1936 On the Continent

slave traffic. The secrets of Soho are generally aired in the Press when a particularly sensational crime is committed there, such as the recent murder of “Red Max.”
    Soho is also the district where gay gentlemen in search of light adventure can always be sure of finding a partner, though the visitor is advised to receive with due caution the invitations of strange young women to a night club or any similar place. However, in spite of its exciting and some what mysterious atmosphere, it would be a mistake to regard Soho as the haunt of criminals. On the contrary, if you wish to make your stay in London really pleasant, you cannot avoid Soho.
    The restaurants of this district, which offers very considerable culinary variety, are dealt with elsewhere, and we will only observe here that the narrow streets of Soho, like Dean Street, Greek Street, Frith Street, and Old Compton Street, contain restaurants representing every country, from Hungary to China, and from Spain to India, that has any culinary speciality to offer. However, the Italian cuisine has the biggest representation, the majority of the permanent population being Italian. The French come next, with some typically French restaurants. The negroes are also well represented and at night, when the rest of the city is already alseep, their clubs provide many a sensation.
St. James’s and Pall Mall
    Incidentally, at one period during its eventful past Soho had its exclusive residential parts, such as Soho Square, where the great architect, Adams, built a number of beautiful dwelling houses. Unfortunately, the sites of these houses are, one after the other, sold for commercial purposes, and the Adams’ houses are gradually disappearing.
    If Soho is the restless, untidy, an un-English pole of London, the quiet, exclusive and typically English quarter round St. James’s and Pall Mall may be regarded as the opposite pole. The distance from Soho to St. James’s is no more than a quarter of an hour’s walk, but this issufficient to transport one into a different world, even a different age. London, in contrast to Paris, which is reputed to be a “feminine” city, is regarded as a distinctly “masculine” city. This impression, which one gathers from a professional aspect in other parts, such as the City, is strikingly confirmed in “Clubland,” as St. James’s is known. Everything here exists for men, and men only, particularly for the species which no one has yet succeeded in defining satisfactorily, that is to say, the English gentleman.
Clubland
    It is for him that the strikingly simple, old-fashioned shops exist, where the best bowler hats, the best umbrellas and the most aromatic tobaccos are sold, and which obstinately defy the modern vogue of publicity. It is no exaggeration to say that in some of these shops strangers are served only reluctantly; the shopkeepers like to reserve their treasures for regular customers. On the other hand, the legend that a stranger is not served at all without a recommendation is only a legend.
    The best English clubs, into whose peculiar life the stranger can only obtain an insight if specially invited, are ranged along St. James’s and Pall Mall. Indeed, he would find it difficult to enjoy the glorious relaxation of utter boredom that reigns in these clubs, unless he is a born clubman. The unwritten rules of the club, which are far more important than its written statutes, must pass into one’s very blood before it is possible to adapt oneself to the atmosphere of the club. Quick movements, loud talk, uninvited attempts to start a conversation, are all taboo. The comfortable, and mostly somewhat worn, armchairs are occupied by isolated men, young and old, about whom it is difficult to say whether they are reading the
Times
, or thinking, or sleeping.
Exclusive Clubs
    Probably the most typical of these clubs in Pall Mall is the Athenæum, whose members are church dignitaries, prominent scientists, conservative authors, etc., and enrolment to which is only possible after years of waiting, even when the would-be member possesses all the necessary qualifications.
    In addition to the purely social clubs, like the approximately 200 years old Boodle’s and Brook’s, both in St. James’s Street, there are clubs with a political note, such as the exclusive Carlton Club in Pall Mall, which is the rendezvous of true-blue conservatives. There are also clubs based on a professional classification, clubs for officers of the