January, igo6.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



339 



SUPPLEMENT. 



London's 

 TraLnsformatiorv. 



A Svjggestive Sketch of Da.ys to Come. 



[Continued from page 314.) 



By Tems Dyvirta. 



[Cornelius Tush was agreat Ameri'-an financier, whose modes of 

 business were perhaps not always quite above suspicion. He had hit 

 upon the great idea of diverting the course of the Thames so as to 

 cause the river to flow away to the country, and leave its dry bed 

 in London available for building sites. He had made business 

 arrangements with a number of people, had formed a large 

 Company to malie the deviation, and finally the work was 

 completed. Tush, however, was sorely disappointed with the 

 treatment he had received in England, where many people looked 

 askance at his methods, and had returned to America.] 



CHAPTER VIII. 



LiBERTiA Street. 



A period of peaceful repose having healed the sore- 

 nes.s of his heart, Tush had returned to England to 

 view the outcome of his ambitious scheme. 



For the third time he stood on Westminster Bridge 

 and leant upon the parapet to gaze on the scene below. 

 .'\nd well might he ponder, for what a different sight 

 now presented itself to his eyes to that on which he had 

 looked so long ago, when nothing but a sea of turbid 

 waters flowed beneath, and later, when the busy hum 

 of machinery resounded over the irregular masses of 

 heaped-up earth and woodwork. What he now looked 

 down upon was an extensive view of the finest street 

 in all the world. A thoroughfare worthy of the great 

 city of London. " Libertia Street " (" Avenue " was 

 originally suggested, but the old English " street " 

 finally adopted) is over 200 feet wide. On either hand 

 rise magnificent new buildings of imposing architec- 

 ture. The sound of the hammer and of the trowel still 

 resounds in the air, telling of the new structures arising 

 among the scaffoldings between. Here, on the right, 

 is the huge " Hotel Thames," with its tiers of balconies 

 rising high above the bridge. There to the left, with 

 its gilded statuettes, is the Royal Thames Theatre. 

 Next that of the prettily turreted building of the new 

 Radical Club, while opposite is the great block contain- 

 ing the " World's Emporium," and further on is the 

 great National Opera House. Awav in the distance 

 are the towers of the new Palace of Justice. Besides 

 the many h.mdsome detached edifices are the rows of 

 shops and business houses. Their ground floors abut 

 on the street, and contain for the most part the parcels 

 oflices and packing store.s, readily axailable to the carts 

 in the street, while, in many cases, vehicles can drive 

 in through porticos to inner court yards. On the roofs 

 of these lower stories runs a wide pavement for 

 pedestrians, .^t intervals are inclines or steps leading 

 to the roadway below, and foot-bridges span the side 

 streets. Glass verandahs jut out over the shop fronts, 

 giving shelter from the rain, while not darkening the 

 display of tempting goods in their windows. Above 

 thein the gre:it buildings rise to six or eight stories 

 high, even looking down from their parapets on their 

 poor old kindred of the high-level town around them. 



Every building is of artistic design, and all now look 

 so bright and clean in their newness, that a very 

 pleasant effect is presented to the eve. Down the 

 centre of this great thoroughfare runs an avenue of 

 fresh green trees, bordering a gravel walk, whereon 

 are seats and chairs, shelters from the sun and rain, 



drinking fountains, newspaper Kiosks, coffee stalls, 

 and retiring rooms; all beautifully and tastily arranged, 

 at hand, yet not interfering with the traffic. Even 

 monuments are in course of erection in suitable spots; 

 these are not ugly bronze figures of men in everyday 

 attire standing on solid blocks of stone, with blackened 

 faces, unrecognisable as representatives of their 

 originals. Such statues are no more picturesque than 

 the passers-by themselves; but here arc artistically- 

 grouped statuettes on ornamental pedestals. 



On either side of the central avenue are cab-stands 

 and space for waiting vehicles, and tram lines run 

 along outside. Then comes the enclosed road reserved 

 for the out-of-date horse-drawn traffic, which, of course, 

 is prohibited from sullving and wearing out the clean 

 asphalt, on which the horses would, moreover, be 

 slipping down and running away. Outside this are the 

 broad, open, asphalted roads, now teaming with traffic 

 overflowing from the much congested thoroughfares 

 of the old city, and forming a splendid unimpeded 

 route from East to West of London. For this ereat 

 highwav extends along the course of the old river as 

 far as the new Docks at London Bridge. There a fine 

 wide wharf runs across the river, forming a fitting 

 point of departure for the smaller passenger boats 

 leaving the port of London. W^hat a pleasant change 

 from the dirty old crowded wharves of olden davs ! 

 Anv dav one may .see ten or a dozen steamers lying 

 with their sterns towards the wide quays, embarking 

 heir passengers as trains do at a large railway terminus, 



.Along the old embankment (the stone facings of 

 which have now been inoved to line the sides of the 

 Canal) are the shop fronts of the new houses whose 

 lower floors abut the fine, though comparatively narrow- 

 streets which run along parallel to the great Libertia 

 Street. 



To the south of the main thoroughfare runs a 

 second narrow street, and in this are some of the huge 

 buildings affording comfortable accommodation for 

 thousands of the working classes. All are built on the 

 latest approved methods and with all the modern ap- 

 pliances for living in health and comfort. Each family 

 has its own suite of rooms, with balconies and window- 

 gardens, and everything that a poor Londoner can 

 expect. Many of their windows overlook the Canal, 

 which important waterway connects the docks with the 

 various citv warehouses and enables water traffic to be 

 conducted from the lower to the upper Thames. 



It was a bright sunny day, for days are generally 

 brighter now; no longer do such dense fogs hang about 

 the valley of the old river. Fog is but the visible effect 

 of aqueous vapour suspended in the air; without the 

 exoanse of cold humid water and damp earth this could 

 not exist. The ininute particles of smoke, which, 

 dampened bv the vapour, form the p.-ill which used to 

 hang over the city, are now dry and fall to the ground 

 as dust, leaving the sunshine to warm the air and 

 beautify the surroundings. 



\'et was Cornelius dull. " Uneasy lies the mind that 

 grabs the gold ! " Troubles seem unending. .A 

 journev to the ."^tates and a sojourn there of eighteen 

 months should have appea.sed the public mind. Their 

 new. plavthing should have caused Londoners to forget 

 their pettv squabbles with the donor. Rut no ! he had 

 come back to find himself an outcast, shunned by all. 

 He had arranged to see his solicitor that day and to 

 discuss with him the unsatisfactory aspect of affairs. 

 But first he would have a look around the new city of 

 his creation. Descending by some steps, ho pur- 

 sued his wav along the great broad walk beneath the 

 bridge. What a grand sight now met his gaze ! For 



