ou are taking every ten minutes or so, if
one wished. And "hair cutting" is done along this way by artistes from
various lands. There is, for instance, the Peluqueria Espanola.
"Service," too, is offered "at residence." Beauty here is held in
esteem as it was among the Greeks. Upon one side of the "chemist's"
window "toilet requisites" are announced for sale. The "valet system"
is extensively advertised. The industry of "dry cleansing" nourishes,
and the "shoe renovator" abounds. And hats are "renovated," and
"blocked," and "ironed," in places without number.

What a delightful tea-room is this! With its woodwork, its panelling,
and its little window lattices, all in beautiful enamelled white.
_That_ is not a tea-room! I'm 'sprised at you. That is a laundry. A
laundry? Shades of Hop Loo! It is even so. There are a variety of
types of laundry in this part of the world, but the great point of them
all is their "sanitary" character. All things are sanitary here; the
shaving brushes at the barber's are proclaimed sanitary; "sanitary
tailoring" is announced; and the creameries of this district, it would
seem, go beyond anything yet achieved elsewhere in the way of
sanitation. It might be imagined from a study of window signs that a
perverse person bent upon procuring un-"pasteurized" milk in this part
of town would be frustrated of his design.

I was sent to what my understanding conceived to be the "bakery" in our
immediate neighbourhood, on an errand. This place, I found, was called
the "Queen Elizabeth." I was dreadfully abashed when I got inside. I
was afraid that there might be some bit of mud on my shoes which would
soil the polished floor; and I became keenly conscious that my trowsers
were not perfectly pressed. I should, of course, have worn my
tail-coat. There were several ladies there receiving guests that
afternoon. I had a tete-a-tete with one of these, who gossiped
pleasantly about the cakes--I was to get some cakes. The nicest cakes
at the "Queen Elizabeth," it seems, are of two kinds: "Maids of Court"
and "Ladies in Waiting." Our neighbourhood is rich in shops given to
"pastry," "sweets," "bon bons." Shops of charming names! There is the
"Ambrosia Confection Shop," and the place of the "Patisserie et
Confiserie."

In our neighbourhood there are, too, a vast number of "caterers" and
"fruiterers," and, particularly, delicatessen shops. Delicatessen
shops in our neighbourhood are de