LONDON REVISITED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 278, 17 August 1908, Page 2

LONDON REVISITED.

AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS,

CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS.

(By the Rev. Frederick Stuebs.)

" I have seen the greatest wonder which the world cau show to the aston??PP.d spirit. I have seen it, and am still astonished, —for ever will there remain lixed indelibly on my memory the stone-forest of houses, am«l which' flows the rushing stream of faces of living n i?V a " their varied passions, and all their terrible impulses' of love, of hunger, and of hatred, —I mean Loudon."—Heinrich Hoinei •

I was born in London, and lived in it for a ■ quarter of a century, and yet cannot be said to know it.' Especially is this true.i ,of the Now London, for during my absence'! in Ne>y Zealand changes have taken place - that have completely transformed many parts °f it> PJ'd are rapidly making it the most beautiful, as it has long been the greatest, ; city in the world. Its growth and progross during the last thirteen years have Oeen marvellous. Its statistics are upon i such a gigantic scale that they seem to refer 1 to a state -rather than a city. Greater London now covers 692 square miles. It is the i biggest conglomeration .of houses the world 1 has ever seen, a conglomeration of 27' boroughs and two cities. At .the beginning; of last century its population did jipt exceed a million it ■is now considerably over 7,000,01)0, and adds a million to its popula--tion every-decade. ; Soma Striking Figures. ■The -assessable value of this huge, area' is £59,000,000. The Metropolitan Water Board supplies water to 7,323,000 persoAs, with a; rateable value of £56,000,000. The muniei-1 p.il area is, -of course, not so large, but even this contains 115 square mile's, With 4.800,000 inhabitants, and an. assessable value cf 1 £43,426,790. Tlie births within this smaller area number 127,000 a year. ■ 'The cost of administering so great a city is, of course, j enormous. The London County Council alone spends £16,000,000 per annum ; ■ the Metropolitan . Board, £5,000,000 the City, £1,400,000-; the Guardians of the Poor, £3,600,000—a total equal to the revenue or many important States. To the, Pprt of London there cimo in 1906 27,323 , vessels with a tonnage of 17.602,315 tons. In 1 Greater Loiidon there ire 600 miles-.of. riul--Va.y.,. with 590 stations. The tramways. Calv ried some passengers,'. and two i pf this omnibus companies alone 291,563,048; whilst the Tubes carried 153,000,000. 11l Order to further illustrate the vastne's's (if the street traffic, it may be stated that in twelve hours 16,054 vehicles pass a particular spot in Piccadilly, and in a single hour 700 buses pass the Bank of England. Sonie 160 trams pass every liour of the day over Westminster Bridge, and through some of the railway stations a : train passes every , riiinut-4. . The total passenger traffic for . London kmoulits to 1,074,505,420 pa's'sengirs per annum.. To quench the thirst of it's citizens there are 10,000 houses licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors; and to keep order there are 20,000 policd. About 150,000 paupers (about--32 per 1000) are maintained-at; a cost of £1,250,000, sftd there are some 26,000 tics in the asyluifis..- How many there, are outside, that-should be in, is not stated, but judging from newspaper reports the number is hot small. Over a million patients are treated in the hospitals.Fifty-six-theatres and 43 musical liallp minister to London's aihusoment. There are nearly 500 newspapers published> From' a study of the vital statistics I find-that.the birth T rate,f()f Lbndpn.wiij! in 1905, 27.1 per 1000, a considerable, decline, for in 1881 it was 34.7. Still, this is not as ■ bad as in Paris,.wiiere St:is.diJ^94-P.es l ¥'Ao ; for England 'and Wales ll is 27.2; Petersburg, 29.3; arid, iil Copenhagen, 25.1. . In all European countries there is a decrease. The proportion of illegitimate births is 37 • per 1000. Considerably : more female's, than males are born. The. marriage-rate has.also considerably declined during the last 25 years, being hew 17 per 1000. "The death-rate averi ages about 15 per 1000, that of females being nearly 3 per 1000 lower than that of .male's, and there are more, widows than which shoivs that men : do not always have the best of it. ufJi; " ' ' How the Ped(jle LIV&. - ): There are 400,000 fafuilies, each having only one room. Is it hhy Wonder that coarse- : hess and immorality abound! 