1936 On the Continent

Table.
Tobacco, Cigars, Cigarettes
    After food and drink—tobacco. In England tobacco in any form is not a State monopoly, and there is therefore a far greater variety of “smokes” than in most other countries. It would be impossible to enumerate here all the brands of pipe tobaccos and cigarettes on the market, and the visitor will probably discover the right tobacco or cigarette by the method of trial and error, but here are the names of a few popular “smokes”:
    Pipe tobaccos:
“Bondman,” “St. Julian,” “Rhodesian Curly Cut,” “Three Nuns,” etc.
    Virginia cigarettes:
“Player’s,” “Gold Flake,” “Craven A,” “Piccadilly,” “Kensitas,” “De Reszke,” etc.
Turkish cigarettes:
“Abdullah,” etc.
    The more expensive brands of Turkish cigarettes include “Balkan Sobranie” and the products of
Messrs. Marcovitch
.
    English pipes are acknowledged to be the best in the world, and makers like
Dunhill’s, Bryant’s
, etc., are known among pipe-smokers everywhere.
    English cigars are not standardised, and we could not name a universally popular brand, particularly as cigar-smoking is not a very widespread habit in England.
    For the visitor’s information we mention that it is illegal in England for a tobacconist to sell any tobacco product after 8 p.m., though cigarettes may be obtained from automatic machines at any hour between 8 p.m. and 9 a.m.
London Passenger Services
    It would require a large volume in itself to give full details of London’s vast network of passenger services, which comprise some ten thousand omnibuses, two lines of underground railways, five tube railways, and an extensive system of tramways in addition to motor-coaches and some thousands of taxicabs.
    The minimum taxicab fare is 9d. for one or two persons for the first two-thirds of a mile, and 3d. for every additional third of a mile. Extras are charged for heavy luggage and for additional passengers.
    Visitors travelling by taxicab will, of course, have no difficulty in finding their way about London. To, those desiring to make use of omnibuses, trams or underground railways, the best advice we can give is to consult the nearest policeman, or any pedestrian they may meet, as to the best route to the desired destination, while an information bureau is at every station. In both cases the visitor is certain to meet with the utmost courtesy and a genuine desire to help; the “joke” of misdirecting the stranger is never indulged in in England.
    All passenger services—except taxicabs—are under the unified control of the London Passenger Transport Board, who in addition to London proper also cover the environs of the metropolis. The so-called “Green Line” motor-coaches run over more than two hundred different routes out of London, their radius being approximately 30 miles from Victoria. The principal boarding point of “Green Line” coaches is Eccleston Bridge, Victoria.
    But there are other motor-coach lines which, between them, cover the whole country, and it is possible to travel by coach or bus from any given point to any other point throughout England.
London Coastal Services Ltd.
run regular services from London to the various seaside resorts—Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bournemouth, etc.—and many other places. These services are run in association with a number of other motor-coach and omnibus companies, and afford the foreign visitor an excellent opportunity to see Britain.
    However, the visitor may also hire a private car with or without a chauffeur for any period of time. There are anumber of car-hire firms in London which provide only the best makes of cars at reasonable rates.
    Another service which motor firms run specially for the benefit of foreign visitors is the temporary car purchase system, which enables the visitor to purchase a private car on condition that he will be entitled to return it to the seller at any time and receive a refund of an agreed proportion of the price paid for the car.
    The foreign motorist driving a car in this country will do well to become a temporary member of one of the great British motoring associations which exist to advise and protect the interests of motorists. The
Automobile Association of Great Britain and Ireland
is one such organisation, with a membership running into hundreds of thousands. (
See
chapter on M OTORING .)
Tips
    The tipping system is also different in England from most other countries.
    It is not customary in England to