Between running a print shop, engineering the U.S. postal system, and helping sow the seeds of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin also found time to draw up a vast collection of new devices. What are some of his most enduring inventions?
The Garrick Theatre
WE parted company last week in Cecil Court, admiring its decorum and sense of history that oozes from each of its time-trodden paving stones. And now we shall continue our stroll by heading a little south east down Charing Cross Road, and past the (sadly currently silent) Garrick Theatre.
Two weeks ago we had discussed the building of the Royal English Opera House by Gilbert and Sullivan promoter Richard DâOyly Carte. The Garrick was another that owed its construction to the craze for these English librettos. This one was paid for by Gilbert, but the construction did not go smoothly. When builders dug down to lay the floor of the stalls, they discovered an underground river gushing beneath their feet.