1 The-Londoil - : County Council is doinfe sometliihg to remedy :l-liis state of , things. Last year .the Council . provided 1148 tenements containing 3523 rooms, and also lodging-houses with 698 cubieles. Altogether they now own 7474 tenements. ThVee-fftdffied tenements l&t.ffotn 6s.' to 10s. per week) according to'locality. For t Cottage dwellings (four rooms) outside London tho Council charges from Bs. 6d> to 10s. j for five rooms, 9s. 6d. to 13s. ' These rents are still higher, than the average workman can afford to. pay," but they are lower than is paid elsewhere for the sa.irte accommodation; and not UiUch dearer, I think, than is charged for Government Cottages in New Zealand. It would be intetestiiijj tq speak of the enormous quantities of food; fuel, etc., required by this huge city; of the thousands of ministers of the Gospel, lawyers,' medical men,-journalists) etc., but space forbids. Ono cannot help, however, mentioning the .vast number of aliens. Every'year nearly .100,000 foreigners arrive. Even a century and a half ago ( the Influx of undesirables (of Soiirfee, all foreigners are net undesirable*) Was sufficient to excite Dr. Johnson's wrath— " London! the needy villaiti's generai home, The common sewer of Paris and of Rom<v With eager thirst* by folly or by fate, ■ Sucks in the dregs- bf\ each corrupted State." Ono wonders wh&t lie would say now. Aiid to keep this vfist-*)opUlatio'n ill order there are only 20,000 police! This morning's papcro piiblish a report, of the .Police. Commission, \vliich goes to show that.notwithstanding in-, dividual failures, the police, as a whole* do thoir duty with tact, patience, and fidelity. ' The London.policeman is iiideod a marvel, as Compared with his comrade? in France, Ger- < Inany, Italy, or Ru&sia. Ho is everybody's friend; never (or hardly ever) loses his head bf temper; is a skilful tactician; and without ; Bolso Or fuss, or parade, bravely wins blood- ( less Victories; regulates a vast traffic, and guards a million homes. London improvements. ! The improvements made in London- since I i last walked its streets are so many that ono 1 hardly knows where to begin. One of the | first things to attract my notice-was the great improvement in locoiiiotion. The cabs are dleahfei'i and the cabmen; and the latter much 1 tnbre ClVli (faro Is. for two miles). 'Tlio taxi-cabs, familiarly ~ known as " taxie's," , driven by motors, and registering the dis- ■ tanco and fare, afe an immense advance in i street locomotion; -handsome, comfortable i vehicles, darting Swiftly- through tho thor- i OughfareS at g cost to the hirer of oightpence i per mile. They appear to Be. getting more i and more popular, and I am told p»T thoir 1 owners well. The emmhus does riot snow as 1 " 1 much improvement is the cab. Apparently ' nearly half the buses are now driven by t motors, and these are much quicker than the 1 horio bu« t but, unfortunately, they hive a 1 trick of breaking down frequently, which j renderi the duration of one's journey .a iome- ] what uncertain quantity, besides blocking other Tehiclei. Of the tramcats, hoireror, Ono can apesk vith unstinted praise. " They hara greatly increased in number and comfort : sihee I.left London, and are nearly all run by electricity. They h»ys only Just been permitted, after years of agitation, within tho city boundaries, but extend t outwards in all directions for Considerable distances, Near Theobald's Road, tlio trains enter a tUjiiiel at tho bottoiU of a steep incline, run under- j ground beneath Kingsway.'and then emerge ] it the foot bf Waterloo Bridge. This subway 1 has cost a quarter of a million of money, r But what struck me most was the improve- i meiit in the undergrounds railways, When I . J left England the atmosphere on the Metronolitan Railway Was thick and sulphurous, | but now the system is electrified, and the r atmosphero cool and clear. The Tubes, too, pro a wonderful improvement. The carriages

