European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 14, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                London last photos and Story by j. King Cruger travel writer i extain images unfailingly i appear when summoning up the London of Dickens Sherlock Holmes or Jack the Ripper horse drawn coaches guided through narrow streets by top hailed Drivers shrouds of fog making every Shadow sinister and the old lamplighter adding a bit of cheer and Light As he makes his nightly rounds. Hold  you say. That s All a thing of the past All gone and nothing remains but  you re wrong Fella True the coaches have been replaced by those wonderful purpose built lond nabs and the pea supers vanished not Long after the Pas Sage of the clean air act of 1956 which banned the Smoky Coal i ires that scientists found caused the fogs themselves but the lamplighter still makes his rounds twice a Day .165 Days a year however there s Only one Lump lighter left plus another seven so called lamp attendants who primarily do maintenance on the old Gas lamps. Once London had More than 60.000 Gas lamps bul now we Are Down to the last 1,200," said dive Thomas press officer for North thames Gas the Utility that is responsible for maintaining and lighting the  s the Tail end of what was a very great Era. Bul the lamps will stay because people want them to slay. A Little while Back we proposed to do away with the lamps in a certain area and to replace them Wilh modern electric lights. Bul the residents Pul up a terrific protest. No no we Don t want improved lighting. We want our Gas lamps they said. They re original and quaint soft and Mellow and we like pm " evening was com Jug on As Thomas and i walked and talked our Way along Fleet Street to a meeting with Leonard Simpson currently the last Active lamplighter in London. By pre arrangement we Mel Simpson at the midpoint of his route which takes him through the inner and Middle temples two of the four inns of court. These Are the English Legal societies grouped in quadrangles very much like colleges on a uni verily Campus that have inc sole High to award degrees to Law students. During the Day the inner and Middle temples Buzz Wilh Hie comings and goings of the hundreds of solicitors and barristers who have offices there Wilh inc offices closed the Beautiful courtyards were ghostly. Here Simpson tends 102 lamps. They Are the last of the hand con rolled tamps left in London. This Means they have to be lighted and turned off by a lamplighter the other 1.100 lamps i the cily Are Birned on and off a i with his right hand lamplighter Leonard Simpson squeezes a rubber Ball sending a Jet of spirits up a hollow pole where it ignites into flame. Daily Magazine tamps and they multiplied until the mid 19th Century when they hit their Peak of 60.000. Since then it has been All downhill. By the 1880s electric lamps started to make their presence Felt in London s streets and Over the next 10 years some 40,000 Gas lights disappeared. From then on the lamps trickled away slowly but inexorably until about a decade ago when Community organizations began campaigning to save the few remaining. The fight has been successful and most Gas lamps now lighting London probably will continue to glow for years to come. Why did most of the Gas lamps disappear in the first place give Thomas explains that Gas lighting was intended to serve the needs of a slower London a London that travelled by fool and by Hoof. Gas just does t provide the kind of Light that electric Light does and that Modem traffic  additionally because the Gas lamps require ims of tender Loving care they Are More expensive to maintain than Gas. He says Thomas adds that Here is a great demand by private owners for Gas lamps nowadays and they Are frequently put up outside pubs and in the gardens of Homes. Besides those previously mentioned lamps that lie around covent Garden and in the inner and Middle temples the temples Are private property but visitors Are tolerated others Are scattered throughout London to see Gas lamps working. Thomas advises making your Way in tie following location Chelsea at the Cliance to the Duke of York s Headquarters on King s Load. South Kensington i Elham Crescent and Tom role Square Trafalgar Square at each Corner of the Square Smith Square behind Westminster Abbey. Hyde Park scattered some Are along the mall and others line the serpentine. Kensington i Alace and Kensington Palace gardens St. James s Palace. Buckingham Palace. The mall Green Park. Somatic Billy by Mcc Nical clocks although they still have to be visited nightly by their lamp attendants. The attendants Check to make sure each lamp has ignited wind the clocks once a week regularly clean the Glass panes and carry out necessary re , an Earnest greying gent Wear ing a Short North thames Gas jacket ear pics a seven foot Long pole with a flame at the  the last 15 years Simpson has been the lamp attendant responsible for keeping 158 lamps glowing warmly in the covent Garden Market area he continues to tend them nightly in addition to the lamplighter duty he has taken Over from Veteran Lam Plighter Ivan Ramnauth Tio has been sidelined for some months with a heart  59-year-old Simpson i m about the youngest of the gang lending the lamps has been working with Gas lamps for the past 28 years. I can make my rounds Here in about 45 minutes an hour at most provided the Wicks Don t give me any trouble he explained As we started out. Rather briskly. On his rounds to Light a lamp. Simpson first gels the Gas flowing by using a Hook on the Side of his pole to turn a cock at the lamp s Side then he slides his Torch under the lamp s mantles As those parts of the lamp that glow Are called and gives a Squeve clo a Small rubber bulb located near the Bottom of the pole this sends a Jet of spirits up the hollow pole where it erupts into flame at the top a paltry poof and the lamp is lit Simpson pauses a second or la to muck sure the lamp is glowing smoothly and then sets off rapidly for the next lamp on his route. He takes Only about half a minute per lamp. Besides turning on the lamps on both his routes each night. Simpson Mast return to the inner and Middle temples each morn ing at 5 to earlier d Jung the Long Days of summer to extinguish the lamps clean the Gla  and to make repairs. The lights there could be put on automatic controls but the Law authorities prefer them to work in the old fashioned  there Are those who May think of the lamplighter s work As somehow romantic Simpson gives Short shrift to that  they should have put these lamps on automatic clocks years ago. Then the clocks would turn them on and off and i would a t have to tie Here at 5 30 every morning thai s the worst part of this Job " he explained tint lamplighters and lamp attendants alike work 40-hour workweeks spread Over seven Days and Hal the men of the Gas lamp Force take turns Cov ering for each other when vacation time Rolls around. M missus minded the seven Days week at first but sin yol  to it. It s a Job like any other Lyndon Gol turned on to Gas in 1805 when the length of i All mall was set aglow. While hit world Boobed and ached. Some hellfire and Brimstone preachers forecast impending doom. They railed Hal the artificial lighting interfered Wilh god s plan fur Sepa rating night from Day. Well. God Kepi his hands off the Gas Simpson making his rounds. Saturday my a 19/7 the stars and stripes Page 13