Friday.—­Council heroically decides to do the work itself.  Am told off by Chairman to help remove old bricks on the Strand site.  Have first to dig snow away to get at bricks.  Intense amusement of hostile crowd, from whom we are protected by a cordon of police.  Bark my shins badly against wheel of cart.  Chairman—­who has been extremely energetic in running up and down a ladder with a hod of mortar over his shoulder, which he thinks is bricklaying—­falls from ladder and is taken off to Charing Cross Hospital; amid shower of brickbats.  Crowd wants to know “which is McDOUGALL.”  When they find out, pelt him with snowballs.  BURNS—­who has stuck loyally to Council—­fiercely denounced as a “blackleg” by crowd.  Amusing at any other time.  Home in evening dead tired, under police escort.  Find all my front windows smashed!  After all—­was it wise to abolish the Contractor?

Saturday.—­Whole County Council, protected by several regiments from Aldershot, a park of Artillery, and all the City Police (Council’s own Police being out on strike, in sympathy with bricklayers), manage with great difficulty to fill ten carts with rubbish, and then adjourn to Spring Gardens.  Refreshments and free sticking-plaster handed round before Meeting takes place.  Meeting unanimously decides to re-establish old Middleman system!  Sir JOHN LUBBOCK humorously suggests that it is, at any rate, better than the “muddle-man” system which we have tried and found wanting.  Bonus of L5,000 out of rates, enthusiastically voted to any Contractor who will tender for job of clearing snow and widening Strand.

Later.—­High Court disallows our “precept” for the L5,000 bonus—­says we must pay it out of our own pockets!

Wish I had never stood for London County Council!

* * * * *

ROBERT’S COMPANIONS.  NO. 2.

Another of our speshal lot is good old SAM, with his wunderfool memmery.  He won’t tell not nobody his age.  But he acshally swears as he remembers the time when there wasn’t not no Cabs, nor no Homnybusses nor no Hallways, nor no Steam Botes, nor no Perlice, in all Lundon!  And when there was grate droves of Cattel and Sheep druv thro’ the streets, and people used to have to put up bars at their doors to keep ’em out.  And menny and menny a time has he seen a reel live Bullock march into his Master’s Counting ’Ouse, with his two wild horns a sticking out, and as it was to narrer for him to turn hisself round, he used to have to be backed out tale foremost, with a fierce dog a barking at his nose.

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