=7 . I are exceedingly, handsome, roomy, clean and < comfortable, brilliantly lighted, and carry scores of thousands of passengers every.day. i The faro is twopenco, or, for long journeys, threepence, and the trains run every ttyree minutes. 1 " [ The New Streets. I ' Of the new streets, Kingsway and Aldwych ■ are the most noteworthy. These spacious -. thoroughfares were.opened by tho King and - Queen in 1005. The former starts from Southampton Row, crosses High Hojborn, i proceeds southwards for a-third of a' mil®, swallowing up Little.Queen Street en route, and then forms a crescent knowir as Aldwych, the western horii-'of which debouches into th# --1■ 1 almost "oppositG Waterloo Bridge, while the Eastern horn enters the-Strand.at ft- Uement s Danes' Church. ; The complete - thoroughfare; is over tliree-'quartevs of a "mile 111 length, with a width of 100 feet. Up to -the nreselit,. these improvements have cost the London'.County Council £5,295,000, the net.interest of which is £126,000 a year, 'or £4400 a week. Three-fourths bf th 6 sites are, Unfortunately still vacant, but as'sooh a» these are let the rents will probably pat the '' interest on the Council's loan, and materially relieve-tlie pockets bf the ratepayers. • lrr S 0 ';! t0 Tlotice , tlla t the Councii nstS £66 13s. '4d. a month frbm bill-posting in this thoroughfare, In connection with these improvements, Holywell Street- (or Book- - sollers Row), Sardinia and Vere Streets baVa entirely disappeared, 'and' Soutliauipton Rot - has been widened. Aldwych'occupies the site of an old DirtisL settlement named Aldwych, which. owed its 01-'g'n .to the great peace established.by King Alfred. _ Fer many years t-lie ljame Sf-aj pr©. - served in Aldwych Fields, and the, Via 4e . Aldwych, the latter being the old name of - -vrury Lane. The only record of tMi that • has remained jto inodern times has been Hie narrow .'street known as. Wych Street—nb» V . absorbed by, the improvement. .St,. Clement is Panes' Church at the Eastern terminus of ■Aldwych is also connected with this ancient Danish settlement, for it is built on the-.sito of an earlier church in Which the.Danes' worshipped. National Memorials. In front of St. element's is the Gladstdno . Memorial designed by Thorneycroft. 'and un- . veiled by Mr. Joint Jforley (iVow VifcoUut Morley) at the end of 1905. The statue of the great statesin'an, -of bronze, 1 shows him robed as Chancellor 'of the Exchequer, and tlie groUps at the base represent' Brothers hood, Education, Aspiration, and Courage, in each of which qualities Gladstone was certainly preininent. ;; . ' Another improvement in Whifih Colonialsare particularly interested, js the. National ' to Queen y'icteria. nbw temg'• erected ih front of Buckingham Palace. Here the Mall has been widened by 65 feet, and is ,;i flmik&a. oh .either side bj in alley 25 fec-t wide with double rows of plaile trees, miking a iplendid 'roadway;'' 1 Glorious a'rchefi and gateways, with ti colohnaded screen, con- 1 tributed by and'representing, tte" cololiiesj ire to enclose a garden in the midst of which -• a statue ef Qufeeh Victoria-is to Stand-,-sur- " niounted by- a winged figure of Victory 65 - feet from the ground. W neU cottjplfited, . this will constitute one of the finest vieWs in London. , . " Some of the Nfcw ButldlhgSi ■ . . , I must not: do taore thah briefly indicate othiai gi'eat changes and improvements thkt have fecently takcu place, such as the buildv . ing. of the Tate Gallery: on th'o Thames Eibj bankment, with ita taagnificent collection o£ modern pictures; the Eonlan Catholic Cathci' dral at Westminster, a vast building still in-, cemplete;- the new Central Ctftiiinil Court on tlie site "of Old Bailey, With its CbußpibirflUS metto over the main entrinCb "Defend the children of the poor and punitli.the .wrong-,, -.. doer. 1 ' . I call remember th»_ *,tinifei wheal. . iis.ed to be hanged'nUtside-Newgate.: jn view of- multitudes of pebble, ahd See Still With the mind's eye the great, crowds that gathered to witness the lraiiKing birates. Then' there iir4'changes' in- St. ■» Paul's Cathedral,, the. old Wellington Monu'-. blent being removed' t&'th'e 6llier' Nave and its, '^lade.' : .l)cpg„ oc&uJifecL Chapel, in 1906, of the Order, ef St. Michael and-St. : Gebrgfe. Londoll Bridge has:been widened; [ Christ's 1 Hospital, better known as thb Blue- '.. fcoat School, has disappfeared frote'Negate,-'; ( Street and "migrated to the country. Marble '; ! Arch still standsj b\it flo longer: fornis ;the J' gateway-to Hyde Park, the railitlp. hWifta ' been put. back 180 feet, leaving t-ho Arclv r in the middle of t-hfc road. Ab lor the-new r - hotels, they'afe both u\ittef6US and gor-.i geous, the.,largest being the Hotel Cecil in r which Sir Joseph Ward sfcajredj cbvbfihg . (Ihiean the hotel!) two and three-quarteraferes< bf ground, containing 1200 rooms, dinihg.7oo' , - i l guests in a single apartment, and having p. staff of over 600' persons. The Hew Hotel Waldorf close by is also a very'filie 1 struc-* turo, havingi it iS said t the largest dining-. foom in tli6 Ki 11 gdoni ■~ hu is fiiuoli " by Americans and Colonials ' t '' '-. - Such are some of the principal changes that have taken place in London during the 13 tears that I have lived iii New Zealand* TheV have served to make.it nbt oidy the. greatest but the most magnificent, of cities. _«ew 'beauties are being added everyday—parksj mansions, pictures, statues. The charm and interest of this great, city, are simply inexhaustible:- • As you walk alohg it& -f trefets, kaze into its shop windows), . lt » fendlcss tßificj Visit its halls gjUtoMj-. and places of amuseinefiti you, feel -more, ana hiore what a glorioUß' city this is» and, however ttlulevbiit you may be, the nrayef, tha Wish, can hardly .bo repressed that,. UftUke the great cities bf ,-tlie past-,' its gloHe§ taay endure.-' -j -