19 SEPTEMBER 1925, Page 24

Vivm impressions of a capital of contrasts, of latest crazes

and disappearing customs, of wealth and penury, sights and sounds of city life hidden by their familiarity, set down with a capable and humorous touch. Laughter jostles pathos in these crowded pages and sentimentality is always, like the policeman, around the next corner. Traffic, " toppers," road-mending, pavement artists, beggarwomen whose babies remain un- affected by the passage of years, all that may be seen from 'bus or kerb, attract the pen of Colonel Hawkes. Here, too, are sad or gay types such as that white-haired relative of time, the man who winds the clocks, or the butcher's boy, merrily whistling as he bicycles into oblivion.