Sunday, February 26, 1956

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Five

Sundy, ebrury 6, 156 HE MCHIAN DILYPaaeFiv
r


Common Denominator
BIT OF THE BEST, BIT OF THE WORST
b
(continued from page 4) goes down to Greenwich Village
for a more specific purpose than
the more than 1,800,000 people whc to observe the Bohemian way of
live within its limits and make
New York what it is. life.
"The Village" of the past is in
MOST of them came to Manhat- the past. for since the war it has
tan from other places-small been settled by a large number
towns, farms, industrial centers of families, and the curious visitor
-and settled there because they will find himself dodging more
liked it, or had to stay, and then baby carriages than canvases of a
began to appreciate it. Sunday afternoon.
The lives they lead are not very Neither is the native of Man-
different from those led by people hattan very impressed by Park
throughout the country. The dif- Avenue, for he knows that a great
ference lies in the never-ending deal of'the wealth of the city has
variety that their city offers to moved off that street. Increasing
them. numbers of office buildings are
Of course, all this leads to a rising out of the rubble of dis-
rather patronizing attitude on the mantled former luxury apartment
part of the New Yorker when he houses.
visits other cities.
If he goes to Chicago, he is not BUT the New Yorker has many
impressed by the six legitimate things in common with the
theaters there, for the Broadvoy out-of-towner. During the day,
area alone has more than 30. he is subjected to the same scream-
In New York, he can choose ing horns and side-swiping taxis
from more restau rants in which and the ame one-bite lunches that
to eat' more stores in wldhish to' the visitor must enudure j
shop; more museums, entertain- For from nine to five ire cam-
ments and frustrations--more of mnors invate, entering the cits'
everything, from the cmeti opotitan area"
wiichi i inctoilos Lanz I suit, Wisil-
A ND there nre other part of chester County. Connecticut west
the city he can see and en oy of Darien and Stamiford and a con-
which lead to a fuller appreCiatsion sideeible io;tion at Ness Jse'.-
of Manhattan. not to mention the other four:
He can drive along Riverside arts of Ni York City.
Drive and look out over the Hud- But probabis, most of all, the
son River. He can stroll throuth New Yorker shares Mith the visi-
sprawling Central Park on a warm tor the feelin" of wonder at the
spring afternoon; he can wander great variety that makes up Man-
through an art exhibit in Wash- hattan-the frisltening deteriora-
ington Square or go down to the tion of the men of the Bowery
Battery and take a ferry ride aainst the elegant sophistication
across to Staten Island on a swel- of fifth Avenue; the paradox of
tering night. Park Avenue, which startles the
In most cases, he ventures down traveler by all too suddenly plung-
to Wall Street only if he works ing him from the lush fantasia of
on the stock market; he pushes his the rich into the misery and
way along Seventh Avenue only wretchedness of the poverty-
if he manufactures women's clo- stricken; the narrow, winding
thing; he goes down to Chinatown streets of lower Manhattan, eter-
on rare occasions, preferring the nally darkened by the mountains
numerous Chinese restaurants on of sky-scrapers which line them
Fifty-Second St. and the bright, airy green of Cei-
He stands on Broadway and tral Park's rolling acres, a refresh-
Forty-Second Street only if he's ing oasis in the middle of the gi-
waiting to cross, and he usually gantic concrete desert.
City of Villages
(Continued from page 3) a healthy, open hill-top, where the
judges came to walk and discuss
which may add the words "by their cases away from the plagues
appointment," indicative of service which ravaged London in 1665.
to the Royal family. Here is the Georgian villa where
Not far, in Pall Mall and Picca- the prosperous tradesman brought
dilly are the clubs. The Athe- up a boy who would write poetry-
naeum, the Travellers' Club, the John Keats.
Carlton Club, the Cavalry Club,
and so many more of mounting THE THAMES is lined with vil-
degrees of exclusiveness. Women lages which are part of Lon-
cannot be members. don - Chelsea, Putney, Mortlake,
London has none of the open Hammersmith and Chiswick. They
air cafes or luxurious patisseries are all distinct and individual
and restaurants where women can communities, situated next to the
meet and talk. The most common river where the lines of small
places of refreshment are the pub- boats stand moored; some homes,
lic houses. Heavily Victorian redo- some the absorbing hobby of ama-
lent of leather, plush and brass, teur yachtsmen, some derelict
they offer beer, meat, cheese and hulks, but all contributing to the
pickles. The talk is quiet and spirit of the place.
relaxed, usually of weather and In fact it can be said that Lon-
gardens, of sport and hobbies. don is a city bf villages, some for
the great like St. James, and some
BUT London is not just the City, for the small, like Hoxton, and
Westminister and the West they all have equal respect for
End. It is besides an agglomera- each other.
tion of towns and villages appar- The only threat which this way
ently unified, but really separate of life has to fear is that of indus-
and distinct. trial progress leading to conform-
Soho, with its narrow streets, ity. This in the 19th centurpro-
passageways and sudden staircases, duced the wastes of West London,
its busy street markets by day streets of solid domestic mansions

with barrows of fruit, vegetables, of appalling ugliness, behind stone
clothes old and new, hardware, walls and high hedges which killed
and multifarious and exciting social life and hid the passing of
junk, its countless cosmopolitan many sad and lonely lives. In the
restaurants by night, is individual, 20th century came surburbia to
personal, and a town whose in- surround and strangle these com-
habitants belong to Soho first munities.
and London second. This is the unreal city to which
On the hills of the northern Eliot refers in "The Waste Land"-
fringes of London are the villages, depersonalization and ugliness. But
Hampstead and Highgate, where it is still possible to leave a main
the tide of Suburbia has rolled street and find a backwater where
round, but not over, and left an people are still living individual
existence which has changed little lives. This is the reward for the
fundamentally in two centuries. person who sets out to find Lon-
Here is Judges' Walk still, along don, and it is a great satisfaction.

NOW- 7 DAYS for as low as plus ax
Rates Include:
t/ ROUNDTRIP TOURIST TRANSPORTATION to Bermuda by
Pan-American from New York.
M.Y ROUNDTRIP TRANSFERS by motor car from airport to
hotel.
e'HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS with meals as indicated.
M.4 USE OF SWIMMING FACILITIES and private beaches of
your hotel.
Y FIVE-HOUR CRUISE including barbecue lunch on a secluded
island, calypso entertainment and rum swizzle party.
1313 South Un versity NO 2-5587
----- --------------- ------

' TOPS
IN
VACATION
WEAR
Li Ivy Leag Ue
COTTON CORD 5
SUIT
95 :I
TICE & KWEN CI41I.J Ar men'
107 South University -Across from Ann Arbor Bank
STORE HOURS 9 A.M. to 5:30 PM.