 intersection is Piccadilly Circus, one of the 

 nodal points of the metropolis. Bond Street, 

 where the most exclusive and fashionable shops 

 are situated ; Aldwych and Kingsway, two mag- 

 nificent new thoroughfares, starting in the 

 Strand; and Oxford Street and Holborn are 

 other famous avenues. One block north of 

 Oxford Street is the British Museum (which 

 see). Among many other museums and art 

 galleries are the Victoria and Albert Museum, 

 which contains a valuable collection illustrating 

 the development of the machinery used in 

 many modern industries, as well as of the tools 

 employed in a great number of the finer arts 

 and crafts; and the Tate Gallery, noted for its 

 collection of modern paintings. 



Parks. Judged by the standard of old Euro- 

 pean cities, London is well supplied with parks. 

 There are in and around London over 18,000 

 acres of parks, squares and open spaces main- 

 tained by local authorities. The most famous 

 of the parks is Hyde Park, situated in the heart 

 of the west end of London, and covering 364 

 acres. There is not another park in the world 

 that presents such an animated and brilliant 

 sight during the height of the London season, 

 during the months of June and July. Every 

 Sunday numerous open-air meetings are held 

 in this park. Scores of speakers, addressing 

 their audiences from improvised platforms, dis- 

 course upon all sorts of topics religious, politi- 



cal, scientific and social. Adjoining Hyde Park 

 are the extensive and beautiful Kensington 

 Gardens, where the imposing Albert Memorial 

 is situated. Another beautiful park is Regent's, 

 which contains a zoological garden with the 

 largest collection of animals in the world; and 

 the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society. On 

 the southern side of the city is beautiful Green- 

 wich Park, with its famous Greenwich Observa- 

 tory. 



More characteristic of London than its formal 

 parks are the heaths, or commons, which are 

 preserved nearly in their natural condition 1 for 

 the use of the people. The largest and most 

 beautiful of these are Hampstead Heath on the 

 north, and Wimbledon Common, Putney Com- 

 mon and Black Heath, on the south. 



Bridges. The oldest and most famous of the 

 many bridges spanning the Thames is London 

 Bridge. The old bridge, built of stone early in 

 the thirteenth century to replace an older one 

 built of wood, had a row of houses along it, 

 which gave it the appearance of a street. The 

 present granite bridge, built in 1831, was en- 

 larged in 1904. It connects the "city" with two 

 thickly-populated industrial boroughs, and the 

 stream of traffic across it all day long is one 

 of the unforgetable sights of London. An- 

 other beautiful bridge is the Tower Bridge, 

 built not far from the famous Tower of Lon- 

 don. 



Fogs and Smoke. London is subjected in 

 winter to fogs, which are made denser by the 

 smoke which is continuously poured into the 

 atmosphere from innumerable chimneys. In a 

 recent report the city medical officer of health 

 stated that in one month the amount of soot, 

 grit, dust and other matter registered as falling 

 in the city amounted to fifty-five tons. On 

 account of this the city has a somber aspect 

 and the buildings look dingy and unattractive. 

 Nevertheless London is one of the most health- 

 ful of the great cities of the world. This is 

 the result of vigilant watchfulness over the 

 water supply and the sewerage systems; of 

 stringent building regulations, and of the at- 

 tention bestowed by the authorities upon all 

 questions of public and private sanitation. 



Commerce. In normal years London is the 

 busiest port in the world, with an annual trade 

 approximating $2,000,000,000. The London 

 docks, which are provided with all the facili- 

 ties to load and unload the largest steamers in 

 the shortest time, extend from near London 

 Bridge down the river to Tilbury, a distance of 

 over thirty-five miles. Three-fourths of the 







